Search Results: Golden West Books from Arizona Hobbies LLC

Golden West Books. Hardcover. New. Mountain railroading in Southern California has always been synonymous with names like Tehachapi, Cajon Pass and Beaumont Hill. While the two former passes have been the subject of several published histories, Beaumont Hill, Southern Pacific's gateway to Southern California, from the east, has been largely overlooked. The publication of this book fills that void. After years of exhaustive research, John R. Signor presents the full story of over a century of history and operations at Beaumont Hill. From its fragile beginnings in the 1870s up to today's heavy double-stack traffic, every facet of Beaumont Hill's long and colorful history has been explored. In the early days, learn about the desperate search for water to satisfy thirsty locomotives, of flashfloods and sandstorms, and how the blistering heat affected day-to-day operations. Trace the evolution of motive power from the diminutive American and Consolidation-type engines of the late nineteenth century… Read More

Golden West Books. Hardcover. New. This is an upgrade and update of what was a good book originally. The current edition includes the current era since the Union Pacific buyout of the Southern Pacific and includes color photographs and great maps that John Signor is known for. The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, Union Pacific's Salt Lake Route was first published in 1988 and has long been out of print. However, since the initial printing, much has happened on the old Salt Lake Route and considerable additional material has come to light. A desire to revise, correct, update and expand the first edition has resulted in this volume, and, with modern printing methods available today, it includes a great deal more color photographs and illustrations than the original. This revised edition includes 64 additional pages plus 48 period graphics and timetables, 52 maps, 415 photographs of which 81 are in color, a bibliography and index. Union Pacific is one of the most modern railroads in the… Read More

Golden West Books, 1985. Hardcover. New. This book tells the fascinating story of the development and operation of the Northern Pacific's most powerful and advanced steam locomotives. Making extensive use of the corporate records of the railroad, as well as interviews with former Mechanical Department employees, the authors document the life of the Northern Pacific's trend-setting 4-8-4, 2-8-8-4 and 4-6-6-4 steam locomotives. Several of the country's finest railroad photographers-Ronald Nixon, Warren McGee, Phil Hastings and Henry R. Griffiths, Jr., to name a few-contributed photographs for this book. Other illustrations came from private and public collections, including those of the Burlington Northern Railroad, Inc., the inheritor of Northern Pacific's legacy. This is a book which will appeal to rail enthusiasts, railroad historians, students of locomotive technology and anyone whose pulse quickens at the sight and sound of a giant steam locomotive. Contents: Preface, pp. 6-10, The Northern… Read More

Golden West Books. Hardcover. New. The Northern Pacific Railway entered the diesel era with a large fleet of modern steam locomotives, but gradually and then more rapidly, made the transition to diesel-electric motive power. Covering in detail, all of the NP's diesels: the first-generation switchers, the early road units, and the postwar road-switchers. The more powerful and technologically advanced second-generation units such as U25C, the U28C, the SD-45, and the U33C units are presented. Of the many books Golden Spike stocks, I read this one from cover to cover. It is an excellent book not only for the Northern Pacific, but for what the railroad mechanical departments experienced in selecting models from the many-at the time-diesel builders. It was especially humorous to read about the 'new' Baldwin road switcher that as the paint wore away revealed factory demonstrator colors! Contents: Preface, pp. 6-10, The Northern Pacific Before 1945, pp. 11-26, The Diesels Appear: 1938-1945, pp. 27-54,… Read More

Golden West Books. Hardcover. New. This is a second edition with updated information, images and tables. This book presents the complete intermodal story: The development of Gene Ryan's Rail Trailer Company, General Motors flirtation with a depressed center-car design, the establishment of Trailer Train, Southern Pacific's truck-trailer train experiment between Los Angeles and San Francisco (handling only company owned Pacific Motor Trucking Trailers), the separation of Pennsylvania Railroads influence over Trailer Train, and the combination of rail-highway units familiarly called Rail Van and RoadRailer. Featured are the various hitch arrangements, the once popular trailer-leasing program, the expansion of United Parcel from a department store delivery service to the United States' largest freight carrier and their influence on rail-piggyback. This book is written by an industry insider who tells the 'who' and 'why'. Contents: Introduction, pp. 10-12, The Less-Than-Carload Problem, pp. 13-20, It's… Read More

Golden West Books. Hardcover. New. The streamline style, which began by rounding corners of immobile objects, ushered in the Moderne era across America in the 1930s. Railroads decided to streamline with the coming of the diesel locomotive. Featured is the influence of designers such as Cret, Dreyfus, Bel Geddes, Kuhler, and Lowey. The evolution of semi-streamlining took place as depression-poor railroads attempted to modernize. The coming of Burlington's Zephyr and Union Pacifics M-1000, started a mad dash by Americas railroads to streamline passenger trains. There is also a chapter on streamlining of trains around-the-world. Some aircraft and automobiles of the era are also presented. Contents: The Streamline Style, pp. 9-20, Early Experiments Toward Streamlining, pp. 21-34, The Evolution of Semi-Streamlining, pp. 35-46, The Streamline Era: The Pioneers 1933-1935, pp. 47-88, Streamlining: The Middle Years 1936-1937, pp. 89-140, The Peak Years: Zenith and Decline, pp. 141-154, Diesel Invasion:… Read More