The Thunder of Their Passing: A Tribute to the Denver & Rio Grande's Narrow Gauge and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - Softcover

Robert D. Turner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550391291 ISBN 13: 9781550391299

Publisher: Sono NIS Press, 2011

Synopsis

Featuring nearly 500 outstanding color and black and white photographs, illustrations, and reproductions. Complete with detailed text, bibliography, and index. Robert Turner's beautiful and moving tribute to the Rio Grande's narrow gauge and the Cumbres & Toltec is his 14th book on western transportation history. A historian and photographer with an extensive professional background in museums, historic sites, and heritage restoration projects, he has been fascinated by the narrow gauge railroads of Colorado and New Mexico for more than 35 years. His many awards include the American Association for State and Local History's Award of Merit for the excellence of his books. His photographs and articles have appeared in a wide range of books, magazines, and exhibits. This stunning volume chronicles the story of one of the finest preserved steam railroads in North America, from its origins as the Denver & Rio Grande's San Juan Extension in the 1880s silver mining boom, to its present-day operations as the spectacular Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. The book spans more than 125 years of railroading in the beautiful aspen-covered high country of Colorado and New Mexico. The Thunder of Their Passing presents an insightful portrait of one of the last great steam railroads in America. Included are reminiscences of those who knew the railroad as employees, travelers, and residents. The meticulously researched text explores the history of the railroad, its impact on the region, the circumstances and struggles that led to its long life and eventual preservation, and the unique qualities that have endeared it to so many people. Winter operations, stock trains, snowplows, the classic San Juan passenger train, locomotives and special equipment, and the day-to-day operations of an old and sometimes cantankerous railroad all feature in this enduring tribute. The book's breathtaking gallery of photographs features work of some of the finest photographers to visit narrow gauge country. Included are photos by such masters as William Henry Jackson, Richard Kindig, Jim Shaughnessy, Richard Steinheimer, John Gruber, Steve Patterson, and many others. This is the story of a fascinating railroad that has captured the imagination of travelers for well over a century. Railway/History 288 pp 11 x 9 1/2 over 500 colour and b/w photos, maps ISBN 1-55039-129-1 paper $49.95

About this title

About the Author

Robert D. Turner is a multi-award-winning author of fifteen books, with several more in the works, and over 350 articles on railway and steamship history. He has had several thousand photographs published in books, magazines and journals as well as presented in exhibits. He is Curator Emeritus at the Royal British Columbia Museum, where he was Chief of Historical Collections for many years. Bob has travelled around the world photographing and documenting surviving early railways, the lives of workers and communities, and industrial history in South American, Africa, many parts of Asia and Europe. Among other projects, since 1988 he has been Project Historian at the SS Moyie National Historic Site at Kaslo, BC, where a major restoration is underway on the world's oldest passenger sternwheeler. For his work on Canadian railway history he received the Canadian Railroad Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Bob was writer in residence at Pierre Berton House in Dawson City in the spring of 2009. He lives in Victoria, BC.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sono NIS Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1550391291
• ISBN 13: 9781550391299
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288