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 Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

Author: Ron Brown

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2008-04-21

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1459717791

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Despite the "green" benefits of rail travel, Canada has lost much of its railway heritage. Across the country stations have been bulldozed and rails ripped up. Once the heart of communities large and small, stations and tracks have left little more than a gaping hole in Canada's landscapes. This book revisits the times when railways were the country's economic lifeline, and the station the social centre. Here was where we worked, played, listened to political speeches, or simply said goodbye to loved ones never knowing when they would return. The landscapes which grew around the station are also explored and include such forgotten features as station hotels, restaurants, gardens and the once common railway YMCA. Railway companies often hired the world's leading architects to design grand station buildings which ranged in style from chateau-esque to art deco. Even small town stations and wayside shelters displayed an artistic flare and elegance. Although most have vanished, the book celebrates the survival of that heritage in stations which have been saved or indeed remain in use. The book will appeal to anyone who has links with our rail era, or who simply appreciates the value of Canada's built heritage.


The American Railroad

The American Railroad

Author: Joe Welsh

Publisher: Motorbooks

Published: 2006-03-10

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 0760316317

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This nostalgic, authoritative history of the railroad industry in the United States is richly illustrated with more than 200 images covering everything from the road's beginning to its heyday in the 1940s and '50s and its current state. Features include: black-and-white and period color photographs; maps, timetables, promotional materials, and other memorabilia; and details about railroading's five most fascinating components--its locomotives, freight trains, passenger trains, depots, and workforce.