The Station Agent and the American Railroad Experience
The Station Agent and the American Railroad Experience

Author: H. Roger Grant

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2022-11

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 025306435X

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Before the widespread popularity of automobiles, buses, and trucks, freight and passenger trains bound the nation together. The Station Agent and the American Railroad Experience explores the role of local frontline workers that kept the country's vast rail network running. Virtually every community with a railroad connection had a depot and an agent. These men and occasionally women became the official representatives of their companies and were highly respected. They met the public when they sold tickets, planned travel itineraries, and reported freight and express shipments. Additionally, their first-hand knowledge of Morse code made them the most informed in town. But as times changed, so did the role of, and the need for, the station agent. Beautifully illustrated with dozens of vintage photographs, The Station Agent and the American Railroad Experience, brings back to life the day-to-day experience of the station agent and captures the evolution of railroad operations as technology advanced.

The Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad

Author: Albert J. Churella

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2023-11-21

Total Pages: 911

ISBN-13: 0253066360

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By 1933, the Pennsylvania Railroad had been in existence for nearly ninety years. During this time, it had grown from a small line, struggling to build west from the state capital in Harrisburg, to the dominant transportation company in the United States. In Volume 2 of The Pennsylvania Railroad, Albert J. Churella continues his history of this giant of American transportation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the world's largest business corporation and the nation's most important railroad. By 1917, the Pennsylvania Railroad, like the nation itself, was confronting a very different world. The war that had consumed Europe since 1914 was about to engulf the United States. Amid unprecedented demand for transportation, the federal government undertook the management of the railroads, while new labor policies and new regulatory initiatives, coupled with a postwar recession, would challenge the company like never before. Only time would tell whether the years that followed would signal a new beginning for the Pennsylvania Railroad or the beginning of the end. The Pennsylvania Railroad: The Age of Limits, 1917-1933, represents an unparalleled look at the history, the personalities, and the technologies of this iconic American company in a period that marked the shift from building an empire to exploring the limits of their power.

The Pennsylvania Railroad, Volume 2
The Pennsylvania Railroad, Volume 2

Author: Albert J. Churella

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2023-11-21

Total Pages: 1621

ISBN-13: 0253066379

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By 1933, the Pennsylvania Railroad had been in existence for nearly ninety years. During this time, it had grown from a small line, struggling to build west from the state capital in Harrisburg, to the dominant transportation company in the United States. In Volume 2 of The Pennsylvania Railroad, Albert J. Churella continues his history of this giant of American transportation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the world's largest business corporation and the nation's most important railroad. By 1917, the Pennsylvania Railroad, like the nation itself, was confronting a very different world. The war that had consumed Europe since 1914 was about to engulf the United States. Amid unprecedented demand for transportation, the federal government undertook the management of the railroads, while new labor policies and new regulatory initiatives, coupled with a postwar recession, would challenge the company like never before. Only time would tell whether the years that followed would signal a new beginning for the Pennsylvania Railroad or the beginning of the end. The Pennsylvania Railroad: The Age of Limits, 1917–1933,represents an unparalleled look at the history, the personalities, and the technologies of this iconic American company in a period that marked the shift from building an empire to exploring the limits of their power.

Wet Britches and Muddy Boots
Wet Britches and Muddy Boots

Author: John H. White

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2012-11-22

Total Pages: 545

ISBN-13: 0253005582

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“Succeeds admirably as an introductory survey of the early American travel experience”—from the National Book Award-nominated author (Journal of Transport History). 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 start out with a walk down to the river to meet a boat for the journey to a town where they caught a stagecoach for the rail junction to catch the train for a ride to the city. John H. White Jr. discusses not only the means of travel but also the people who made the system run—riverboat pilots, locomotive engineers, stewards, stagecoach drivers, seamen. He provides a fascinating glimpse into a time when travel within the United States was a true adventure. “Throughout this massive work, the author repeatedly captures the romance, flavor, and color associated with travel.”—Choice “Every chapter, in any order, will constitute a well-spent and informative read. Journey with this book soon!”—National Railway Historical Society Bulletin “[A] popular history, informative and engaging . . . White has given us a book that’s as unusual as it is useful. Read it cover-to-cover or just pick out a random chapter in a stolen hour, and the book will be equally enjoyable either way.”—Railroad History

