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Press Release: First Revision & Addenda Now Available!

June 5, 2015 Santa Cruz, CA BOOKS ARE FLYING OFF SHELVES! Since the release of Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains in early March 2015, interest in the topic of Santa Cruz railroading has exploded! People have contacted me from all over the Bay Area, sending me information and interested in selling my book. Clearly the decision to release the book in print format was a good move and I thank everybody who encouraged… Read More »Press Release: First Revision & Addenda Now Available!

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Press Release: Santa Cruz Trains Book Now Available!

History Buffs Eager for New Santa Cruz Trains Book March 12, 2015 Santa Cruz, CA The wait is over for Santa Cruz history fans: local historian Derek R. Whaley’s Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains has just been published as a soft-bound book through CreateSpace. The extensive 330-page book commemorates the 75th anniversary of the last train over the Santa Cruz Mountains and spans almost the entirety of Santa Cruz and Los… Read More »Press Release: Santa Cruz Trains Book Now Available!

Santa Cruz Trains is coming to your doorstep in March!

On this day 75 years ago, the last train ran over the Santa Cruz Mountains. Celebrate the railroad’s history with Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains, a 352-page book of articles and photographs surveying the history of the communities that interacted daily with the railroads. The period spanned by this survey includes virtually the entirety of Santa Cruz and Los Gatos history, from the 1850s to the present. Each article discusses a… Read More »Santa Cruz Trains is coming to your doorstep in March!

The Freight Yard Divideth

The second article I wrote for my book, way back in September, was the “Santa Cruz Union Depot & Freight Yard”. It was an ambitious article forced early because I was writing my articles in geographic order, beginning with the Santa Cruz Wharves and ending five miles north of Boulder Creek (after a detour to Los Gatos and Vasona). Almost immediately, however, I found myself buried in too many details. The article encompassed more material… Read More »The Freight Yard Divideth

The Great Writing Blitzkrieg, Round 2

December: 01-07 – Finalize maps, contact reviewers 08-21 – Second round of editing from start to finish; rewrite Santa Cruz Freight Yard article; correct and update citations; add citations where needed 22-Jan. 4 – Photographic editing; insert caption boxes throughout; begin adding photographs January: 5-18 – Third round of editing, incorporating edits from reviewers and comments from blog and Facebook 19-Feb. 1 – Finalize photographs and caption boxes; finished Foreword & Acknowledgements; final proofread on… Read More »The Great Writing Blitzkrieg, Round 2