The Author

Growing up in Hayward, California in the 1950s Steve lived within a stone's throw of the Western Pacific mainline and remembers watching the trains while walking to school. From this experience an abiding love of trains evolved, leading to a lifelong interest in railroads and a collection of American Flyer trains. Steve purchased his first Flyer set in 1953, gathering an entire garage full of old newspapers to raise the money. It probably cost the Hayes family almost as much to deliver them to the recyclers!

For nine years Steve served as the convention coordinator for the Feather River Historical Society. During this time he saw that the history of the structures on the Western Pacific was being neglected. There were some photographs in existing books but very little other information. Western Pacific Depots and Stations was written to fill that void. After five years of research, and many trips across the railroad's territory, Steve's first book presents the most complete history of the depots of the Western Pacific published to date.

Inspired by the success of this first publication, Steve decided to write a pair of companion volumes recording the history of Southern Pacific depots in California. Along the way, he gathered and later published pictorial collections, cataloging the entire stable of Western Pacific steam locomotives and the articulated cars of the Key System.