Trains Across the Continent, Second Edition
Trains Across the Continent, Second Edition

Author: Rudolph Daniels

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9780253214119

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Trains Across the Continent North American Railroad History Second Edition Rudolph Daniels A wonderfully readable, illustrated guide to the history of railroads in America. "Trains Across the Continent is everything you need to know about railroad history—both educational and enjoyable reading." —Dean Bruce, President, Railroad Education Training Association "Trains Across the Continent should be in every public school library in the country. Quickly and concisely Dr. Daniels leads you through the maze of building, merging, and a myriad of other details necessary to understand modern railroading. Steam, diesel, passenger, and freight are all carefully explained on a national scale rather than railroad specific, making this book even more of a useful tool for the student." —Donald D. Snoddy, Historian, Union Pacific Railroad "Trains Across the Continent" is a truly comprehensive account of how railroads helped shape, and are continuing to shape, the history of North America." —Jonathan B. Hanna, Historian, Canadian Pacific Railway "Nothing but positive comments about it from faculty and students alike. . . . The industry bible in this area." —Phillip B. Cypret, Sacramento City College "Professor Daniels displays both passion and scholarship in this nicely arranged buffet of subjects both large and minute, important and interesting, serious and fun, to present a delicious overview of railroad history." —James D. Porterfield, author of Dining by Rail "Daniels manages to make brief mention of all major points of North American railroad history . . . from the workings of a steam locomotive to the dawn of the railroad mega-merger, nearly every conceivable aspect of railroading receives attention. . . . This volume is a must for those wishing to broaden or hone their knowledge of the birth and evolution of the railroad industry in North America." —Rail News Updated maps, new appendices, a greatly expanded bibliography, detailed discussions of the recent attempted mergers of the CN and BNSF, of the diesel locomotive, and of railroad electrification further round out the usefulness of Trains Across the Continent as the complete and concise introduction to North American railroads. Rudolph Daniels is Chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department at Western Iowa Tech Community College, where he teaches history and Railroad Operations Technology.

Railroad Fever
Railroad Fever

Author: Monica Halpern

Publisher: National Geographic Kids

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780792269939

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Presents a history of the building of the transcontinental railroad and its effects on American life. By the 1840s, daring Americans were trickling westward to begin a new life in the great wide open. When gold was discovered in 1848, the promise of riches drew people by the thousands out to California. But the journey was slow and dangerous, since the best ways of travelling were by wagon and on foot. During the "railroad fever" of the 1830s, thousands of miles of track were laid, mostly throughout the Northeast and the South. Few had dreamt of extending this new travel westward-but all it takes is a few. Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862, allowing for the start of the first transcontinental railroad. Though construction problems and hard times confronted them, American workers, Chinese immigrants, and former slaves pounded away through the rough geography of the western U.S., paving a path for the new train. A day in the life of a railroad worker was not an easy one. The work was backbreaking; the conditions were terrible; and workers were often faced with attack from Native Americans. The building of the railroad turned into a great race between two companies, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, to see who could finish their part of the railroad faster. The company that got farthest stood to make the most money. The "great race" turned into a national pastime-with reports of progress dominating the news. Railroad Fever illuminates the struggles of the railroad worker, the anger of the Plains Indians, and the many changes in both American life and geography that were prompted by the railroad. The completion of the transcontinental railroad left empty boomtowns across the country, changed the ethnic face of America, and, of course, created a new exciting and fast way of travel. Like the other titles in the Crossroads America series, Railroad Fever is illustrated with period paintings, drawings, and photographs. Also included are a glossary and an index.

The Story of American Railroads
The Story of American Railroads

Author: Stewart H. Holbrook

Publisher: Courier Dover Publications

Published: 2016-01-14

Total Pages: 532

ISBN-13: 0486799220

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Richly comprehensive history, featuring more than 100 photographs and contemporary prints. Involving struggles against nature, corrupt politicians, and other obstacles, the colorful account abounds in tales of ingenuity and colossal achievement.

A History of American Magazines, Volume II: 1850-1865
A History of American Magazines, Volume II: 1850-1865

Author: Frank Luther Mott

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1938

Total Pages: 652

ISBN-13: 9780674395510

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The first volume of this work, covering the period from 1741-1850, was issued in 1931 by another publisher, and is reissued now without change, under our imprint. The second volume covers the period from 1850 to 1865; the third volume, the period from 1865 to 1885. For each chronological period, Mr. Mott has provided a running history which notes the occurrence of the chief general magazines and the developments in the field of class periodicals, as well as publishing conditions during that period, the development of circulations, advertising, payments to contributors, reader attitudes, changing formats, styles and processes of illustration, and the like. Then in a supplement to that running history, he offers historical sketches of the chief magazines which flourished in the period. These sketches extend far beyond the chronological limitations of the period. The second and third volumes present, altogether, separate sketches of seventy-six magazines, including The North American Review, The Youth's Companion, The Liberator, The Independent, Harper's Monthly, Leslie's Weekly, Harper's Weekly, The Atlantic Monthly, St. Nicholas, and Puck. The whole is an unusual mirror of American civilization.

Savannah's Midnight Hour
Savannah's Midnight Hour

Author: Lisa L. Denmark

Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0820356328

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Savannah's Midnight Hour argues that Savannah's development is best understood within the larger history of municipal finance, public policy, and judicial readjustment in an urbanizing nation. In providing such context, Lisa Denmark adds constructive complexity to the conventional Old South/New South dichotomous narrative, in which the politics of slavery, secession, Civil War, and Reconstruction dominate the analysis of economic development. Denmark shows us that Savannah's fiscal experience in the antebellum and postbellum years, while exhibiting some distinctively southern characteristics, also echoes a larger national experience. Her broad account of municipal decision making about improvement investment throughout the nineteenth century offers a more nuanced look at the continuity and change of policies in this pivotal urban setting. Beginning in the 1820s and continuing into the 1870s, Savannah's resourceful government leaders acted enthusiastically and aggressively to establish transportation links and to construct a modern infrastructure. Taking the long view of financial risk, the city/municipal government invested in an ever-widening array of projects--canals, railroads, harbor improvement, drainage-- because of their potential to stimulate the city's economy. Denmark examines how this ideology of over-optimistic risk-taking, rooted firmly in the antebellum period, persisted after the Civil War and eventually brought the city to the brink of bankruptcy. The struggle to strike the right balance between using public policy and public money to promote economic development while, at the same time, trying to maintain a sound fiscal footing is a question governments still struggle with today.

Sugar and Railroads
Sugar and Railroads

Author: Oscar Zanetti

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2017-10-06

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13: 0807866431

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Though Cuba was among the first countries in the world to utilize rail transport, the history of its railroads has been little studied. This English translation of the prize-winning Caminos para el azucar traces the story of railroads in Cuba from their introduction in the nineteenth century through the 1959 Revolution. More broadly, the book uses the development of the Cuban rail transport system to provide a fascinating perspective on Cuban history, particularly the story of its predominant agro-industry, sugar. While railroads facilitated the sugar industry's rapid growth after 1837, the authors argue, sugar interests determined where railroads would be built and who would benefit from them. Zanetti and Garcia explore the implications of this symbiotic relationship for the technological development of the railroads, the economic evolution of Cuba, and the lives of the railroad workers. As this work shows, the economic benefits that accompanied the rise of railroads in Europe and the United States were not repeated in Cuba. Sugar and Railroads provides a poignant demonstration of the fact that technological progress alone is far from sufficient for development.