Colorado Rail Annual No. 15: Idaho-Montana Issue.

Contents:
Utah & Northern by Mallory Hope Ferrell. A history of the Ogden-Butte line of the Union Pacific Railroad which started out as the narrow gauge Utah & Northern, pp. 9-81.

Union Pacific: Montana Division by Cornelius W. Hauck. A profusely illustrated story of the operations on the Butte line after standard gauging, pp. 93-160.

Gilmore & Pittsburgh by Rex Myers: Northern Pacific Subsidiary, Union Pacific Tributary. Covers a virtually unknown standard gauge line in Idaho's Salmon River country, pp. 161-216.

Colorado Railroad Museum, hard cover with jacket, 216 pages, 8.5 x 11 x 1 in., over 200 photographs, rosters and maps. CRM2754
Price: 21.95 USD

Great Northern Lines West (Revised Edition).

The Great Northern was among Americas most distinctive railroads. Though not the earliest of the transcontinental roads, it traversed scenery as varied and spectacular as any. Its operations over the years, in every kind of weather, were similarly diverse, from plains to mountains, from the Great Lakes shore in Minnesota to Pacific tidewater in Seattle. The style instilled in the Great Northern by its builder, James J. Hill, persisted well into the twentieth century. From its characteristic designs of large steam locomotives and its electrified operations over the Cascade Range, to its superb streamliner after World War II, the Empire Builder, and its unique fleet of diesel locomotives, the Great Northern was always a railroad apart.

The book tells the story of the Great Northern Railway, concentrating on it's western half, the Lines West, which conquered both the Rocky and Cascade Mountains. From its earliest beginnings in 1857, to the completion of the line to the Pacific Coast in 1893, to the modernization of the railroad, first with heavy steam locomotives and then with diesels, and to the merger into Burlington Northern in 1970, the sweep of this great history is here.

Noted Northwest railroad historian Charles R. Wood has combined extensive research and a superb collection of photographs to produce an outstanding history of this noteworthy railroad. With the deftness of a writer who knows his subject, Wood presents a wide-ranging description of the life and times of the western half of the Great Northern. This book is a detailed and complete account of one of America's most fascinating roads, the Great Northern Railway.

The first edition of Lines West was published in 1967. Subsequent printings were in some cases unfortunately of poor quality, which has damaged the reputation of this fine book, and it has now been out-of-print for a number of years. This new edition, made with the original page negatives, restores the quality of the first edition while updating and replacing some photographs and adding a color section and an index. Newly revised with numerous new photographs and a superb new painting by Northwest artist J. Craig Thorpe on the dust jacket and frontispiece, this edition will take its place in the literature of the Great Northern Railway.

Signature Press, hard cover with jacket, 208 pages, 8.5 x 11 x 1.75 in., 283 b&w photographs plus 24 in color. SP177
Price: 46.95 USD

Ships in a non-bending mailer, not an envelope, plus sealed in plastic.

The DeLorme Publishing Atlas and Gazetteer provides a wealth of information for trip planning and back country access. Each volume contains topographic maps with unbeatable detail plus gazetteer information on great places to go and things to do. Detail includes railroads, back roads, dirt roads, elevation contours, remote lakes & streams, boat ramps, public lands for recreation, land use (forests, wetlands, agriculture), trailheads, campgrounds, and hunting and fishing spots.

Gazetteer information includes information on hiking, bicycling, museums and historic sites, campgrounds, scenic drives, unique natural features and state and national parks.

DeLorme Publishing, soft cover, 96 pages, 11 x 15.5 x .25 in., color maps. DLMT
Price: 13.95 USD

Montana Rail Link. A detailed and well-illustrated examination of the first two decades of operation on Montana Rail Link.

Montana Rail Link was formed in 1987 from over 900 miles of railroad unwanted by merged conglomerate Burlington Northern. The venture began with a newly-assembled group of personnel, a hand-me-down collection of equipment, and customers uncertain of its service commitment. But through nearly a quarter century of business savvy and dogged perseverance, MRL has become the poster child for successful regional railroading.

