I am pleased to announce the launch of my next book, Rails Around Indiana (and southern Illinois) – The Hoosier State in Days Past. This new book will follow in the template of Rails Around Missouri and Rails Around Michigan, featuring all-color photographs from the steam era to the mid-1980s. It will be hard cover,…
It’s a Frisco Friday, with a sampling of Frisco images that can be found in Rails Around Missouri. The book is once again available in hard cover print, exclusively from the Britegraphix wing of Sekan Printing of Ft Scott, KS. Order yours today for $48 + $5 shipping by emailing Don Banwart, donald@sekan.com. If you…
South of Cape Girardeau, the jointly operated MP-SSW mainline from East St Louis, IL to Dexter, MO crosses the Mississippi River at Thebes, just east of Scott City. Known as Illmo by the railroads, the Cotton Belt had a large, 2-story station and office building here. In July, 1978, MP GP38 # 2130 leads a…
It’s been 2 months since Rails Around Missouri was re-released in hardback. The response has been enthusiastic, with many readers seeing it for the first time. Reprinted in more vibrant color and with a new cover, the book contains all 224 pages filled with over 500 all-color images from every part of Missouri, from 1946…
It’s been well over 35 years since a Rock Island or Cotton Belt train rumbled across Missouri between St Louis and Kansas City via Freeburg. Shuttered by the Cotton Belt in the early 1980s, the scenic line, complete with 4 tunnels and several high bridges, has been officially abandoned west of Union, Mo. In fact, the…