By the time it was merged into the Union Pacific in 1995, the Chicago & North Western was one of the nations oldest surviving railroads, a testament to the Midwestern stoicism with which it had gone about its business since 1859. This illustrated history chronicles how C&NW emerged from a collection of regional carriers to become a strategic link between eastern railroads and the West. Author Tom Murray traces the railroads expansion as it extended secondary lines throughout the Midwest. He also explores C&NWs joint ownership of UP passenger trains and describes how the railroad answered challenges from regional rivals with the "400" series of passenger trains. As fascinating as the story are the hundreds of accompanying illustrations--historical photographs, archival images, route maps, and period print ads. The result is an entertaining and informative history of an iconic Midwestern railroad--a narrative that spans the decades from the 1850s to the 1990s and takes in steam and diesel motive power, freight and passenger operations, and all the key characters, events, and deals that figured in the Chicago & North Westerns rise and eventual demise.

"The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy - the Burlington Route - was known for its Zephyrs, the fleet of fluted stainless-steel passenger trains taht connected Chicago to points west. However, there was more to the CB&Q than flashy passenger trains. The railroad connected the nation's heartland, relying hevaily on agricultural traffic, including grain, livestock, and perishable goods. Ownded jointly by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, the Burlington prospered through the forties and fifties. The heart of the Burlington was its Chicago-to-Denver main line, which hosted several of the Q's famous passenger trains, including the California Zephyr, Denver Zephyr, and Nebraska Zephyr. The line also hosted freight trains, including Chicago-to-Denver time freights, livestock specials, and large blocks of reefers (refrigerator cars). The start of the Golden Years for the Q was 1934, when the original Zephyr first created a stir around the country. The Burlington had maintained a modern fleet of steam locomotives in 1930, powerful O-5 and O-5A 4-8-4 Northerns and class S-4 Hudsons that were the primary fast freight and name passenger power into the 1940s. In Burlington Route Across the Hearland, Jeff Wilson highlights much of this action, along with the first arrival of freight diesels and the evolution of Zephyr operations and equipment." -From back cover

Offers the collective history of 230 neighborhoods and communities which formed the bustling network of greater Chicagoland--many connected to the city by the railroad. Profiles the people who built these neighborhoods, and the structures they left behind that still stand today.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.