This carefully researched and well-written book by an eminent railroad historian describes the conception and building of the Western Pacific, a railroad that was a Pacific extension for the Denver & Rio Grande.
Early surveys, complex financial arrangements, difficulties encountered during construction, effects of the San Francisco earthquake and the financial panic of 1907 are covered in detail. So are colorful events and personalities such as Hindu workers and tycoons Gould, Harriman and Hill. The railroad endured two receiverships and eventually experienced post-World War II prosperity.
Western Pacific operated such well-remembered passenger trains as the Feather River Express, Exposition Flyer, and California Zephyr. Coverage includes the northern California extension, built to connect with Great Northern's 1931 entrance into the Golden State, as well as a summary of later WP operations right up to the 1982 merger into Union Pacific and subsequent developments.
Colorado Railroad Museum, hardcover with dust jacket, 232 pages, standard portrait book 10 x 8 in., over 200 Black-and-White photographs, 17 Color photographs, 27 maps and index.