Vision Accomplished
Vision Accomplished

Author: William H. Galligan

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2024

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0253068355

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The remarkable story of the Kansas City Southern tells of a company that from day 1 followed its own path, led by a succession of visionaries who were not afraid to take risks in pursuit of the railroad company's success. Without the resources of the earlier land grant railroads, the Kansas City-based company forged a unique approach to growing its franchise. It compensated for its modest size by developing an outsize, personalized commitment to its customers, suppliers, and rail partners. While larger railroads, with their vast rail networks, sometimes cajoled customers and smaller railroads into conforming to their service offerings, Kansas City Southern sought to develop mutually beneficial relationships with multiple constituents. Vision Accomplished is the story of a succession of individuals who through the strength of their personalities, vision, courage, and character led the railroad through one perilous situation after another and in so doing crafted a corporate culture truly unique in the railroad industry. It's a story of a railroad that by rights should have died dozens of times but continued to survive and grew to become a major participant in the North American supply chain.

Sunset Cluster
Sunset Cluster

Author: H. Roger Grant

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2023-07-04

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 0253066735

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Discover the Sunset Cluster--railroads that were doomed to fail? The first two decades of the 20th century were the twilight of the Railroad Age. Major routes had long been established, and local service became the focus of new construction. Beginning in 1907, a cluster of five shortline railroads were established in otherwise unconnected parts of Iowa. They, however, would short lived. The five Iowa 'sunset cluster' railroads might appear to deserve eternal obscurity, being at best minor footnotes to American railroad history. After all, their total mileage barely exceeded 100 miles. Their average life span, moreover, covered about five years, and the Des Moines & Red Oak Railway (DM&RO) never turned a wheel. Yet, these Iowa shortlines had an immediate positive impact to their service area, but disappointingly they became victims of modal competition and the Good Roads Movement. Using contemporary newspapers, government reports, and other little-known sources, renowned railway historian H. Roger Grant offers a fascinating look at these shortline railroads. Sunset Cluster explores the almost desperate desire by communities to benefit from steel rails before the regional railroad map finally imploded and the challenges faced by latter-day shortline builders.

Black Diamonds from the Treasure State
Black Diamonds from the Treasure State

Author: Robert A. Schalla

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2024

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 0253068215

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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 of southern Montana. Starting with Northern Pacific's unsuccessful efforts to build a railroad through Yellowstone, this story follows the struggles of various privately financed schemes to develop the vast mineral wealth of these two regions. A youthful entrepreneur from Milwaukee succeeded in financing a railroad to the coal fields, but his plan to extend the line to the national park runs afoul of Howard Elliott, president of the Northern Pacific, who was determined to drive him out of business. The story dives into the motivations and background of these individuals and their ultimate triumphs and failures. The completion of the Montana, Wyoming & Southern Railroad (MW&S) in 1906 resulted in the creation of three new towns and six separate mining operations. The MW&S was one of the few privately owned lines in Montana that, despite forces aligned against it, maintained its independence until it was abandoned. For nearly fifty years it formed an important part of the state's economy as the Bear Creek mines supplied private, commercial, and industrial consumers with some of the highest-quality coal in the state.

Erie Lackawanna
Erie Lackawanna

Author: H. Roger Grant

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1996-10-01

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780804727983

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This 50-year saga of the "Weary Erie" describes in vivid detail the turbulent last decades of a colorful, spunky, and innovative railroad. It also tells us much about what happened to American railroading, during this period: technological change, governmental over-regulation, corporate mergers, union "featherbedding," uneven executive leadership, and changing patterns of travel and business. The book is illustrated with 45 photographs and drawings and 4 maps.