Spirit of America Bookstore

American  Railroads
Page One

Railroad Film Festival Pages California Railroads Page Colorado Railroads Pages Nevada Railroads Page New Mexico Railroads Page Railroads of Texas Utah Railroads Page 'Railroads in Fiction' Pages 'Non-Fiction Books About Railroads' Pages Scale Model & Toy Trains Page

on this page: railroad links railroad art / image gallery railroad museums Class I railroads Class II railroads shortline railroads trolleys, interurban, light rail & supertrains

on page two: top of page railroad games U.S. railroad history railroad pioneers narrow-gauge RRs historic RR lines on page three: top of page transcontinental railroads railroad moguls railroad recordings

“There isn't a train I wouldn't take, no matter where it's going.”
— Edna St. Vincent Millay [1892-1950]

“Among the social forces of the modern world, the railroad holds unquestionably the first place. There is not a single occupation or interest which it has not radically affected. Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, city and country life, banking, finance, law, and even government itself, have all felt its influence.”
— Edward Howard, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1877

Railroad  Links

May 10th is National Train Day in USA [est. 2008]
Federal Railroad Administration of U.S.D.O.T.
TF's Railroad Forum
Mass Transit info at Working Minds / Solutions
Progressive Railroading Magazine
Wes Barris's Steam Locomotives website
Rails USA - rail site directory
The Western Railway Club [est. 1897] is based in Illinois
Rails USA webring {220+ members}
Steam Locomotive [dot] info website & Lineside Legacy column
Narrow Gauge Preservation Foundation [est. 2000]
train horns for cars & trucks - based in Durango, Colorado
Leyshon's Books Etc. - specialists in out-of-print railroad literature
North American Railway Foundation [est. 1996]
AO's 'Vacation by Rail: See America by Train' blogpost, 5/2011
'All Things Trains' webring {75 members}
Circus Trains: The Second Greatest Show On Earth
"The Colorado Timetable: The World's Best Railroad Newspaper" [website est. 2009] based in Chama, New Mexico
U.S. Railroad {dot} net [last update 2011, site falling apart]
Terry DeFranco's 'The Railroad Nation' weblog
National Association of Timetable Collectors [est. 1962]

  A-Trains mail-order [est. 1986] based in Greenwood (Indianapolis), Indiana
  Historic Rail & Roads mail-order [est. ?], 640 Taft Street NE in Minneapolis, MN
  Schrader's Railroad Catalog mail-order [est. 1978] based in Fairview, MI

Classic Trains Magazine subscribe at Amazon 4 issues/year for $24.95 subscribe on Kindle at Amazon for $1.96/qtr magazine website

Railfan & Railroad Magazine subscription via Amazon not available magazine website

Trains Magazine subscribe at Amazon 12 issues/year for $42.95 subscribe on Kindle at Amazon 12 issues/year for $3.58/month magazine website

Railway Age Magazine [est. 1856] subscription via Amazon not available magazine website entry at Wikipedia

Railroad Explorer Magazine: The Eastern Rail Photo Journal [2001-2017] 51 issues over 17 years, publication ended in October 2017; most back issues are sold out (2020) magazine website no entry at Wikipedia

Non-USA  Railroad  Links
Assn. of Train Operating Companies [est. 1993] of U.K.
worldwide Train Station Hotel Depot website
Steam Railway Magazine [est. 1980] of U.K.

The American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, Inc. [est. 1979]

Spirit of America Bookstore's
Private Railcars U.S.A. Page

Spirit of America Bookstore's
Colorado railroad tycoon David H. Moffat [1839-1911] Page

Spirit of America Bookstore's
railroad tycoon George Pullman [1831-97] Page

Railroad  Art
railroad-themed artwork at A-Trains.com

railroad art by Rod Aszman of San Luis Obispo, CA
railroad art by Gil Bennett of Lehi, Utah
Don Ingwersen Railroad Renderings train art - based in Florida {website given up 2014}

author/photographer Lucius Beebe [1902-66] and photographer Charles Clegg [1916-79]
more books and info about both on Spirit of America Bookstore's Lucius Beebe Page

