Historic Railroads Of Nebraska

The advance of Union Pacific Railroad tracklayers across Nebraska was part of America's great adventure of the 19th century. It marked the beginning of the era of the "iron horse" in Nebraska-a time when the whistle of an approaching train became synonymous with prosperity and contact with the outside world. Historic Railroads of Nebraska takes a photographic journey down the tracks of the five major railroads and various short lines that helped Nebraska progress into a national center of agriculture and business. The trip begins with the formative years of Nebraska towns that were established along railroad lines in the 19th century. It then travels through the 20th century and documents the major changes and challenges that the railroad industry faced. Through over 200 photographs, this book chronicles the era of streamlined passenger trains, rustic steam locomotives, and a bustling Omaha Union Station. The journey makes stops at railroad landmarks, significant cities, the state's only railroad tunnel, and the legendary North Platte Canteen.

Nebraska's Cowboy Line existed for nearly 125 years and covered more than 400 miles as it made its way across the northern portion of the state. The construction of the rail line, which started in 1869, was the impetus for the establishment of many towns, and even the relocation of some, along the route. The line was employed to transport miners to the Black Hills during the gold rush of the late 1800s, it carried thousands of Irish and German immigrants to the largely unsettled area, and it allowed politicians to meet their constituents. It also was used to deliver necessities, amusements, technology, and new innovations to the state's citizenry.

"Including What to see, how to find it"--Cover.

The story of the men who build the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's.

Frugal but generous, stubborn but innovative, trusting but cautious, Nebraskans are a people who chose to live in a harsh, semiarid land, from which they coaxed abundance. They may be, writes author Dorothy Weyer Creigh, the last of their kind. Nebraskans have been tied to the land, and their history, as much as that of any state, is a story of interdependence between people and place. As the "Great Highway" to somewhere else--California and Oregon--Nebraska was marked by the tracks and wagon ruts of restless pioneers searching for the promised land. Some found it here.