I have not seen the new Ken Meeker book yet, but it will be almost 300 pages and I am told will be a good, in depth look at the railroad.

Ken Rattenne's two books are awesome with lots of information, stories and amazing photos, but aren't the "hard" history style that was referred to.

The Colorado Railroad Museum published book that was referred to was written by David Myrick and is called "Western Pacific: The Last Transcontinental". It is a very in depth book up until about the 1950s, but IMHO it kind of glosses over later WP history.

Virgil Staff's "D-Day on the Western Pacific" has a lot of history on the railroad and is probably the most in depth analysis of motive power decisions (specifically diesel related) I have ever seen for any railroad. It is really a unique book.

"Portrait of a Silver Lady" is pure gold. MacGregor and Benson put a lot of history and a lot of personal, human stories into the book. It is amazing.

Ted Benson's "Echoes Down the Canyon" is a personal view on the WP from 1968 to 1986. Awesome book, but not really ahn in depth history.

One book that has a wealth of info on WP construction and operations (plus a nice section on the little discussed San Francisco trackage) is Jeff Asay's "Track and Time". This book does not seem to get mentioned often, but it is a trove of WP data and history and includes info on things like WP towers, timetables, Sacramento Northern trackage abandonments and other items.


Beyond Ken Meeker's book (which I'm sure I'll place on the list once I see it), my take on the "essential" WP library is:

WP Steam Locomotives, Passenger Trains and Cars - Stindt and Dunscomb
WP Diesel Years / Diesel Locomotives of the Western Pacific - Joe Strapac
Portrait of a Silver Lady - MacGregor and Benson
The Feather River Route volumes 1 and 2 - Rattenne
D-Day on the Western Pacific - Staff
Echoes Down the Canyon - Benson
Track and Time - Asay
My Western Pacific Railroad - Holmes
Western Pacific: Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment - Eager
Western Pacific Depots and Stations - Hayes
Western Pacific: The Last Transcontinental - Myrick