"The Railroad Photography of Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg" [2019] by Tony Reevy Kindle Edition from Indiana Univ Press [2/2019] for $19.84 Indiana Univ Press 10¼x10 hardcover [2/2019] for $31.56

illustrator Howard L. Fogg, Jr. [1917-96] of Boulder, Colorado
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_L._Fogg
"Fogg and Steam" [Pruett Publng, 5/1978] by Frank Clodfelter ISBN 978-0-87108-522-1
"Howard Fogg and The Diesel Image: A Color Compilation of Choice Diesel Locomotive Renditions from America's Foremost
Railroad Illustrator" [5/1987] by John Scala ISBN 978-0-9612814-1-0
"The Railroad Artistry of Howard Fogg" [Cedco Publng, 9/1999] by Ronald Hill & Al Chione 978-0-7683-2112-8

photographer O. Winston Link [1914-2001]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Winston_Link
browse books by O. Winston Link
O. Winston Link Museum [open 2004], 101 Shenandoah Avenue NE in Roanoke, Virginia

railroad photographer Martin Matlack is based in Bernalillo, New Mexico
official website • Home at the Range Caf้ Gallery & Gifts in Bernalillo, NM

New York Central RR illustrator Leslie Darrell Ragan [1897-1972]
http://www.iridetheharlemline.com/2010/04/30/friday%E2%80%99s-from-the-historical-archive-leslie-ragan-artist-of-the-new-york-central/

  Center for Railroad Photography & Art [est. 1997] in Madison, Wisconsin
official website • CRP&A's entry at Wikipedia

CRP&A's Railroad Heritage {dot} org® Web Portal For Significant Images of Railroading

"Railroad Sunset" [1929] by Edward Hopper [1882-1967] click for larger view 37"x27" poster from Amazon

"Compartment C, Car 293" [1938] by Edward Hopper [1882-1967] click for larger view

"Chair Car" [1965] by Edward Hopper [1882-1967] click for larger view

"Train Window On The West" Saturday Evening Post cover July 1954 by George Hughes [1907-89] click for larger view

other art by Edward Hopper [1882-1967]

	"Great Railroad Paintings" [1976] Edited by Robert Goldsborough Peacock Press/Bantam 8&34x10¾ pb [8/00] out of print/40+ used Peacock Press/Bantam pb [1976] out of print/used
	"One Track Mind: Photographic Essays On Western Railroading" [1999] by Ted Benson Boston Mills Press 12½x10¾ hardcover [12/99] out of print/used

http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Wheels-Rolling-Personal-Photography/dp/1550463314/
http://www.amazon.com/Outbound-Trains-Mergers-Railroad-Photography/dp/1550464035/
http://www.amazon.com/Railway-Photography-Brian-Solomon/dp/0873495667/
http://www.amazon.com/Otto-Perry-Master-Railroad-Photographer/dp/0918654327/

Railroads  On  The  Stage

"Last Train To Nibroc" stageplay [2000] by Arlene Hutton Very popular two-person romantic comedy, but actually not very railroad-y: boy and girl meet on a train circa 1940 (sets often minimal); second act is at a local summer fair, third act is on the front porch Dramatists Play Service 7½x5 playscript [2000] out of print/used

"The Train Driver" stageplay [2010] written by Athol Fugard
Fugard is no longer on the faculty at UC San Diego (2016)
Athol Fugard entry at Wikipedia • stageplay entry at Wikipedia

"Railway Travel In The Modern Theatre: Transforming The Space and Time of The Stage" [2014] by Kyle Gillette "By analyzing theatrical representations of railway travel, this book argues that modern theatre's perceptual, historical, and social productions of space and time were stretched by theatre's attempts to stage the locomotive." • Works discussed include: a stageplay by Henrik Ibsen [1828-1906]; Witkiewicz's "The Crazy Locomotive" [1923]; Erwin Piscator's ".. Soldier Schwejk" [1928]; Thornton Wilder's "Pullman Car Hiawatha" [1931]; Amiri Baraka's subway play "Dutchman" [1964]; and Robert Wilson's "Einstein On The Beach" [1976] Kindle Edition from McFarland & Co. [5/2014] for $29.99 {sic} McFarland & Co. 8¾x6 pb [5/2014] for $55.00

Image  Gallery

Railroad  Museums

list of railroad museums & tourist lines at Wikipedia

"Great Railroad Museums of The U.S.A.: The Railfan's Guide" [2013] by Jan Young Details of the 'sixty-seven largest, most interesting, and most important railroad museums in the country'; special index listing 160+ especially-interesting cars & locomotives (with locations); ninety photographs; and bonus chapters on the six best museum rail rides in the country, and nineteen significant rail preservation sites outside of traditional railroad museums. LULU.com 9x6 pb [2/2013] for $20.66 LULU.com 'in color' edition 9x6 pb [2/2013] for $66.89

Another section that grew quite large, and so was cut to its own page in Spring 2015.

