Railroads of California

The Railroads of California by Brian Solomon provides a great overview of the history and modern day state of railroads in California. Growing up in Southern California near San Diego in the 1970's and 1980's I was interested in a chance to learn about what has happened since I moved east in 1991. The book starts with a history of the railroads of California starting with the Central Pacific. It continues to discuss the history of the "Big Four" railroads of California, the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and Western Pacific. Following that is a discussion of the historic shortlines which have served the Golden State. I really enjoyed the coverage of modern railroads in California including the various commuter services which now serve the state. I've had a chance to ride CALTRAIN near San Jose, but the other ones were new to me. The book concludes with a great review of the major railroad museums of California. It is great to see how some of favorites such as the Orange Empire and the State Museum in Sacramento have grown since I last saw them 20 years ago. As the author mentions, entire books have been written about the topics covered briefly in this book. It doesn't give a lot of details but does a great job of showing the state of railroads as of 2008 in California.