{"title":"Don L Hofsommer","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"grand-trunk-corporation-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780870134067","title":"Grand Trunk Corporation","description":"The Detroit, Michigan-based Grand Trunk Corporation was established more than two decades ago by Canadian National to oversee and maximize the potential of its railroad holdings in the United States. By making use of corporate records, oral histories, and archival material, Hofsommer uncovers the interesting and complex history of Grand Trunk from its inception in 1971 through 1992.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50294582083857,"sku":"CIN087013406XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/087013406X.jpg?v=1750819188"},{"product_id":"minneapolis-and-the-age-of-railways-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780816645022","title":"Minneapolis and the Age of Railways","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith the recent revitalization of the Minneapolis Warehouse District and the surge in construction of condominiums and other buildings near the banks of the Mississippi, the landscape of the city seems to change almost daily. Not so long ago, however, this newly desirable area was blanketed by railroads serving the lumber and flour mills and other industries powered by the enormous Falls of St. Anthony.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn\u003ci\u003e Minneapolis and the Age of Railways,\u003c\/i\u003e Don Hofsommer presents Minneapolis from the 1860s into the 1950s, when railroads served as a unique link between city and countryside. Rails carried wheat and helped make Minneapolis the flour milling capital of the world; brought logs to Minneapolis to be processed into lumber that built towns and farms across the prairies; and delivered coal and all manner of manufactured goods and merchandise to Minneapolis, to its vast hinterland to the north and west, and beyond to the Rockies and the Pacific, making the growth of America’s northern heartland possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRailroads also provided efficient, long-distance transportation for hundreds of thousands of people who traveled via Minneapolis. The Milwaukee Road and Great Northern passenger terminals in Minneapolis were vibrant places-the heart of the city-pumping passengers, mail, and express parcels into the nation’s steel-rail cardiovascular system.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with more than 200 period photographs and maps detailing the city and the tracks that crossed it, this remarkable book reflects a time not so long ago when the locomotive dominated the landscape and set the tempo for the nation-the age of railways.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50369273397521,"sku":"CIN0816645027G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0816645027.jpg?v=1764844184"},{"product_id":"the-fort-dodge-line-iowas-feisty-interurban-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780915348497","title":"The Fort Dodge Line Iowas Feisty Interurban","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50373767397649,"sku":"CIN0915348497G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53371984806161,"sku":"CIN0915348497VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0915348497.jpg?v=1751078139"},{"product_id":"minneapolis-and-st-louis-railway-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780816651320","title":"The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway","description":"The ultimate pictorial history of the midwestern railway M\u0026amp;StL    In this photographic history of the Minneapolis \u0026amp; St. Louis Railway (M\u0026amp;StL), railroad historian Don L. Hofsommer revives the memory of a storied regional railroad.      The Minneapolis \u0026amp; St. Louis Railway was created on May 26, 1870, by a group of Minnesota investors interested in establishing a railroad connection between Minneapolis and the agricultural regions to the south. While not flashy, the M\u0026amp;StL served Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Illinois over nine decades and was essential in opening new territory, providing freight as well as passenger carriage, and employing thousands of people.     Rich in illustrations, this is not just a chronicle of a railroad but also a story and a record of a way of life in the rural upper Midwest. A must-have for readers who fondly remember the Tootin' Louie as well as rail fans, history buffs, and model railroaders in general.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50683821621521,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50683823325457,"sku":"CIN0816651329G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0816651329.jpg?v=1764845554"},{"product_id":"steel-trails-of-hawkeyeland-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780253345158","title":"Steel Trails of Hawkeyeland","description":"Railroads helped to define the character of America, and that certainly was the case in Iowa. Pioneer lines penetrated the interior from Mississippi River communities during the state's early railroad era, and later opened up huge tracts for agricultural opportunity, and urban development. This work gives a survey of Iowa's railroad experience.