G.E. Nordell's Travel U.S.A. / Railroad Museums Page

Australia
Tramway Museum Society of Victoria [est. 1963] & Melbourne Tramway Museum

Canada
G.E. Nordell's Canada Travel / Railroad Links Page
Canadian Museum of Rail Travel [est. 1976] in Cranbrook, BC
British Columbia Forest Discovery Centre Museum [est. 1965]
  West Coast Railway Association [est. 1961] in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Elmira Railway Museum on Prince Edward Island in Canada

United Kingdom
Beamish Open Air Museum of Northeast England
The Miniature Railway Museum Trust [est. 9/2008, status unclear 2020] at Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England

Europe
Denmark's Railway Museum [est. 1904, built 1975] in Odense, Denmark  •  watch video [1:29]

Republic of South Africa [est. 1961]
Outeniqua Transport Museum [est. 1998] in George, Western Cape, South Africa

Class  I  Railroads
Trains Magazine's Class I Railroad Directory
Class I Railroad entry at Wikipedia
SteelRoads web application site of the Class I Railroads

	"Atlas of North American Railroads" [orig 1996, rev 2005] by Bill Yenne The maps are organized by railroad, rather than by state, and go back as far as 1831 M.B.I./Voyageur Press 11x9 hardcover [12/2005] for $25.86
	"Historical Atlas of The North American Railroad" [2010] by Derek Hayes includes over 400 old railroad maps, organized in roughly chronological order Univ CA Press 13x9¾ hardcover [10/2010] for $26.37

The seven Class I freight railroads of America are a monopoly: their combined sales revenue is 91% of all U.S. rail freight traffic. The railroad industry took in over $69 billion in 2012. The seven Class I freight railroads are: BNSF Railway Co., Canadian National Railway (Grand Trunk Corp.), Canadian Pacific (Soo Line Corp.), CSX Transportation, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited {merger 4/2023}, Norfolk Southern Combined Railroad Subsidiaries, and Union Pacific Railroad Co. Union Pacific Railroad [est. 1862, U.P./S.P. merger Sept. 1996] Union Pacific celebrated their 150th Anniversary in 2012 Union Pacific Railroad entry at Wikipedia Union Pacific Historical Society [est. 1984] Union Pacific Railroad Museum [opened 2003] in Council Bluffs, Iowa    "M.B.I. Railroad Color History: Union Pacific Railroad" [2009] by Joe Welsh & Kevin J. Holland M.B.I./Voyageur Press hardcover [1/2010] for $28.12 "M.B.I. Railroad Color History: Union Pacific Railroad" [2000] by Brian Solomon M.B.I./Voyageur Press 10½x8¼ pb [9/2000] for $21.33 Norfolk Southern Corp. [merged 1982] History back to 1827; formed by June 1982 merger of the Norfolk & Western Railway [1838-1982] and the Southern Railway Company [1894-1982]; acquired elements of Conrail in 1997. Norfolk Southern Railroad entry at Wikipedia C.S.X. Transportation, Inc. [merger 1980] C.S.X. Transportation entry at Wikipedia Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Est. 1849 & 1859; 1960 merger of Great Northern, Northern Pacific, CB&Q; 1970 merger with SP&S and Pacific Coast RR to form Burlington Northern; Frisco merger 1980; merger of BN & SF Sept. 1995; purchased by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $44 billion in November 2009 Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway entry at Wikipedia    "M.B.I. Railroad Color History: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway" [2005] by Brian Solomon M.B.I./Voyageur Press 12½x10¾ hardcover [11/2005] for $35.00 Kansas City Southern Railway Co. [est. 1887] Kansas City Southern Railway entry at Wikipedia Kansas City Southern RR Historical Society wholly-owned subsidiary Kansas City Southern de M้xico Kansas City Southern de M้xico entry at Wikipedia 50%-owned subsidiary Panama Canal Railway [est. 1855] crosses the Isthmus of Panama from Col๓n (on the Atlantic coast) south and east to Balboa (on the Pacific coast) Panama Canal Railway entry at Wikipedia U.S. regulators approved a merger/purchase by Canadian Pacific Railway, effective April 2023; the new company will be named Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited; details to be posted here when available. The Soo Line Railroad Co. Founded in 1883 as the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway; wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Canadian Pacific since 1990. Soo Line Railroad entry at Wikipedia Soo Line Historical & Technical Society [est. 1970] PN's Soo Line fansite RK's timeline of Soo Line history Grand Trunk Corp. [est. 1852] U.S. subsidiary of Canadian National; since 1995, primarily a holding company for Grand Trunk Western RR, Illinois Central RR, Wisconsin Central RR, the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway, and Great Lakes Transportation. Grand Trunk Railway entry at Wikipedia Grand Trunk Western RR Historical Society LK's Grand Trunk Railway fansite ... and in Canada: Canadian National Railway [est. 1832, merger 1919, IPO Nov. 1995] Canadian National Railway entry at Wikipedia Canadian National Railway Historic Photograph Archives Canadian National Lines S.I.G.   Canadian Pacific Railway [est. 1881] Canadian Pacific Railway's official heritage website Canadian Pacific Railway entry at Wikipedia U.S. regulators approved a merger/purchase by Canadian Pacific Railway, effective April 2023; the new company will be named Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited; details to be posted here when available.

