New Book: History of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, a Railroad History

From: traincrazyjohn@sbcglobal.net

I recently published a new book titled, The History of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, a Railroad History. It is a summary history of 216 pages with photos and maps and covers all of the valley lines between Fresno and Bakersfield with chapters on the Bakersfield and Kern Electric, the Fresno Interurban as well as the various lines that cris-crossed the Southern San Joquin Valley. ... I am including ... a scan of the dustjacket for anyone interested in what the cover looks like. ...

The book is self published by the author (John Bergman) and is available direct for $70.00 which includes tax in Calif. + P & H. The Limited Edition (numbered, autographed, maroon embossed hard back, and 8" x 10" Color print of the cover painting by John Winfield) is available for $80.00 and includes P & H & Tax. It is available for immediate shipment from the author at:

John F. Bergman
4901 W. Modoc Ct.,
Visalia, CA 93291
Tel. 559-627-3291

It is also available from Karen's Books in San Marcos, CA, McMillan Publishing in Colorado, and other online sources as well as some local hobby and book stores. Other dealer requests are welcomed. ...

—John Bergman

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The "Last Rail"

From: "Scott Neel" brasstop@yahoo.com

Does anyone in this discussion group have documentation of what happened to the actual "last rail" laid at Promontory? The section at CSRM from the Central Pacific's last rail laid claims to be from the last rail laid by the CP, but wasn't the actual "last rail" laid by Union Pacific crews on the morning of May 10th. Does anyone know if either railroad recovered a piece of that rail, sectioned it, and issued souvenirs?

The attached three photographs form the basis for the question. The head, web, and height dimensions appear to match UP construction rail. The base has been altered long ago for an unknown reason.

Any help in determining or speculating on the authenticity of this would be very interesting.

—Scott

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