This 176-page all-color volume documents those first two decades of operation on Montana Rail Link. From the outset, one of the railroad ’s prime assets was its determination to service its clients. Never mind that the railroad was set in Montana and northern Idaho, its route wound through some of the most stunning landscape offered up by the former Northern Pacific. The landscape also presented the railroad with significant operational difficulties, manifest largely on its signature mountain passes: Mullan and Bozeman. To cope with the tough grades, manned helpers have been a way of life on MRL since its inception, its employees exhibiting a spirited professionalism that has kept the rail traffic fluid and efficient.

Over the years, Montana Rail Link has successfully mixed the acquired old with the new. Road power once ruled by SD45s, F45s, SD35s, and even an SDP40, has been supplemented and even replaced by SD70ACes. The upper-quadrant semaphores which at start-up signaled portions of the main line from Lombard to Sandpoint have been retired; CTC has replaced track warrants on the main line. MRL has run it share of passenger trains: the Montana Daylight, on-line shippers ’ specials, and steam excursions. It also had the marketing finesse to establish the Gas Local, a unit train dedicated to a single customer and run like clockwork. However, as many of the 237 photographs in this volume attest, it is the scenery which sets the entire operation in perspective. In a state of big blue sky, MRL ’s big blue diesels harmonize perfectly. It ’s a match made in Montana heaven.

Contents:
First Subdivision (Jones Junction to Spurling, Montana), pp. 8-13;
Second and Thirteenth Subdivisions (Spurling to Helena, Montana), pp. 14-57;
Third and Eighth Subdivisions (Helena to Missoula, Montana), pp. 58-93;
Fourth Subdivision (Missoula, Montana to Spokane, Washington), pp. 94-129;
Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Subdivisions (Logan to Spire Rock, Whitehall to Alder and Sappington to Harrison, Montana), pp. 130-139;
Ninth Subdivision (Missoula to Darby, Montana), pp. 140-149;
Tenth Subdivision (De Smet to Paradise, Montana), pp. 150-163;
Eleventh Subdivision (Dixon to Polson, Montana), pp. 164-175;
Index to Photographs, pg. 176.

White River Productions, produced by Dale Sanders, hard cover with jacket, 176 pages, 11 x 8.5 x .5 in., color photographs, maps and illustrations. WRP089
Price: 67.95 USD

Northern Pacific ’s Mullan Pass, on the “Montana Short Line ”.

In 1881 the Northern Pacific Railroad contracted with Muir Bros. to bore a 3,850-foot tunnel through the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Beginning late that year, the contractors struggled to complete the project in time for the Last Spike Ceremony scheduled for September of 1883. When the enormity of the job and a partial collapse of the tunnel threatened that date, a temporary overhead line was constructed and utilized until November 1883.

This book examines route selection, construction, and early operations over –and through –the continental divide. More than 100 photographs, maps and diagrams, timetables, track profile and accounts from newspapers, and trade journals document that portion of the NP main line from Helena to Garrison, Montana.

Read about territorial politics, construction hardships, inaugural runs, fire and rockfall in the tunnel, and runaway trains as well as those upgrades which made it possible for Burlington Northern and now Montana Rail Link to operate there today.

Pictorial Histories Publishing, soft cover, 92 pages, 11 x 8.5 x .25 in., over 100 photographs, maps and diagrams, fully indexed. PHP630
Price: 16.95 USD

The Northern Pacific's Rails To Gold and Silver-Lines to Montana's Mining Camps Volume II: 1888-1898.

In 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad completed its main line through Montana. Its charter and the conservative nature of its management prevented the NP from building branch lines to developing gold, silver and copper mining camps such as Wallace, Cooke City, Elkhorn, Pony and Virginia City. James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railway recognized the NP's omission and began building a railroad into the territory. By 1886 the NP, aided by Helena banker Samuel T. Hauser, was in an all-out war with Hill and the Union Pacific to protect its mining traffic sources.

Rails to Gold and Silver: Volume II covers the Northern Pacific & Montana's construction between 1888 and 1898 which resulted in the completion of the following six railroads: the Rocky Fork & Cooke City, the Butte Short Line, the Red Bluff & Pony, the Elkhorn Extension to the Helena, Boulder Valley & Butte, the Gaylord & Ruby Valley, and the De Smet to Idaho Line (Wallace branch)

Pictorial Histories Publishing, soft cover, 156 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .5 in., b&w photographs and illustrations. PHP262
Price: 21.95 USD

Saga of the Soo Volume 2: Three Generations West. (1995) brings a variety of previously unpublished material on the Soo to the reader's attention. Rather than merely supplementing West from Shoreham this second volume in the series paints a portrait of the Soo's role in influencing immigration in North America. This volume also includes essays by Carol Monroe, Patrick C. Dorin, John R. Tunheim, Father William Sherman as well as a foreword by the renowned Hiram M. Drache.