Major  Lines  Merged  Into  Above  Class I  Railroads

Burlington Northern Railroad [1970-1995]
[created in 1970 by the merger of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad,
Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway]
Burlington Northern Railroad entry at Wikipedia
Friends of The Burlington Northern RR Historical Society [est. 1992]

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
[est. 1848, merged into Burlington Northern in 1970]
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad entry at Wikipedia
Burlington Route Historical Society [est. 1979] based in La Grange, Illinois
B.R.H.S. Equipment Roster Listings Pages

"Steam Locomotives of The Burlington Route" - the definitive work on Q steam

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad
[est. 1847, generally known as 'The Milwaukee Road'; merged into Soo Line in 1986]
Milwaukee Road entry at Wikipedia

	"Milwaukee Road Remembered: A Fresh Look At An Unusual Railroad" [1990] by Jim Scribbins Univ MN Press 8½x11 pb [12/2008] for $21.86 Kalmbach Publng hardcover [6/90] out of print/used
	"M.B.I. Railroad Color History: The Milwaukee Road" [2005] by Tom Murray M.B.I./Voyageur Press 11xx8¾ hardcover [10/2005] for $28.08

Frisco Lines {St. Louis & San Francisco Railway}
[est. 1876; merged into Burlington Northern 1980]
Frisco Lines/SL&SF entry at Wikipedia

Great Northern Railway
[est. 1889; merged into Burlington Northern in 1960]
Great Northern Railway entry at Wikipedia

New York Central Railroad [1831-1968 merger]
[New York Central RR history goes back to 1831; merged with the Pennsylvania RR and NYNH&H 'New Haven' RR in February 1968
and formed the Penn Central RR, which became ConRail in 1976]
New York Central RR entry at Wikipedia

New York Central Lines Presents "The Flight of The Century: The Most Famous Train In The World" short film [1935]
watch movie [badly framed version 17:46] online at YouTube
slightly-better version at YouTube (in two parts): watch part 1 [8:31] • watch part 2 [8:18]

New York Central System Presents "The Steam Locomotive" short film [1938]
b&w promotional film featuring Hudson-type locomotives, including #5226, #5235, #5238, #5252, #5262, #5281, #5302 & #5314
watch movie [18:46] online at YouTube

New York Central System Presents "The Freight Yard" short film [1940s]
b&w promotional film featuring the Dewitt Yard outside of Syracuse, New York
watch movie [24:44] online at YouTube

New York Central System Presents "The Railroad Signal" short film [1948]
watch movie [17:26] online at YouTube

New York Central System Presents "The Big Train" short film [1950s]
Produced & directed by Victor D. Solow, narration by Joe Julian
watch movie [25:10] online at YouTube

list of 26 popular New York Central RR short videos at YouTube
list of 69 popular 20th Century Limited & New York Central RR short videos at YouTube

The National New York Central Railroad Museum is located in Elkhart, Indiana
watch 12/2011 N.Y.C.R.R. Museum visit video [2:46] at YouTube
watch Trainman's 10/2012 N.Y.C.R.R. Museum tour video [6:57] at YouTube

       
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad [1872-1968 merger]
[New York, New Haven & Hartford RR history goes back to 1872; merged with the Pennsylvania RR and the New York Central RR in February 1968
and formed the Penn Central RR, which became ConRail in 1976]
New York, New Haven & Hartford RR entry at Wikipedia

Northern Pacific Railway
[est. 1864; merged into Burlington Northern 1960]
Northern Pacific Railway entry at Wikipedia

