"The Sacramento Northern Railway was once a critical interurban link between California’s northern Central Valley communities, the state capital, and the Bay Area. Running through orchards, farmland, swamps, and cities, this electric railway began its life in 1905. Service eventually ran from Chico to Oakland, but after the Bay Bridge opened in 1939, the 186-mile route started in San Francisco’s Financial District, crossed the bridge on the lower deck, ran through Contra Costa County towns like Moraga, Lafayette, and Pittsburg, across the Suisun straits on the massive rail ferry Ramon (which could hold an entire train), and into Sacramento, the halfway point. From there, the train continued through rolling hills and farms on to Marysville, and finally to Chico before making its return journey. The Sacramento Northern soldiered on until World War II, but eventually the growing car culture, along with competing diesel railroads, undid this splendid line. Interurban passenger service ended in 1941, and the various lines were gradually abandoned or dieselized. Today a 22-mile segment of the route remains in operation at the Bay Area Electric Railway Museum in Solano County"
The Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad : An Empire in the Making, 1862-1879
"Founded in 1862 as a small carrier connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis with outlying towns, the SP&P became the nucleus of the vast rail system that would open the entire Northwest. When railroad tycoon James J. Hill took over the railroad in 1879, it was absorbed into lines that eventually, as the Great Northern Railway, reached the Pacific Ocean." ~ The Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad : An Empire in the Making, 1862-1879
San Diego and Arizona: The Impossible Railroad
The railroad was one of the most expensive ever built in the United States, costing almost $19 million in 1919. In the Carrizo Gorge, the railroad crosses 14 trestles and goes through 21 tunnels in only 11 miles. From San Diego to El Centro, the railroad rises and falls over 3,700 feet. When surveys were being made for the railroad, it was called the "impossible railroad" by several reputable engineers.
Sante Fe, Prescott, & Phoenix Railway: The Scenic Line of Arizona SF, P&P
"The Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway carried the hopes and dreams of many Arizonans as it traversed some of the most beautiful and rugged country in the Southwest. The railway .... battled its way through the challenging landscape of Limestone Canyon, Granite Dells, Iron Springs, Devil's Gate, and Hassayampa Canyon. "
Santa Fe Railway
".. covers every aspect of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from its beginnings in 1868 to its merger with Burlington Northern in 1995-96. The various chapters cover segments of that history, with others on passenger trains and Santa Fe's steam and diesel locomotives. . . There is a photo (or a map) on nearly every page, mostly color, with some nice old black-and-whites. " ~ Paul S. Highland