Three Generations West encompasses 224 pages of richly written prose, exceptional photographs as well as copies of old Soo Line advertisements and memoranda. It is a book that immerses the reader in the not so distant past and leaves them with a sense of wonderment and nostalgia.

Contents:
Minneapolis, pp. 15-31;
St. Paul, pp. 32-36;
Coal Dock and Coaling, pp. 37-43;
The Minneapolis & Pacific Railway, pp. 44-65;
Soo Pacific to Portal, North Dakota Main, pp. 66-95;
Stockyards, 96-99;
Whitetail Sub (Montana), pp. 100-105;
New Town Line, pp. 116-121;
Feature I (advertisements, etc.), pp. 122-123;
Fairmount & Veblen Railway, pp. 124-127;
Wishek Sub, pp. 128-132;
The Soo Line and Immigration (by Father William Sherman), pp. 135-140;
The Wheat Line, pp. 141-147;
Home Life in a Soo Depot (by Carol Monroe), pp. 148-150;
The Drake Line, pp. 151-154;
The Plummer Line, pp. 155-163;
The Cuyuna Range Ore Lines (by Patrick C. Dorin), pp. 164-171;
Duluth-Superior, pp. 172-182;
The Winnipeg Line, pp. 188-209;
Immigrants, Sod and Steel, pp. 210-214;
Thief River to Noyes, pp. 215-217;
Conclusion, acknowledgments, Bibliography and Index, pp. 218-225.

Agassiz Publications, hard cover with jacket, 225 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .75 in., b&w and color photographs, maps, and advertising reproductions. AP409
Price: 38.95 USD

Over Homestake Pass on The Butte Short Line: The Construction Era 1888-1929.

In the 1880s the Northern Pacific Railroad ’s management decided to bypass Butte, Montana, in favor of a main line through Helena 40 miles to the north. At that time the mining region around Helena appeared to be a more lucrative source of traffic and offered a lower crossing of the continental divide after the completion of the Mullan Tunnel. Within three years, however, that situation changed as Butte began its conversion to a copper center, becoming known as the “Richest Hill on Earth. ” In 1886 the NP began a decade-long struggle to find a satisfactory route into Butte –first from Garrison, then from Helena, and finally from Logan over Homestake Pass. The Butte Short Line is a history of that effort.

The book chronicles surveys, agreements, and conflicts with the Union Pacific concerning rights-of-way in Jefferson Canyon, the Utah & Northern and the Montana Union. It examines problems with Mullan Tunnel, the abortive Helena, Boulder Valley & Butte, and the competition provided by Hill ’s Montana Central. It discusses the role the Rocky Fork & Cooke City coal development played in the final route selection and the formation of the Northern Pacific & Montana. It examines political intrigue during the time of Montana statehood. It details construction of the road and early operations.

Construction documents as well as newspaper accounts of the day tell the stories of hold ups, wrecks, and election fraud through the words of those who lived them. Read about violence on the Jefferson River, a little known mile-long spur at Welch, the shooting of Frank Clow, and the wreck of #2. Over 120 photos from the collections of F.J. Haynes, the Jefferson County Historical Museum, R.V. Nixon, W.R. McGee, the Taylors, and others flesh out the work. Charts, maps, timetables, and other sources are similarly included.

Pictorial Histories Publishing, soft cover, 112 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs and illustrations, fully indexed. PHP401
Price: 19.95 USD

The Milwaukee Electrics.

Revised edition of a classic volume covering the development, equipment and operation of the Milwaukee Road's electrified zones across the Rockies and the Cascades. They conquered the mountains, but not the passage of time.

The Milwaukee Electrics is a book about legends. It is a book about the freight and passenger motors that ruled the Milwaukee Road's route through the mountains of Montana and Washington state for fifty-nine years. The electrics were a rugged and unique form of railroad motive power;
fueled through copper wires instead of coal or oil. Much of the story is told through the railroaders who worked on them.

