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 addition 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 country. The railroad's 780-mile line from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles is no exception. To the uninformed it would seem as if the railroad was built just yesterday, yet the history of this, the Salt Lake Route, now spans more than a century rich in the annals of railroading and the American West.
As far as transcontinental railroads are concerned, the Salt Lake Route is a late comer, yet it is a true pioneer. The location of the railroad, connecting the City of Saints (Salt Lake City) with the City of Angels (Los Angeles) was built through largely undeveloped country more or less following the Old Spanish Trail. It even founded the City of Las Vegas, Nevada which in Spanish translates to "The Meadows" for wild grasses fed by artesian springs.
Organized in a chronological format, this volume covers in detail every aspect of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad's construction and operation, its merger with Union Pacific in the Twenties, and the challenges of competition, wartime and coping with the demands of the country it traversed.
Contents:
Introduction, pp. 6-10,
From Trail to Rail: Early Development, pp. 11-40,
The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Company: Completion and Early Operation, pp. 41-104,
The 'Pedro' Comes of Age: Union Pacific Assumes Control, pp. 105-184,
The LA&SL: Road of the Streamliners, pp. 185-252,
The California Division: Freeway for Freight, pp. 253-284,
Into the New Millennium: The 'Pedro' Enters its Second Century, pp. 285-312,
Epilogue, Bibliography, Index, pp. 313-320.
Hardcover with dust jacket, standard vertical format, 8 x 10 in., 320 pages, B&W and Color illustrations and photographs, maps and timetables.
