Historical b&w photographs featuring Kansas City Southern Railway trains and train stations, a Kansas City-based railroad operating over 3,130 track miles in 10 central and southeastern states. Founded in 1887, the railroad provides the shortest route from Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Kansas City Southern Railway initially offered freight service to the immediate Kansas City area south. As the line expanded toward Texas, each tiny community had its own railway station with access to daily passenger service and less-than-carload lot freight services. No one could have foreseen that the road would eventually haul international import and export goods or that its line would reach into Mexico. Photographs in this book include the railway's involvement in operating steam engines over its lines as well as pictures from the files of esteemed rail photographers Harold K. Vollrath and Gary Coates.

"This is the story of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway which was organized to build a line of railway from Kansas City to Topolobampo, Mexico on the Gulf of California. The Company's two principal subsidiaries were the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway Company of Texas and the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway of Mexico. The railway in Mexico comprises the Chihuahua & Pacific, sections of the Orient of Mexico, and the former Mexico Northwestern. The project will be referred to in some instances by its nickames "The Orient" or the "Orient Route."--Introductory note, page 4.

This book picks up where the previous two Classic American titles left off, focusing on the golden age of American railroading from 1945 to the early 1970s. It extends to the present day where applicable, providing a colorful look at locomotives, passenger and freight operations, development, and, in some cases, demise. Full color.