Barton Jennings

First - an explanation of my bio photo. All the routes that I write about I have traveled many times. This is a view that a number of friends are familiar with. I have my notebook out and I am taking notes as I ride the rear of a charter passenger train.

For three decades, Barton Jennings has been organizing charter passenger trains and writing the route descriptions, both for planning purposes and for the enjoyment of the passengers. These trips have been in all areas of the United States, often covering operations that haven’t seen a passenger train in decades.

At the request of many people, these railroad route guides are being updated and expanded, and are now available to anyone with an interest in the history of the route. The subject of these route guides has been expanded with the addition of the Hennepin Canal in Illinois, and the Delta Heritage Trail in Arkansas, both great state parks for hiking and biking. However, both still have as their base a major transportation system and their histories.

These route guides are based upon a large number of historic sources, including company and government reports, field research, and the records and comments provided by employees. Bart's house has several rooms full of books, timetables and other documents about hundreds of railroads and other transportation systems - important research items from a time long before today’s internet. In addition, Barton has written a number of articles about various railroads for rail hobby magazines, leading to more connections and research opportunities.

Today, Bart Jennings, after years working in the railroad industry and teaching transportation and supply chain management at the university level, is a professor emeritus of supply chain management. He still teaches transportation operations and supply chain management part-time. He also still teaches regulatory issues for the railroad industry, a way to stay in touch with the industry he loves. You can also find him on trains around the world, sometimes as a passenger and sometimes helping to staff a special event.

The books in the History Through the Miles series are all produced as print-on-demand books, thus we are able to print smaller runs, but keep the books available. This process means that the books are printed world-wide, close to where the order was made, possibly causing some slight differences in the books. Sorry about that but it keeps the prices lower and allows the books to be on the market.