Forthcoming Books
Southern Pacific Freight Cars, Volume 4 (Revised)
Anthony W. Thompson
Returning to print in a revised edition is the fourth volume in the series about Southern Pacific box cars. Like the other volumes in the series, it covers roughly 1865 to 1965. Box cars were the most numerous car type on the SP, so this car type dominates many yard and train photographs. This is the complete history of SP's box cars, from the 25-foot, 15-ton cars of 1865 to the 86-foot auto cars of 1963, and much more, including special cars such as the black Overnight box cars.
Some minor errors have been corrected, and more photos added, to create this revised edition. It is now 16 pages longer. Any historian or modeler interested in the Southern Pacific will want to own this big book. Publication date TBA.
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Fred A. Stindt
The Northwestern Pacific was one of California's most distinctive railroads, connecting the northwest corner of the state at Eureka with the San Francisco Bay Area. Its primary business was lumber, largely interchanged with Southern Pacific. Over the years, passenger and general freight services were also an important part of operations, as were passenger ferryboats and electrified commuter services. The NWP was founded in 1907 as a joint property of SP and Santa Fe, to combine several existing railroads; in 1929, SP took over sole ownership.
Fred Stindt, longtime historian and enthusiast of the NWP, originally published two volumes on this topic, and said on many occasions that he wished he had gotten around to combining them. This book is that combined edition, with all the material of the two volumes Fred produced, and some additional information. It contains a great wealth of photo illustrations, along with timetable, map, and advertising materials.
Artist John Signor has created the cover painting based on a historic NWP passenger train photograph. Publication date TBA.