The Great Railroad Revolution

THE GREAT
RAILROAD
REVOLUTION

Also by Christian Wolmar

Engines of War

Blood, Iron, and Gold

Fire & Steam

The Subterranean Railway

On the Wrong Line

Down the Tube

Broken Rails

Forgotten Children

Stagecoach

The Great Railway Disaster

CHRISTIAN WOLMAR

The History of
TRAINS IN AMERICA

Copyright © 2012 by Christian Wolmar

Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™, a Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved.

First published in Great Britain in hardback in 2012 by Atlantic Books, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107.

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Designed by Trish Wilkinson

Text set in 11 point Minion Pro

Maps by Jeff Edwards

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wolmar, Christian.

The great railroad revolution : the history of trains in America / Christian Wolmar. — 1st ed.

   p.  cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61039-180-1 (e-book)1. Railroads—United States—History—Juvenile literature. 2. Transportation— United States—History—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

HE2751.W73 2012

First US Edition

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

List of Maps and Illustrations

Maps

Introduction

1.   THE RAILROADS WIN OUT

2.   A PASSIONATE AFFAIR

3.   THE RAILROADS TAKE HOLD

4.   THE BATTLE LINES

5.   HARNESSING THE ELEPHANT

6.   RAILROADS TO EVERYWHERE

7.   GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME

8.   THE END OF THE AFFAIR

9.   ALL KINDS OF TRAIN

10.   THE ROOTS OF DECLINE

11.   A NARROW ESCAPE

12.   RENAISSANCE WITHOUT PASSENGERS

Notes

A Note on Sources

Index

1.   Railroads, 1880

2.   Railroads, 1916

3.   Pennsylvania Railroad

4.   Railroads, 1850

5.   US Rail Network, 2010

1.   The Atlantic locomotive built by Phineas Davis

2.   The Best Friend of Charleston

3.   Completion of the first transcontinental railroad

4.   Railroad travelers shooting buffalo

5.   The ticket office of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad

6.   
The Immigrants' Guide to the Most Fertile Lands of Kansas

7.   Farmers versus the railroads cartoon

8.   Completion of the Great Northern Railroad

9.   Historical caricature of the Cherokee Nation

10.   Texas Central Railway Yards in Houston

11.   Crowded passenger car illustration

12.   Railroad station in the Catskills

13.   Elevated railroad section in New York

14.   Baltimore & Ohio Railroad electric locomotive

15.   Edward H. Harriman cartoon

16.   Dutch immigrants

17.   A logging railroad in a forest

18.   Cartoon on railroad influence

19.   Red Cross workers and World War I soldiers

20.   Steam train on a trestle bridge

21.   Illinois state troopers at a railroad strike

22.   Pennsylvania Railroad Station

23.   Redcap porter

24.   Three streamlined locomotives

25.   The Twin Cities Zephyr

26.   Pennsylvania Railroad poster

27.   Southern Pacific poster

28.   Passengers watching a movie on a train

29.   “Is Your Trip Necessary?” poster

30.   Senator Alben Barkley and President Truman

31.   Santa Fe Chief train wreck

32.   Amtrak's Acela Express

THE GREAT
RAILROAD
REVOLUTION