The Boston & Maine Railroad that hired Don Hills in November 1941 was a battered road beginning to enjoy an unfortunately brief Renaissance. Second only to the New Haven Railroad in power and stature across New England, the B&M had reached its peak of mileage and service between 1910 and 1915. With the onset of highway competition and the Great Depression, B&M traffic collapsed - passenger revenues were only half of what they had been in 1929 by 1933. Freight revenues were similarly down.
The World War II years were hell on the B&M - but profitable - and the War Production Board allowed new diesel FT sets from General Motors to help alleviate the locomotive shortage. The post-war years held much promise as new diesel locomotives and passenger equipment were purchased. Then Patrick McGinnis arrived and combined with the departure and closing of industries, the opening of turnpikes and the Interstate Highway System and the B&M struggled to survive. Later came the Barriger Era, the Mellon and Springfield Terminal era where the B&M's routes (for the most part) live on.
Photographs cover steam, The Flying Yankee, diesels in their as-delivered colors, MBTA, and RDCs.
Contents:Donald G. Hills, Trackside Photographer, pp. 3-6,Trackside Prologue in black & white, pp. 12-13, Section 1: Trackside in the Postwar Era (1945-1953), pp. 14-76, Trackside in the Barriger (1971-1973) and Dustin Eras (1974-1983), pp. 77-128.
Hardcover with dust jacket, 128 pages, 8.5 x 11 in., Color photographs with captions.
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