       
Penn Central [1968-1976] / ConRail [1976-1999]
[New York Central RR history goes back to 1831; Pennsylvania RR history goes back to 1846; New York, New Haven & Hartford RR history
goes back to 1872. The February 1968 merger of NYC & PRR & money-losing NH was unsuccessful, company filed for bankruptcy in June 1970;
nationalized as ConRail in 1976; split to CSX and Norfolk Southern in June 1999]
New York Central RR entry at Wikipedia
Pennsylvania RR entry at Wikipedia
New York, New Haven & Hartford RR entry at Wikipedia
Penn Central RR entry at Wikipedia
ConRail entry at Wikipedia

Penn Central Railroad Historical Society [est. 1999] is based in New Jersey

"The Untold Story of The Survival of The Penn Central Company" free ebook [2003] by Donald B. Prell online .PDF file [3/2014] download for FREE

Pennsylvania Railroad [1846-1968 merger]
[Pennsylvania RR history goes back to 1846; merged with the New York Central RR and NYNH&H 'New Haven' RR in February 1968
and formed the Penn Central RR, which became ConRail in 1976]
Pennsylvania RR entry at Wikipedia

Santa Fe Railway
[est. 1859 as Atchison & Topeka RR Company; renamed Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railway in 1863; merged into B.N.S.F. 1995]
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway entry at Wikipedia
Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society [est. 1994]

AT&SF concessionaire Harvey House Restaurants [1875-1968]

	"All Aboard for Santa Fe: Railway Promotion of The Southwest, 1890s to 1930s" [2005] by Victoria E. Dye Univ NM Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/2005] for $16.47
	"Santa Fe: The Chief Way" [2001] by Robert Strein, John Vaughan & C. Fenton Richards Jr. Kindle Edition from Univ New Mexico Press [10/2017] for $9.99 Univ New Mexico Press 10¼x10pb [11/2017] for $28.76 New Mexico Magazine 10x10 pb [9/2001] out of print/used New Mexico Magazine 10¼x10¼ hardcover [9/2001] for $26.37
	"M.B.I. Railroad Color History: Santa Fe Railway" [2008] by Steve Glischinski M.B.I./Voyageur Press 10¾x8½ hardcover [12/2008] for $27.01

Southern Pacific Railroad
[began as the Central Pacific Railroad in 1862; Southern Pacific Railroad was founded in 1865,
and the two merged in 1885; SP merged into the Union Pacific in 1996]
Southern Pacific Railroad entry at Wikipedia

Southern Pacific RR Historical & Technical Society
Southern Pacific RR 'Coast Daylight' trains fansite

Southern Pacific Railroad Presents "This Is My Railroad" short film [1952]
watch movie [28:58] online at YouTube

"M.B.I. Railroad Color History: Southern Pacific Railroad" [2007] by Brian Solomon M.B.I./Voyageur Press 11x8½ hardcover [11/2007] for $24.63

       
Southern Railway Company [1894-1990]
[history back to 1827; Southern Railway formed in 1894; merged into
Norfolk Southern in 1982, lost identity in 1990]
Southern Railway entry at Wikipedia
Southern Railway Historical Assn./Society

"M.B.I. Railroad Color History: Southern Railway" [2007] by Tom Murray M.B.I./Voyageur Press hardcover [12/2007] for $26.97

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway [1905-70]
[est. 1905; merged into Burlington Northern 1970]
Spokane, Portland & Seattle entry at Wikipedia

Wisconsin Central Railway
[est. 1871; wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Canadian National since 2001]
C.N. official Wisconsin Central history
Wisconsin Central Railway entry at Wikipedia

       
Amtrak Passenger Service [est. May 1971]
official website • Wikipedia

	"End of The Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and The Future of America's Passenger Trains" [2004] by Joseph Vranich Very critical author was head of the National Association of Railroad Passengers in the 1970s, president of the High Speed Rail Association for two years, and a manager at Amtrak – and yet Amtrak is increasingly successful and popular since the turn of the Millennium. A.E.I. Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [2004] for $19.85
	"Amtrak: An American Story" [2011] from The Staff of Amtrak Kalmbach Books 11x8½ pb [6/2011] for $16.02
	"Riding Amtrak: The Rise and Fall of America On Rails" [2012] by Lionel Steel Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [7/2014] for $4.99 CreateSpace 9x6 pb [6/2012] for $6.29
	"Amtrak Across America: An Illustrated History" [2012] by John A. Fostik Enthusiast Books 11x8½ pb [10/2012] for $22.27

