The Joint Line: 1880-1995 A History of the Unique Cooperation of Three Railroads Serving Denver and Pueblo, Colorado

On August 1, 1899, the Santa Fe and the Colorado & Southern began operating the Santa Fe's line between Denver and Pueblo in a truly joint and integrated fashion. The two companies envisioned that the employees of the line, whether from the ATSF or the C&S would be employees of the new Joint Line. In 1918 the USRA nationalized the nation's railroad and brought another player to the Join Line, the Denver & Rio Grande Western.

The Santa Fe's and Rio Grande's main lines basically paralleled each other between Denver and Pueblo, the USRA forced the two to operate as a single double-track railroad. When the USRA handed the railroads back to private ownership, the ATSF and D&RGW decided to continue to operate the two lines as if they were a single double-track railroad shared with the C&S. From that time until the BNSF merger in 1995 the three involved railroads both cooperated and competed with one another.

Author Robert Walz explores the fascinating history of this cooperation among all three railroads from their beginnings in the Denver and Pueblo markets up to the BNSF merger.

The book is richly illustrated with track charts and over 250 period views (over 80 in color) including the work of Otto Petty as well as contemporary photographers.

Contents:
The Early Years to 1900, pp. 9-22;
AT&SF/C&S Contract Operations: 1900 to mid-1918; pp. 23-38;
Enter the USRA and the D&RGW: 1918 to World War II, pp. 39-94;
Diesels Supplant Steam: World War II to 1955, pp. 95-118;
Passenger Trains Decline as Freight Holds Steady: 1955-1971, pp. 119-140;
Enter Powder River Coal, pp. 141-165;
Appendix, Bibliography, pp. 166-169.

Includes maps and profiles, diagrams. Steam Era photographs are B&W and Diesel Era photographs are mostly color.

Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, hardcover with jacket, 169 pages, 11 x 8.5 x .5 in., color, B&W photographs and illustrations.