Synopses & Reviews
The first and only complete study of the Southwest's most successful railway is back in print! This book documents a proud history with diagrams, maps, and over 300 photographs. Includes a roster of every steam and diesel locomotive owned by the Cotton Belt and its predecessors up to 1977. A must-have for any locomotive enthusiast.
About the Author
According to his parents, Joe Strapac has been watching trains ever since he has been old enough to look out of windows. Raised within earshot of the Southern Pacific's San Pedro branch and the Pacific Electric's Southern District, he began a serious interest in locomotives and railroading in 1953. In the years since, he has accumulated a collection of information and photographs pertaining to locomotives in the West, with a particular emphasis upon those of the Southern Pacific and its associates. Over the past decades, he created and refined the "motive power annual" type of publication, preparing successive editions on the current diesel fleet of the Southern Pacific. In addition, he has contributed locomotive information to a number of books on railroading as well as writing many magazine articles.
Table of Contents
1. History
2. Shortlines Absorbed
3. Narrow-Gauge Locomotives
4. Steam Switchers
5. Eight-Wheelers
6. Atlantics
7. Moguls
8. Ten-Wheelers
9. Consolidations
10. Mountains
11. Northerns
12. Motor Cars
13. Diesel Passenger
14. Freight Cab Units
15. Diesel Swetchers
16. Freight Hood Units
17. The Roster