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51000594661649,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000597086481,"sku":"NIN9780253345158","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51694952546577,"sku":"CIN0253345154G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0253345154.jpg?v=1763473397"},{"product_id":"iowa-s-railroads-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780253220738","title":"Iowa's Railroads","description":"At one point in time, no place in Iowa was more than a few miles from an active line of rail track. A companion to Steel Trails of Hawkeyeland, this title explores the pivotal role that railroads played in the urban development of the state as well as the symbiotic relationship Iowa and its rails shared.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51000612061457,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000613601553,"sku":"NIN9780253220738","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52606572790033,"sku":"CIN0253220734VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0253220734.jpg?v=1763480732"},{"product_id":"quanah-route-book-don-l-hofsommer-9781585440467","title":"The Quanah Route","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eThe Iron Horse forever changed the American West, from a wild frontier to a network of scattered settlements tied together by steel rails. Behind the romantic image of the galloping Iron Horse, however, lies a rich history of American business activity. Railway giants have dominated this history, but small companies such as the Quanah, Acme \u0026amp; Pacific Railway Company (QA\u0026amp;P), a short line that operated in four counties of northwestern Texas from near the turn of the century into the 1980s, had just as great an impact in their areas of operation as the giants did on the national scene.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The QA\u0026amp;P developed in an era when railroads were tightly regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas and the federal Interstate Commerce Commission. The in-depth historical analysis of an American short line railroad presented here is in essence the study of all such carriers in the era before deregulation. Fully illustrated with photographs and memorabilia, this volume covers the Quanah Route's birth, valiant struggle for life, and eventual demise in a changing regulatory and competitive environment. This then is a history not only of a railroad but also of its service area, particularly during one of the last great railroad construction booms, which took place in West Texas during the 1920s.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Through the years of the QA\u0026amp;P's life, energetic men such as Sam Lazarus and Charles Sommer juggled political and financial concerns against the changing times, Lazarus making the deal by which the QA\u0026amp;P became a subsidiary of the St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) road. In the end, the \"good roads movement,\" trucking industry, and growing American passion for the private automobile spelled the end of the railroads' golden age as the prime carrier of passengers and products. As traced by Don L. 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The book includes more than 200 photographs selected from Hofsommer's extensive library of historic photographs documenting the history of the BC\u0026amp;N Railway.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51126529917201,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51126530146577,"sku":"NIN9780253014672","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51797125693713,"sku":"CIN0253014670G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0253014670.jpg?v=1763481988"},{"product_id":"off-the-main-lines-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780253008329","title":"Off the Main Lines","description":"A visually stunning and comprehensive photographic essay recording  the end of branch line passenger service, the demise of electric railroads, the transition from steam to diesel power","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51324563685649,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51324566503697,"sku":"CIN0253008328VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53112574771473,"sku":"CIN0253008328G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53400025563409,"sku":"CIN0253008328A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0253008328.jpg?v=1761388409"},{"product_id":"missouri-railroads-book-don-l-hofsommer-9780253072856","title":"Missouri Railroads","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMissouri Railroads: A Modern Crossroads 1921-2023\u003c\/i\u003e delves into the rich history of Missouri's railroads during their second century. From the roaring 1920s, when opulent \"Limited\" passenger trains crisscrossed the state, to the tumultuous times of the Great Depression and World War II, this book captures the essence of an era.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the postwar years unfolded, Missouri's railroads faced realignments and challenges. The mid-twentieth century witnessed shifts in routes, technologies, and passenger preferences. Against this backdrop, the book explores how the railroads adapted in the face of uncertainty. Stunning historical images - over 100 in color - breathe life into this transformative period and bring the story to the present day.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMissouri Railroads\u003c\/i\u003e goes beyond the history of a single state and its railroads to illustrate Missouri's vital role in shaping American railroading. These railroad companies mirrored national trends, yet each twist and turn carries a distinct local flavor. Authors Don L. Hofsommer and Carlos A. 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