The Chicago & North Western Railway reached far into the western prairie and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway was the principal subsidiary that built and operated the extensive branch line network. In Nebraska, the branches reached almost to the Kansas border at the small but important freight hub of Superior. The "Omaha Road" operated some 311 miles of branches. This title surveys the lines north of Omaha to Sioux City, Iowa and west to Norfolk, Nebraska. Some photographs not taken by Hol Braden are from the earlier era when the lines were fairly new. The Braden photographs are from the 1950s and 60s showing later steam power and the condition of depots at those times.
Charts include years of construction, grades and lines restricted to light-weight locomotives.
Contents:Acknowledgments, Introduction, Biography of H. F. Braden, pp. 5-16;The Omaha Road in Nebraska, pp. 17-42;The C&NW and CStPM&O in Norfolk, pp. 43-48;The Omaha Road Photographs of H. F. Braden, pp. 49-79;Bibliography, pg. 80.
The Nebraska lines were different from any other segment of that railroad, driven by the geography of the area itself. This book tells how "the Omaha" developed, served the livestock trade and local economy, and remained important to many communities of northeast Nebraska well into the post-World War II era. It is otherwise illustrated with many of the CStPM&O steam era photographs taken by Hol F. Braden, a longtime C&NW employee at Norfolk, Nebraska.
South Platte Press, softcover, 80 pages, standard landscape format book 10 x 8 in., 88 Black-and-White photographs, along with maps and diagrams.
