There has long been a need for a thorough history of the Texas & New Orleans and its predecessors, from the beginnings in the mid-19th century, through linking El Paso and New Orleans in 1883, to the merger with Southern Pacific in 1961. This book fills that need.

Component railroads of the T&NO included the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio; the Houston & Texas Central; the Houston East & West Texas; the Louisiana Western; Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad and Steamship Company; the T&NO itself; and the San Antonio & Aransas Pass.

The book opens with an introductory section of background information, then provides a general description of the steam locomotives which powered the T&NO until dieselization was completed in the 1950s.

The coverage continues with chapters on particular segments of the T&NO: El Paso to Houston, the Dallas & Austin Divisions, the Victoria Division, the East Texas lines, and Houston to New Orleans. A separate chapter describes the Houston and Galveston terminals. A concluding chapter covers the 1961 merger into SP, as well as the dieselization in the last decade of the T&NOs separate existence.

Each chapter is rich in details of operation, with extensive information from timetables and dispatcher sheets, as well as from company sources and the railroad literature. Throughout the book, numerous in-service photos at various locations document the history. The railroad had a complex roster of motive power in steam days, when many locomotives had been inherited from predecessor roads. Accordingly, detailed locomotive rosters are included, and essential drawings and maps further enrich the story. A bibliography and an index round out the book.

The Texas & New Orleans was an essential part of the Southern Pacific. The book's 327 photos, most from company and museum archives and never before published, together with 39 maps and drawings, and bibliography, make it unusually complete and authoritative. This book provides a coverage that every railroad enthusiast, and of course Texas & New Orleans and Southern Pacific fans in particular, will enjoy.

386 pages,