VIA Rail Canada Passenger Service [est. 1978]
Via Rail carries approximately 4.1 million passengers annually on 497 trains per week over a network of 12,500 kilometres (7,800 mi) of track in eight Canadian provinces, almost all of which is owned & operated by CN Rail. As the Canadian economy ebbs and flows, VIA Rail quite often removes and restores services; several lines are replaced by buses or shut down altogether due to deteriorating roadbed; headquarters in Montr้al, PQ.
official website • Wikipedia

these three books were self-published by Eric Gagnon in 2011 & 2012 and are not (yet) showing on Amazon; latest information is available on his weblog

National Assn. of Railroad Passengers
United Rail Passenger Alliance [of U.S.A.]
North American Railway Foundation [est. 1996]
Freight Train Riders Assn.
Arizona Rail Passenger Assn.
Train Riders Assn. of California
Rail Passenger Alliance of California
RAILS: New Mexico's Passenger Rail Action Group [est. 1998]
New Mexico Rail Passenger Alliance

worldwide Train Station Hotel Depot website
Rocky Mountaineer RailTours of Canada
Rail Europe [est. 1930s] - leading authority on European rail travel

	"All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide" [4th edition 2015] by Jim Loomis Kindle Edition from Chicago Review Press [1/2015] for $9.99 Chicago Review Press 4th edition 8¾x5½ pb [1/2015] for $15.34
	"Tourist Trains Guidebook" [2007, rev 2017] from Trains Magazine Describes 500 of the most popular train attractions, museums, and railroad vacation destinations in the U.S. and Canada, with over 200 of the most popular sites detailed in full-page reviews Kalmbach Publng 6th edition 8¼x5½ pb [5/2017] for $15.63 Kalmbach Publng 5th edition 8¼x5½ pb [5/2015] for $15.63

information on commercial rail tours in U.S.A. & elsewhere, passenger car charters, and private rail cars
can be found at Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Equipment Pages / Passenger Cars Section

Class  II  Railroads
These are mid-sized, mostly freight-hauling railroads, with operating revenue (as-of 2006) greater than $20.5 million but less than
$277.7 million for at least three consecutive years; switching & terminal railroads are excluded from Class II status.
list of U.S. Class II railroads at Wikipedia

Alaska Railroad [reporting mark ARR; started 1903, completed 1923, owned by State of Alaska]
official website • entry at Wikipedia
http://www.alaskarails.org/

Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad [reporting mark BPRR; est. 1988, ex-B&O branch]
Genesee & Wyoming official BPR website • entry at Wikipedia

Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad [reporting mark CORP; est. 1995, ex-SPRR branch]
official information at RailAmerica • entry at Wikipedia
Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad Unofficial Homepage

                          
Florida East Coast Railway [reporting mark FEC; est. 1881]
F.E.C. Industries official website • F.E.C. Railway official website • F.E.C. Railway entry at Wikipedia

The Florida East Coast Railway began as the narrow-gauge Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax River Railroad in 1881, which was purchased in 1885
by Henry Flagler [1830-1913] and renamed; he also acquired the St. Augustine Palatka Railroad and the St. John’s Railroad, and by 1889 had laid
track as far south as Daytona. By 1894, the railroad was extended to West Palm Beach, and by 1901 had reached Miami. Before and during
construction, the new railroad extension to Key West, Florida was called "Flagler's Folly"; after it opened, it became known as
“The Eighth Wonder of the World”. The Key West line was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935, leaving the mainline at 366 miles (589km) in length.

Florida East Coast Railway Society [est. 1999] of Palmetto Bay, Florida
F.E.C. Key West Extension fansite
FECRR/Flagler article at Florida Keys Historical Preservation Society website
possible restoration [2011] of the 1917 FEC station at Tequesta, Florida
JD's F.E.C. Railway fansite

	"The Florida Keys Overseas Railway" [2006] by Warren Zeiller Signature Press 11x8½ hardcover [2006] out of print/used
	"Florida East Coast Railway (Images of Rail Series)" [2006] by Seth H. Bramson Arcadia Publng 9¼x6½ pb [10/2006] for $16.05
	"The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler & The Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension" [2011] by Seth H. Bramson The History Press 8¾x5¾ pb [11/2011] for $18.74

for more info (history, route detail, equipment, books, movies) visit
G.E. Nordell's Florida East Coast Railway [est. 1885] Page

