Doodlebug, Choctaw Rockette and more!
The Rock Island Train Depot still stands in Graham, Texas at 6th and Elm. It represents a time and place in history when oil, agriculture and people relied on the rails for transportation. Come for the nostalgia of a bygone era.
Book Signing & Talk
Saturday, May 21, 2022
10:00am – Noon | Reservations recommended
Space is Limited
Passenger Trains of Texas – Rock Island
by Steve Allen Goen
Hardcover | 148 pages including color and black/white images
Published September 2020 by Texas Zephyr Publishing
$59.95
Featuring
Steve Allen Goen has been documenting the railroads of Texas since 1967, the same year that the FW&D’s TEXAS ZEPHYR was discontinued. Since that time he has taken thousands of still images and miles of movie film and video from all across Texas. As a boy his love for Texas railroad history led him to begin collecting newspaper articles about the state’s final passenger trains as well as the closings of hundreds of train depots. In college he started collecting info and photos of the ghost railroads of North Central Texas which ultimately became the first of his many written histories.
Goen is considered one of the state’s leading railroad historians, with a special interest in the Lone Star State’s one time network of passenger trains.
About the Book
Recently released, Passenger Trains of Texas – Rock Island showcases the passenger operations of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific in Texas from the early 1900s all the way up to the discontinuance of the Golden State in February 1968.
Fifteen chapters are featured in this book which includes 14 different passenger train operations. Trains include the Graham Branch doodlebug, the ACR motorcar, the Short Line Flyer, Arizona Limited, Texas Rocket, Choctaw Rocket, Memphis-Californian, Oklahoma Rocket, Fort Worth to El Reno RDCs, the Choctaw Rockette, Twin Star Rocket, the Imperial, Cherokee and the Golden State. All chapters are arranged in date order of the Rock Island discontinuing these trains. Readers are sure to enjoy the vintage images, newspaper articles and advertisements reproduced for the book.
Related Books
Passenger Trains of Texas
Burlington Route
by Steve Allen Goen
184 pages containing color and rare black/white images, timetables, menus and more.
Published January 1, 2021 by Texas Zephyr Publishing.
$69.95
Passenger Trains of Texas
Cotton Belt
by Steve Allen Goen
144 pages containing color and black/white images, rare advertising and vintage newspaper articles.
Published January 1, 2019 by Texas Zephyr Publishing.
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502 Oak Street, Graham, TX 76450 | 940.549.5341