Rock Island Westward Volume 2: Rails to the Rockies

Out-of-Print. Limited quantity remains.

This is a high-quality, well-research book by the author who lived on this Rock Island route.

The Clay Center Line extended northwest from McFarland, Kansas, on the Golden State Route, to Belleville, Kansas, on the Rocky Mountain Line. Very little has been written about this important Kansas subdivision which the railroaders called the High Line. The author lived next to the Clay Center Line for 25 years.

This book is the result of several years research and numerous interviews to supplement the author's own extensive photo collection, records, and memories of the line. Detailed narration of train operations and motive power assignments enhance the 396 photographs which show all aspects of the line, including floods and wrecks.

From the COLORADO FLYER, streamlined Rockets and local passenger trains to the Red Ball freights, powered by 4-8-4 Northerns in both the 5000 and 5100 series or diesels of all types, the full story is told from construction to shutdown in 1980 of this portion of the Rock Island's history.

T. Lee Publications, hardcover with jacket, 256 pages, standard portrait format, 11 x 8.5 x 1 in., 396 photographs (35 in color), with timetables and detailed text.