Winterail 2009 was good timing for the release of the long awaited Sacramento Northern book by the late Harry Demoro. Jeff Moreau who co-authored the excellent Central California Traction book with Dave Stanley, edited this new Sacramento Northern book for Signature Press. Tony Thompson of Signature Press, and Allen Barrett laid the book out, complete with another great John Signor map on the endsheets.

This Sacramento Northern book is one that all WP and SN fans need in their personal libraries. Hopefully public libraries in Northern and Central California will recognize this ultimate Sacramento Northern volume for telling how the SN helped to develop portions of Northern and Central California, and the SN's history within the State of California. The book demonstrates a unique understanding of how city trolley lines, transit, (Key), interurban railroads and steam railroads, (WP), worked together. An exciting part of the SN legacy is that traction once handled freight and passengers from Oakland to Chico, which is why this SN book is relevant to the readers of Altamont Press.

Greatly appreciated in this book is the meticulous detail Harry Demoro went to in documenting the Sacramento Northern's history and the geography of the railroad, particularly in terms of predecessor lines Northern Electric and the Oakland Antioch & Eastern. Complementing the well researched text are maps and timetables. Although fairly familiar with Northern and Central California, it has been my own experience, that many SN stations have been some rather obscure place names. Dick Dorn, Dave Stanley, Victor Neves, Wayne Monger and Ken Meeker have most of the SN stations in their memories, such as Sankey, Tarke, East Nicholas or Libfarm, but I often have to consult the maps when reading about them. This new SN book contains the necessary maps, to make the geography lesson possible.

The photographs will not disappoint either. If you share a particular affinity to the SN's electric freight service, Chapter Seven, with the photos of the electric freight motors at work, will not disappoint. The photos of the ferry operation, between Chipps and Mallard, are particularly interesting. The last electric freight on the SN lasted until the operation between and Marysville and Yuba City was dieselized in 1965. The 1940's and 1950's photos of the motors and SN railroad men at work provide a glimpse of electric railroading's day to day operating practices, during a time before the diesel.

While the three old, out of print, and increasingly harder to find, Interubans Specials by Ira Swett, on the SN, are also excellent resources, along with Jim Harrison's out of print Sacramento Northern Gallery, this new Harre Demorro Sacramento Northern book provides one excellent, currently available hardcover book. Most of the quality Signature Press books are in my own library, and this book stacks up with the same type of great railroad books Signature Press offers. It is highly recommend that this book should join your library. It is an excellent companion volume to Dave Stanley and Jeff Moreau's outstanding Central California Traction.

The late Harre Demorro left behind a legacy of California traction history for all to enjoy. This long awaited, final book is a fitting tribute to the railroad oriented newspaperman.