Electric Railways
Electric Railways

Author: Michael C. Duffy

Publisher: IET

Published: 2003-02-11

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 0852968051

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Electric Railways 1880-1990 explores the history of the integration of both electric and diesel-electric railway systems and identifies the crucial role that diesel-electric traction played in the development of wireless electrification. The evolution of electrical technology and the modern railway produced innovations in engineering that were integral to the development of traction, power and signalling systems. This book presents a thorough survey of electric railway development from the earliest days pf the London Underground to modern electrified main line trains. The distinction between 'enforced electrification' and 'economic electrification' is also discussed and the pioneering role of J.J. Heilmann assessed.

Metropolitan Corridor
Metropolitan Corridor

Author: John R. Stilgoe

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1985-01-01

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780300034813

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An engaging and delightfully illustrated account of the impact of railroads on the American built environment and on American culture from the last decades of the nineteenth century to the 1930's.

Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1895-1968
Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1895-1968

Author: Michael Bezilla

Publisher: Penn State University Press

Published: 1980

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13:

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The first comprehensive case study of railroad electrification in the United States, this pioneering book highlights a subject of current government and industry studies and a target of billions of dollars of Amtrak rehabilitation funds. Both energy conservation and environmental quality remain at stake together with transportation efficiency. Electric traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad was a technological success handicapped by an economic factor: the onetime relatively low cost of petroleum, which gave diesel locomotives and highway vehicles a temporary advantage. Today the growing cost advantage of electricity--generated with coal; atomic energy; water, wind, and solar power--prefigures a revival of electric railroad traction. Drawing upon previously untapped records of the PRR and its suppliers, notably General Electric, the author traces stages in cooperative risk management. First came challenges of limited scope which steam locomotives were unable to meet: the New York City tunnel extension of 1910 and the Philadelphia suburban modernization begun in 1913. Next came a decade of mainline electrification, 1928-38: first New York to Washington and then passenger and freight extensions to Harrisburg. These projects were preceded by large-scale research and experimentation, followed by constant improvement in equipment and operations. Electric traction is depicted as a program involving not only the railroad but also its consultants, equipment and energy suppliers, and (to a lesser degree) governmental bodies. Locomotive and power transmission design is described in detail--with copious illustrations--as are the creative achievements of managers, engineers, and workers. And the presentation will be clear to readers without specialized technical or business backgrounds.

Internal Combustion
Internal Combustion

Author: Edwin Black

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2007-12-10

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780312359089

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Internal Combustion is the compelling tale of corruption and manipulation that subjected the United States and the world to an oil addiction that could have been avoided, that was never necessary, and that could be ended not in ten years, not in five years, but today. Edwin Black, award-winning author of IBM and the Holocaust, has mined scores of corporate and governmental archives to assemble thousands of previously uncovered and long-forgotten documents and studies into this dramatic story. Black traces a continuum of rapacious energy cartels and special interests dating back nearly 5,000 years, from wood to coal to oil, and then to the bicycle and electric battery cartels of the 1890s, which created thousands of electric vehicles that plied American streets a century ago. But those noiseless and clean cars were scuttled by petroleum interests, despite the little-known efforts of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford to mass-produce electric cars powered by personal backyard energy stations. Black also documents how General Motors criminally conspired to undermine mass transit in dozens of cities and how Big Oil, Big Corn, and Big Coal have subverted synthetic fuels and other alternatives. He then brings the story full circle to the present-day oil crises, global warming, and beyond. Black showcases overlooked compressed-gas, electric, and hydrogen cars on the market today, as well as inexpensive all-function home energy units that could eliminate much oil usage. His eye-opening calls for a Manhattan Project and a new Green Fleet Initiative for immediate energy independence will help energize society to finally take action. Internal Combustion, and its interactive Web site www.internalcombustionbook.com, have already generated a much-needed national debate. It should be read by every citizen who consumes oil—everyone. Internal Combustion can change everything, not by reinventing the wheel, but by excavating it from where it was buried a century ago.

New Yorks Pennsylvania Stations
New Yorks Pennsylvania Stations

Author: Hilary Ballon

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2002-06-04

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9780393730784

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This book recounts the heroic story of a public landmark: the masterpiece by McKim, Mead & White that opened in 1910, its tragic demolition in the 1960s, and the dazzling new station by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, due to open in 2005.".