America's first transcontinental railroad was a 1,911-mile (3,075 km) continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay. The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by extensive U.S. land grants. Building was financed by both state and U.S. government subsidy bonds as well as by company-issued mortgage bonds. The Western Pacific Railroad Company built 132 miles (212 km) of track from the road's western terminus at Alameda/Oakland to Sacramento, California. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California (CPRR) constructed 690 miles (1,110 km) east from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) built 1,085 miles (1,746 km) from the road's eastern terminus at the Missouri River settlements of Council Bluffs and Omaha, Nebraska, westward to Promontory Summit.
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It was officially named the North Central Region by the U.S. Census Bureau until 1984. It is between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States, with Canada to the north and the Southern United States to the south.
Kevin Powell is an American writer, activist, and television personality. He is the author of 14 books, including The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood and When We Free the World published in 2020. Powell was a senior writer during the founding years of Vibe magazine from 1992 to 1996. Powell's activism has focused on ending poverty, advocating for social justice and counteracting violence against women and girls through local, national and international initiatives. He was a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Brooklyn, New York, in 2008 and 2010.
Dale Sanders is a prolific railroad photographer and the former editor of CTC Board, a magazine for fans of railroading showcasing high-quality photography and up-to-date news of North American railroading. The magazine frequently featured Sanders' work.
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It publishes a wide range of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, numerous academic journals, and advanced monographs in the academic fields. The press is located just south of the Midway Plaisance on the University of Chicago campus.
John Kenneth Muir is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres.
The PRR E44 was an electric, rectifier-equipped locomotive built by General Electric for the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1960 and 1963. The PRR used them for freight service on the Northeast Corridor. They continued in service under Penn Central and Conrail until Conrail abandoned its electric operations in the early 1980s. They were then acquired by Amtrak and NJ Transit, where they lived short lives; all were retired by the mid-1980s. One is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
Denis Boyles was a journalist, editor, university lecturer and the author/editor of several books of poetry, travel/history, criticism, humor, practical advice and essays, including Design Poetics (1975), The Modern Man's Guide to Life (1986), African Lives (1989), Man Eaters Motel (1991), A Man's Life: The Complete Instructions (1996), The Pocket Professor series (2001) and Vile France (2005), a satirical examination of French elites. His work has appeared in many American and European magazines and newspapers.
Railroads Illustrated, formerly known as CTC Board, was a monthly magazine, published by White River Productions (WRP), devoted to railroad photography. WRP purchased CTC Board magazine from Hundman Publishing after the May 2006 issue, and rebranded the magazine as Railroads Illustrated, and used the CTC Board name for the news section. December 2014 marked the final monthly issue, with future expanded editions to be released annually. The news section and some feature content now appears in an expanded Railfan & Railroad, which was acquired by WRP in 2014.
AA was a designator used for several different diesel locomotive types custom built by General Motors Corporation EMC/GM with passenger or baggage space in the same body. This locomotive is listed as class AA-6 by R. Craig, and the designation is logical as the locomotive is described as "half an E6" in the Second Diesel Spotter's Guide.
The Texas Chief was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe "Chief" outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the Texas Chief to Amtrak in 1971, which renamed it the Lone Star in 1974. The train was discontinued in 1979.
Harold H. Carstens was president of Carstens Publications, publisher of Railfan & Railroad and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines. While attending Fairleigh Dickinson University at night, Carstens joined the staff of Railroad Model Craftsman in 1952. While in the Army, he studied art and journalism at the Philippine Institute for the Armed Forces. The position of managing editor opened up in 1954, and Carstens later advanced to Editor and Vice President in 1957. When owner Charles Penn retired in 1962, Hal Carstens became President. In 1973, Carstens moved the company to a new facility in Newton, New Jersey, where it remained until the magazines were acquired by White River Productions in September 2014.
Pentrex Media Group, LLC, is an American producer and seller of railfan-related videos and DVDs. It was founded in 1984 and was originally headquartered in Pasadena, California.
Interurban Press was a small, privately owned American publishing company, specializing in books about streetcars, other forms of rail transit and railroads in North America, from 1943 until 1993. It was based in the Los Angeles area, and specifically in Glendale, California after 1976. Although its primary focus was on books, it also published three magazines starting in the 1980s, along with videos and calendars. At its peak, the company employed 10 people and generated about $2 million in business annually.
Passenger Train Journal(PTJ) is an American magazine about passenger rail transport and rail transit past and present, oriented for railfans and rail passenger advocates and published currently by White River Productions. Founded in 1968, it was published continuously until 1996, and monthly from 1979 onward, but then ceased publication. After a 10-year absence, the title was revived in 2006 by a different publishing company, as a quarterly magazine. PTJ deals exclusively with passenger rail, not freight. Although focused on North America, each issue includes at least a small amount of content on overseas—usually European—passenger rail. The magazine is headquartered in Bucklin, Missouri.
The Illinois Central Missouri River Bridge, also known as the IC Bridge or the East Omaha Bridge, is a rail through truss double swing bridge across the Missouri River connecting Council Bluffs, Iowa, with Omaha, Nebraska. It is owned by the Canadian National Railway and is closed to all traffic. At 521 feet long, the second version of the bridge was the longest swing bridge in the world from when it was completed in 1903 through 1915. In 1975 it was regarded as the third longest swing bridge.
Carstens Publications, Inc. was a publisher of books and magazines related to the railroad and airplane hobby fields until its permanent closure on August 22, 2014. Many of the titles published by Carstens were older than the company, and have long established histories in their respective markets. Carstens was the chief competitor to Kalmbach Publishing in the scale model hobby and enthusiast field. What made Carstens stand out from the competition was the in-depth detail and active voice of the books and magazines. The company's list of monthly magazine titles included:
The Streamliners were a fleet of three streamlined electric multiple units built by the St. Louis Car Company for the Illinois Terminal Railroad in 1948–1949. They operated primarily between St. Louis, Missouri and Peoria, Illinois in the late 1940s and early to mid-1950s. They were the last interurban cars manufactured in the United States.
White River Productions is an independent publishing company that specializes in books and magazines targeted to railroad enthusiasts and historians. Kevin EuDaly founded the company in 1992 to published the book Missouri Pacific Diesel Power, which he also authored. Several other titles followed, and the company became his full-time venture beginning in 1996. The company expanded when it took on publishing newsletters and managing membership databases for several railroad historical societies. The company is headquartered in Bucklin, Missouri.
Mike Schafer is an American author of books on railroading. He contributed to The Complete Book of North American Railroading.