Contents:
Ch. 1: The Route to Puget Sound, pp. 8-57;
Ch. 2: The General Electric Motors, pp. 58-101;
Ch. 3: The Steeple cab Switchers, pp. 102-109;
Ch. 4: The Bi-Polars, pp. 110-127;
Ch. 5: The Westinghouse Motors, pp. 128-143;
Ch. 6: The Little Joes, pp. 144-170;
Ch. 7: The Snowplows, pp. 171-179;
Ch. 8: The Electrical Distribution System, pp. 180-193;
Ch. 9: The Idaho Division, pp. 194-227;
Ch. 10: Economics and Company Policy, pp. 228-241;
Ch. 11: Tales of the Rails, pp. 242-271;
Ch. 12: Technical Appendix, Locomotives, pp. 272-301;
Bibliography and Index, pp. 302-304.

Hundman Publishing, hard cover with jacket, 304 pages, 8.5 x 11 x 1 in; 300 photographs (8 pages in color); maps; diagrams; roster. HP702
Price: 42.95 USD

The Milwaukee Road's Western Extension: The Building of a Transcontinental Railroad.

The Milwaukee Road's Western Extension is a fascinating story of the 1905-1915 building of the first through rail line between Chicago and Puget Sound. It was a daring decision that resulted in a remarkable accomplishment.

This is a tale of unusual human interaction at all levels-full of details about the people and events involved. It tells of the face-to-face personal and corporate struggle for power by Americas railroad barons, the courage and fortitude of pioneering civil engineer surveyors who pushed their way through literally thousands of miles of virgin wilderness in search of a workable route. It looks over the shoulders of hundreds of planners who attacked the unbelievably difficult problems of supplying 10,000 workers strung out over 1800 miles of planned right-of-way, devoid of roads or towns.

The reader is taken along and offered the opportunity to observe these laborers as they erect steel trestles three hundred feet above the forest floor, bore tunnels through almost 20 miles of mountain rock, build new bridges across the Missouri, the Yellowstone, the Columbia and a hundred other rivers and streams while they struggled to stay alive in the face of stifling heat, devastating floods, life threatening snow and cold, winds of hurricane strength and the presence of typhus that frequented their new route across the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The reader also learns why and how new construction machines came to virgin wilderness for the first time, discovers how the work crews lived, where they played and slept, what they ate, and sometimes how they died.

Reading this book is like taking a trip into the beginning of the 20th century when men like Teddy Roosevelt, the Rockefellers, Alva Edison and John Westinghouse were introducing the country to new ways of living and doing business, better medical care, electricity in every day life, and a new freedom-the freedom to travel without pause or discomfort all the way from the beaches of Lake Michigan to the clear waters of Puget Sound.

Based upon details and broad documentation gleaned from the records of the time, the story is one of fact rather than supposition, a broad tribute to the men who built the railroad. It is a saga of great accomplishment and remarkable people. Includes a valuable list of historical research sources and first time in print correspondence.

Table of Contents:
Forward by Michael Sol;
Ch. 1: To Be Or Not to Be;
Ch. 2: Breaking the Trail;
Ch. 3: A Leap of Faith;
Ch. 4: From the Ground Up;
Ch. 5: Making A List and Checking It Twice;
Ch. 6: Mechanical Wonders and Elbow Grease;
Ch. 7: Men to Match the Mountains;
Ch. 8: No Place Like Home;
Ch. 9: The Family Doctor;
Ch. 10: Eye of the Needle;
Ch. 11: Wagons West Mobridge to Harlowton;
Ch. 12: Lewis and Clark Land Harlowton to Butte;
Ch. 13: Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained Butte to St. Paul Pass;
Ch. 14: Proof of the Pudding St. Paul Pass to Sorrento;
Ch. 15 Water, Water, Everywhere Sorrento to Tacoma;
Ch. 16: Lights At the End of the Tunnel;
Ch. 17: Unfinished Business;
Epilogue; Appendix; William Rockefeller to Albert Earling Correspondence.

Museum of North Idaho, hard cover with jacket, over 500 pages, 11 x 8.5 x 2 in., nearly 450 photographs, drawing and maps, detailed index. MNI669
Price: 59.95 USD