Wheat Belt Route : Wichita Northwestern : The Story of a Dust Bowl Railroad

by Lee Berglund

Fascinating history of the Wichita Northwestern Railway which began life as the Anthony & Northern. The line ran from Hays, Kansas to Trousdale through Larned and Belpre, with an east/west line from Kinsley through Iuka to Pratt, connecting with the Rock Island and the Santa Fe. The book, based on years of research, covers the railroad's struggle to survive hauling wheat in the face of truck competition, drought and the Depression while providing a lifeline to many small communities.Chapters cover locomotives, depots, rolling stock, passenger rail motor cars, freight and passenger services, maintenance of way equipment and a related railroad, the Kansas & Oklahoma. Illustrated throughout with black and white photos. With locomotive rosters, equipment rosters, timetables, bibliography and map. 92 pages.

92 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Robert Collins]

Mr. Berglund's last, and I think, only book, about a railroad he knew very well. Nice and detailed history of an obscure central Kansas railroad that ran from the 1910s to 1940. Lots of rare photos, including the oddball passenger equipment the WNW had (railbuses, jitneys, etc.).