Great Lakes Central Railroad [reporting mark GLC; est. 1977]
Formed in 1977 as the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay Railway from portions of Penn Central, and expanded onto portions of Ann Arbor,
GR&I, C&O/CSX, and GTW; purchased by Federated Railways in 2006 and name changed.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Indiana Rail Road [reporting mark INRD; est. 1986]
official website • entry at Wikipedia
http://inrd.gotdns.com/ fansite

Iowa Interstate Railroad, Ltd. [reporting mark IAIS; est. 1984]
official website • entry at Wikipedia
http://www.iaisrailfans.org/ fansite

Long Island Rail Road commuter rail system [reporting mark LI; est. 1834]
M.T.A. official LIRR website • entry at Wikipedia

Montana Rail Link [reporting mark MRL; est. 1987] is a privately-held unit of
The Washington Companies and is based in Missoula, Montana; MRL operates over 900 miles
(1,400 km) of trackage in Montana & Idaho originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. [reporting mark MMA; est. 2002]
Formed by Rail World, Inc. in October 2002 as a merger of bankrupt Iron Road Railways subsidiaries Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, Canadian American Railroad,
Northern Vermont Railroad, and Quebec Southern Railway; MMA sold off 233 miles of trackage in northern Maine in 2011, leaving 512 miles in operation.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway [reporting mark NYSW; est. 1854]
Purchased by Delaware Otsego Corp. [est. 1966] in 1980, then taken over by Norfolk Southern and CSX in 1997.
official website • entry at Wikipedia
New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway Technical & Historical Society

Paducah & Louisville Railway [reporting mark PAL; est. 1986, ex-ICG branch] in Kentucky
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Pan Am Railways [est. 1981, renamed 1998] is based in Massachusetts official website • entry at Wikipedia Guilford Transportation Industries was founded by Timothy Mellon in 1981 to purchase the Maine Central Railroad [est. 1862] and its 124-mile subsidiary Portland Terminal Company [est. 1911]; G.T.I. purchased the bankrupt Boston & Maine [est. 1836] and its 6½-mile subsidiary Springfield Terminal Railway Company in 1983. G.T.I. purchased the Delaware & Hudson RR from N&W in 1984, made anti-employee changes and caused a series of strikes; G.T.I. placed D&H in bankruptcy in 1988; Canadian Pacific acquired D&H in 1990 and quickly reversed the damage done by Mellon & G.T.I. In 1998 G.T.I. purchased rights and trademarks of bankrupt Pan Am Airways and revived the airline in the northest as Pan American Airways [1998–2004]; G.T.I. rebranded the railroad as Pan Am Railways in 2006. P.A.R. formed a joint venture with Norfolk Southern Railway in 2009; the Pan Am Southern 'paper railroad' operates 155 miles of main line track and 281 miles (452 km) of secondary and branch trackage & rights in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. In 2014, Canadian Pacific announced that it was keeping the D&H track from Montreal to Albany but put the 285-mile route from Schenectady to Oneonta in New York to Scranton and Sunbury in Pennsylvania up for sale; in November 2014, Norfolk Southern agreed to purchase the offered portion of D&H right-of-way for $217 million. (It is doubtful whether the D&H name will survive for long.)

Providence & Worcester Railroad [reporting mark PW; est. 1844]
Incorporated in 1844; leased in 1892 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which was taken over by Penn Central in 1969;
P&W broke away in 1973 and has since expanded on Penn Central and B&M lines to today's total of xx miles.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad

Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad [reporting mark RBMN; est. 1990] in Pennsylvania
Commonly known as the 'Reading & Northern'; operates 300 miles of trackage; the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway [est. 2005]
operates on RBMN track; freight business has increased dramatically due to 'fracking' operations in the Marcellus Shale.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway [reporting mark WE; est. 1990]
Original narrow-gauge Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway founded in 1871; converted to standard gauge in 1880; leased by the Nickel Plate Road
in 1949, which merged with Norfolk & Western Railway in 1964; W&LE absorbed by N&W in 1988; majority sold off by N&W in 1990;
currently operates on 575 miles of owned trackage and 265 miles of rights.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad [reporting mark WSOR; est. 1980]
Founded in 1980 to operate lines abandoned by the Milwaukee Road; expansion followed, often aided by the state of Wisconsin;
Watco Transportation of Kansas purchased a majority stake in W&S in early 2012; W&S currently operates 700 miles of trackage.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

last section update April 2015

U.S.A. Shortline  Railroads

American Short Line & Regional Railroad Database
Trains Magazine's Regional & Short Line Railroad Directory
U.P. Railroad's Short Line Railroad Directory
Norfolk Southern Railroad directory of shortlines (by state)
Tourist Railways Information Center website got hacked {2017}
T.R.A.In. - Tourist Railway Assn., Inc.
U.P. Railroad Shortline Railroad Profiles for the USA

This is another section that grew large and so was cut to its own page in early 2015.

