The Diesel That Did It tells the story of the legendarydiesel-electric locomotive, the FT.As war loomed in 1939, American railroads were on the precipice of railroad transformation. In an obscure factory in La Grange, Illinois, a group of gifted engineers and designers were planning a revolution that would shake railroading to its foundations and eventually put the steam locomotive out of business. Their creation, the FT, was a diesel-electric, semi-streamlined freight eng...

From the first, U.S. railroads have carried coal from mines to docks, steel mills, and power plants across the country. In this authoritative book spanning the whole of that history, from the mid-nineteenth century to present, noted rail author Brian Solomon explores the railroads and hardware that have transported the fossil fuels that made America work. Brilliant period and contemporary photographs convey the drama of the enterprise: the very long—and very heavy—trains powering up mounta...

The year 1827 marked the completion of the United States’ first railroad--and the beginning of a transformation of American life. This book, spanning nearly two centuries, offers an exhilarating tour of the railways’ inroads into the economy, society, and culture of North America.Illustrated with more than 400 historical and modern photographs and period advertisements, The Complete Book of North American Railroading takes readers back to the birth of the railroads, then travels th...

Blending automotive manufacturing and styling techniques with state-of-the-art diesel-electric technologies, General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division conceived and marketed America’s first commercially successful road diesels: the fabulous E-Units and F-Units. This illustrated companion to Voyageur Press’ Alco Locomotives (2009) and Baldwin Locomotives (2010) is the most comprehensive history of the most recognizable locomotives ever built. Beginning with 1937 debut of the...

"[A] wealth of vignettes and more than 100 black-and-white illustrations . . . Does a fine job of humanizing the iron horse" ( The Wall Street Journal).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 w...

Relive the glory years of American railroadingReturn to an era when passenger trains represented the height of luxury and riding the rails was the only way to travel. Classic Railroad Advertising covers nearly a century of memories - of powerful steam locomotives and elegant streamliners, of the brute force of diesel power and the patriotic effort to keep America on the move during a tumultuous world war.During their heyday, railroads employed the ...

This formative period of diesel locomotive evolution is examined with the help of more than 250 modern and period photos depicting passenger, freight, and switching locomotives. Author Brian Solomon covers every prominent manufacturer of the period—including Electro-Motive, Alco, Baldwin, and GE—as well as iconic models like Geeps, E and F units, PAs and FAs, sharknoses, U-boats, and more. The photographs take in the grand geographic and technological breadth of North American railroading ...

"A well-written social history of the shortest-lived major US transportation mode" from the railway historian and author of A Mighty Fine Road ( Choice).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 ...

The transit historian and author of Under the Sidewalks of New York delivers a lively and authoritative history of New York City's fabled subway.On the afternoon of October 27, 1904, ordinary New Yorkers descended beneath the sidewalks for the first time to ride the electric-powered trains of the newly inaugurated Interborough Rapid Transit System. More than a century later, the subway has expanded greatly, weaving its way into the fabric of New York's uni...

The Pennsylvania Railroad's Horseshoe Curve is known worldwide as an engineering wonder. This landmark, located just west of Altoona, opened to traffic on February 15, 1854, and it enabled the Pennsylvania railroad line to climb the Allegheny Mountains and the eastern continental divide. The Horseshoe Curve's construction impacted railroad design and development for mountainous terrain everywhere, enabling access to coal and other raw materials essential for the industrial age. J. Edgar Th...

This richly illustrated encyclopedia of classic and contemporary American railroads features consise histories of 101 U.S. and Canadian railroads past and present. Illustrated with period and modern photography in both color and black and white, evocative print ads, and system maps, each profile is also accompanied by one or more fact boxes offering details on the railroads' geographic scope, hardware, and freight and passenger operations.Spanning more than a century and a half, th...

A definitive history of the railroads of Iowa, featuring over four hundred black-and-white photographs.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 Hawkeyeland (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 sh...