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"This richly illustrated volume tells the story of a legendary railroad whose tracks spanned the Midwest, serving farms and small-town America for more than 140 years. One of the earliest railroads to build westward from Chicago, it was the first to span the Mississippi, advancing the frontier, bringing settlers into the West, and hauling their crops to market. Rock Island's celebrated Rocket passenger trains also set a standard for speed and service,...
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In this social history of the impact of railroads on American life, H. Roger Grant concentrates on the railroad's "golden age," from 1830 to 1930. He explores four fundamental topics-trains and travel, train stations, railroads and community life, and the legacy of railroading in America-illustrating each with carefully chosen period illustrations. Grant recalls the lasting memories left by train travel, both of luxurious Pullman cars and the grit...
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For nearly half of the nation's history, the steam locomotive was the outstanding symbol for progress and power. It was the literal engine of the Industrial Revolution, and it played an instrumental role in putting the United States on the world stage. While the steam locomotive's basic principle of operation is simple, designers and engineers honed these concepts into 100-mph passenger trains and 600-ton behemoths capable of hauling mile-long freight...
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The Pennsylvania and the New York Central railroads helped to develop central Pennsylvania as the largest source of bituminous coal for the nation. By the late nineteenth century, the two lines were among America's largest businesses and would soon become legendary archrivals.
The PRR first arrived in the 1860s. Within a few years, it was sourcing as much as four million tons of coal annually from Centre County and the Moshannon Valley and would...
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The diesel locomotive sent shock waves through rigid corporate cultures and staid government regulators. For some, the new technology promised to be a source of enormous profits, for others, the railroad industry seemed a threat to their very livelihoods. Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive introduces the reader to the important technological advances that gave rise to diesel engines, examining not only their impact on locomotive design, but...
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After decades of covering the railroad industry for Fortune magazine, journalist Rush Loving Jr. offers his unique insider's view into the many dramas, triumphs, failures, and adventures of the great American railroads. Loving has shared meals and journeys with everyone from the industry's greatest leaders to conductors, brakemen and even a few hobos. Now, in this fascinating combination of history and memoir, he recalls the many colorful people he's...
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From the late 1940s onward, Wallace W. Abbey masterfully combined journalistic and artistic vision to transform everyday transportation moments into magical photographs. Abbey, a photographer, journalist, historian, and railroad industry executive, helped people from many different backgrounds understand and appreciate what was taken for granted: a world of locomotives, passenger trains, big-city terminals, small-town depots, and railroaders. During...
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A history of the Midwestern transportation hub and its impact on the city and the region, plus stunning photographs of the station's architecture.
More than a century before airlines placed it at the center of their systems, Chicago was already the nation's transportation hub-from Union Station, passengers could reach major cities on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts as well as countless points in between.
Chicago's history is tightly linked...
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In this visually stunning and comprehensive photographic essay, railroad historian and photographer Donovan L. Hofsommer records the end of branchline passenger service, the demise of electric railroads, the transition from steam to diesel power, as well as the end of common carrier freight service on the Colorado narrow gauge. Off the Main Lines carries readers along out-of-the-way railways in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas,...
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One of the most intriguing yet neglected pieces of American transportation history, electric interurban railroads were designed to assist shoppers, salesmen, farmers, commuters, and pleasure-seekers alike with short distance travel. At a time when most roads were unpaved and horse and buggy travel were costly and difficult, these streetcar-like electric cars were essential to economic growth. But why did interurban fever strike so suddenly and extensively...
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In the late 19th century, railroads played a crucial role in the development of Montana's economy. Robert A. Schalla examines early efforts to bring rail transport to the New World Mining District near the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park and Red Lodge–Bear Creek Coal Field in south-central Montana. The saga began with a chance discovery in 1866 and follows the exploits of individuals who worked to bring rail transport to the mines...
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In this lavishly illustrated memoir, William D. Middleton invites readers to climb aboard and share with him 60 years of railroad tourism around the globe. Middleton's award-winning photography has recorded events such as the final days of American Civil War locomotives in Morocco and the start up of the world's first high-speed railway in Japan. He has photographed such great civil works as Scotland's Firth of Forth Bridge and the splendid railway...
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What happened when the US government stopped investing in railroads and started investing in highways and air travel? By the late 1970s, six major eastern railroads had declared bankruptcy. Although he didn't like trains, Howard H. Lewis became the primary lawyer for the Reading Railroad during its legendary bankruptcy case. Here, Lewis provides a frank account of the high-intensity litigation and courtroom battles over the US government's proposal...
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A veteran railroad columnist takes readers on a wild ride through the American train industry with remembrances that crisscross the country and the world.
In Last Train to Texas, author Fred W. Frailey examines the workings behind the railroad industry and captures incredible true stories along the way. He vividly portrays the industries larger-than-life characters, such as William "Pisser Bill" F. Thompson, who weathered financial ruin, bad merger...
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At one point in time, no place in Iowa was more than a few miles from an active line of rail track. In this splendid companion volume to Steel Trails of Hawkeye land (IUP, 2005), H. Roger Grant and Don L. Hofsommer explore the pivotal role that railroads played in the urban development of the state as well as the symbiotic relationship Iowa and its rails shared. With more than 400 black-and-white photographs, a solid inventory of depots and locations,...
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What was travel like in the 1880s? Was it easy to get from place to place? Were the rides comfortable? How long did journeys take? Wet Britches and Muddy Boots describes all forms of public transport from canal boats to oceangoing vessels, passenger trains to the overland stage. Trips over long distances often involved several modes of transportation and many days, even weeks. Baggage and sometimes even children were lost en route. Travelers might...
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A former Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway CEO tells the behind-the-scenes story of the transformation and resurgence of America's ailing railroads.
When Robert D. Krebs joined the ranks of Southern Pacific Railroad in 1966, the industry had been in decline for decades, and the future of trains was in peril. Despite these obstacles, Krebs fell in love with the rugged, competitive business of railroads and was determined to overcome its resistance...
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This account of a doomed enterprise is "an important contribution to both rail and road history, as well as to business history"-photos and maps included (The Lexington Quarterly). Stretching over two hundred miles through Pennsylvania's most challenging mountain terrain, the South Pennsylvania Railroad would form the heart of a new trunk line, from the East Coast to Pittsburgh and the Midwest. Conceived in 1881 by William H. Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie,...
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The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings explores the life and influential work of Dr. Philip R. "Phil" Hastings (1925—1987). Along with his contemporaries, Hastings changed the way we look at the North American railroad. Influenced by the photojournalistic movement that developed during their childhoods, these visionaries expanded their work from traditional locomotive roster and action shots into a holistic view of the railroad environment.
Collated...
20) Electric Indiana: The Rise and Fall of the World's Greatest Interurban Railway Center, 1893–1941
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In the early twentieth century, an epic battle was waged across America between the interurban railway and the automobile, two technologies that arose at roughly the same time in the late 1890s. Nowhere was this conflict more evident than in the Midwest, and specifically Indiana, where cities of industry such as Indianapolis, Gary, and Terre Haute were growing faster every day. By 1904, Indianapolis had opened the Traction Terminal, which was widely...