Spirit of America's Shortline Railroads Pages
top of page • short history • links • Class III / shortline railroads •
shortline operators • shortlines by state • books & other media

Genesee & Wyoming Shortline Railroads Pages
OmniTRAX Shortline Railroads Page
Watco Companies Shortline Railroads Page

Trolleys,  Interurban,  Light Rail  &  Supertrains

Working Minds / Solutions / Alternative Vehicles / Mass Transit
'streetcars in North America' page at Wikipedia

Valley Metro Light Rail System {opening 12/2008} in Phoenix, Arizona

Californians for High-Speed Trains Coalition
C.H.S.T.C. 's Proposition 1-A won 53% to 47% in the Nov 2008 election
San Diego [CA] Trolley [est. 1981]
Bay Area Rapid Transit [launched 1972] of California
historic Waterfront Red Car Trolley Line [re-opened July 2003] in San Pedro, CA
Exposition Light Rail Transit Line in West Los Angeles, CA

Metro Denver Regional Transportation District Light Rail [est. 1994]
includes 6 light rail lines with 46 stations and 47 miles (76 km) of track; the Denver West Light Rail Line to Golden opened 4/2013.

New England Railroad {proposed line from Maine to Montreal, PQ}

All Aboard Florida private intercity high-speed passenger rail project
proposed route runs from Downtown Miami to Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, then north and west to Orlando.

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation [under construction 2017, opening 2020] on Oahu in Hawai'i

The Texas Central Railroad Partners high-speed rail project received federal approval 9/2020; the line will connect Dallas and Houston - the two biggest cities
in Texas - within 90 minutes travel time; construction could begin in the first half of 2021. The project is opposed by Texans Against High Speed Rail [est. 2015],
based on a belief that the rail line will fail economically, either before or after being built.
read 9/2020 article at the Texas Tribune [est. 2009]

visit Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Equipment / Streetcars, Subways & Interurban Page
top of page • streetcar museums • active streetcar lines • streetcar builders • historic streetcar lines • reading material

	"Supertrains" [1976] by John Gabriel Navarra from the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry Doubleday 9½x6¼ hardcover [1976] out of print/used Doubleday 9½x6¼ library hardcover [1976] out of print/used
	"The Young Engineer Book of Supertrains" [1978] by Jonathan Rutland "Understanding trains and how they work" Hayes Books 10¾x8½ pb [1978] out of print/used
	"Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation" [2009] by Paul Weyrich & William S. Lind A collection of studies that supports a conservative view that light rail, commuter rail, and intercity rail are good for America Reconnecting America 9x8 pb [2009] out of print/used

Railroad  Film  Festival

      now on separate pages      

Railroads  in  Fiction

this section also kept growing, and was cut in Summer 2012 to a separate page . . .

as was also Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroads in Fiction - Books For Young Railfans Page in 2015.

Spirit of America Bookstore's American Railroads Pages

here on page one:  top of page • links • museums • Class I railroads • Class II railroads • shortline railroads

on page two:  top of page • games • RR history • narrow gauge RRs • historic RR lines • books

on page three:  top of page • transcontinental railroads • railroad moguls • railroad recordings

SUGGESTIONS: Anyone who has (or knows of) any railroad-related product or website on the internet may request consideration
for inclusion on these Spirit of America Bookstore Railroad Pages by sending a suggestion email that specifies the URL.

Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Railroads in Fiction' Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroads in Fiction - Books For Young Railfans Page

Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Non-Fiction Books About Railroads' Pages

Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Equipment Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Geared Steam Locomotives Page
Spirit of America Bookstore's Private Railcars U.S.A. Page

Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Film Festival Pages

America's Shortline Railroads Pages

Spirit of America Bookstore's Scale Model & Toy Trains Page

G.E. Nordell's Arizona Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's California Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's Colorado Travel / Railroads Links Pages
G.E. Nordell's Nevada Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's New Mexico Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's Utah Travel / Railroads Links Page

G.E. Nordell's Travel U.S.A. / Railroad Museums Page

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