Well into the 20th century, the railroad industry implemented a series of great technological changes that revolutionized rail transit in America. The twin cities of Omaha and Council Bluffs, serving as Union Pacific headquarters and the nation's nucleus of continental train travel, witnessed the bulk of these changes. Through a collection of captivating photographs, Railroads of Omaha and Council Bluffs documents the transformations that took place in the railroad industry and the impact those changes made on these two cities, as well as the rest of the country. The creation of the "streamlined" passenger train, the transition from steam to diesel power, the golden years of Omaha's Union Station, and the revolution of railroad freight service through mergers and government deregulation are just some of the events explored in this fascinating book.
The Union Pacific Transfer Grounds at Council Bluffs developed along the shores of Spoon Lake after 1867. The railroad yards grew into a key component of the transcontinental railroad as the city of Council Bluffs grew around it.
Excerpt from A Crime Against Labor: A Brief History of the Omaha Council Bluffs Street Railway Strike, 1909 It is the purpose of this narrative to preserve in comprehensive form the history of the industrial crime that, in September, 1909, shook the city of Omaha and adjoining municipalities to their outermost environs; paralyzed for some days the business and social interests of people; temporarily withdrew from 500 men and their families the means of livelihood; and ultimately left 150 of them to search elsewhere for new occupation. It is the story of the strike of the union operating carmen in the employ of the Omaha Council Bluffs Street Railway Company, the serv ice corporation operating the traction systems of the cities of Omaha, South Omaha, Council Bluffs, and the suburbs of Benson, Florence and Dundee. The facts herein presented are taken from authentic records. A large portion, relating to conferences held, first with a view of preventing a strike, and later with a view of settling-the strike, is reprinted from the transcript of the court reporter who made a stenographic report of the proceedings at the time of their occurrence. A portion is reproduced from the editorial and news columns of the daily newspapers, while statements of some of the public officials and most prominent business men of the city, as well as of several of the striking and non-union employes of the company, are presented in order that the facts may be truthfully set forth without undue prejudice or color. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
"Being a man, like being a woman, is something you have to learn," Aaron Raz Link remarks. Few would know this better than the coauthor of What Becomes You , who began life as a girl named Sarah and twenty-nine years later began life anew as a gay man.
