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Books : History : World : Transportation : Railroads
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Now A Major Motion Picture Starring Robert Carlyle and Kiefer Sutherland 'Waking from a dream, I suddenly realized where I was: in the Death House--in a prison camp by the River Kwai. I was a prisoner of war, lying among the dead, waiting for the bodies to be carried away so that I might have more room.' When Ernest Gordon was twenty-four he was captured by the Japanese and forced, with other British prisoners, to build the notorious 'Railroad of Death', where nearly 16,000 Prisoners of War gave their life. Faced with the appalling conditions of the prisoners' camp and the brutality of the captors, he survived to become an inspiring example of the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. To End All Wars is Ernest Gordon's gripping true story behind both the Academy Award-winning film The Bridge on the River Kwai starring Alec Guinness and the new film To End All Wars directed by David Cunningham.
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Garden railroading is fun for the whole family! And, by industry accounts, it's the fastest-growing segment of the model railroading hobby. Packed with inspiring colour photos, this book provides an informative and entertaining introduction to the hobby. Simple, easy-to-follow steps lead to a durable, reliable, and attractive operating railway designed for year-round enjoyment, regardless of region or climate. Information is presented in a logical sequence, beginning with the most frequently asked questions posed by newcomers to the hobby, and continuing through planning, design, foundation preparation, trackwork, power and control systems, landscaping, scenic details, and operation. Special sections are devoted to motive power and rolling stock, contemporary power and control systems, live steam operations, and maintenance.
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Drawn from a newly discovered cache of 8 x 10-inch glass negatives, these images show the incredible construction techniques and details involved in creating the underground marvel that is today's New York subway. From "cut and cover", sinking under-river tubes and disastrous cave-ins, the photographs are awe-inspiring. The pictures are accompanied by an engaging history of the subway system.
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If you have an ambition to build a small live steam locomotive, but are daunted by the skills required, then this book is for you. Written in his clear and encouraging style, Peter Jones demystifies the whole process for those with little or no previous experience. Contents include: An explanation of terms; Basic metalworking processes; Step-by-step project guides; Machining; Boilermaking; Painting; and Finishing. Fully illustrated throughout with color photographs and drawings, and including appendices of suppliers and societies, this is an invaluable work for the railway modeler.
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Drivers in the nation's capital face a host of hazards: high-speed traffic circles, presidential motorcades, jaywalking tourists, and bewildering signs that send unsuspecting motorists from the Lincoln Memorial into suburban Virginia in less than two minutes. And parking? Don't bet on it unless you're in the fast lane of the Capital Beltway during rush hour.
Little wonder, then, that so many residents and visitors rely on the Washington Metro, the 106-mile rapid transit system that serves the District of Columbia and its inner suburbs. In the first comprehensive history of the Metro, Zachary M. Schrag tells the story of the Great Society Subway from its earliest rumblings to the present day, from Arlington to College Park, Eisenhower to Marion Barry.
Unlike the pre–World War II rail systems of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, the Metro was built at a time when most American families already owned cars, and when most American cities had dedicated themselves to freeways, not subways. Why did the nation's capital take a different path? What were the consequences of that decision?
Using extensive archival research as well as oral history, Schrag argues that the Metro can be understood only in the political context from which it was born: the Great Society liberalism of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. The Metro emerged from a period when Americans believed in public investments suited to the grandeur and dignity of the world's richest nation. The Metro was built not merely to move commuters, but in the words of Lyndon Johnson, to create "a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community."
Schrag scrutinizes the project from its earliest days, including general planning, routes, station architecture, funding decisions, land-use impacts, and the behavior of Metro riders. The story of the Great Society Subway sheds light on the development of metropolitan Washington, postwar urban policy, and the promises and limits of rail transit in American cities.
(2006)
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American railroad history is filled with accounts of misadventure. Steam boilers blew up. Bridges collapsed under the weight of heavy engines. Locomotives crashed head-on because of signal failures. Passenger cars derailed, often with dire results. Lightly built wooden coaches splintered on impact, and the debris often ignited from the coals in the iron stoves used for heating. In the mid-nineteenth century American railroading was burgeoning--a growth too fast for safe operations. Despite the grim statistics of 19th and early 20th century train wrecks that resulted, one cannot help but find the photographs and public prints of the day interesting. When you pick up this wonderous book, you will have a hard time putting it down
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As Americas first common-carrier railroad--a railroad mandated to operate for the public and for commerce--the Baltimore & Ohio set the stage for North American railway development. And as such, the railroad racked up a remarkable list of firsts--first to offer scheduled passenger service, first to experiment with steam power, and the first air-conditioned passenger cars, lightweight streamliners, high-speed passenger diesels, and "piggyback" freight services--to name just a few.
In this expanded hardcover reissue of the popular 2000 release, authors Kirk Reynolds and Dave Oroszi explore these accomplishments, and with them a significant chapter in American railway history. With an all-new collection of more than 150 photos and illustrations, the book gives a colorful account of the evolution of one of the nations most enduring railroad icons, through good times and bad. Reynolds and Oroszi follow the B&O from its infancy as a horse-powered railway in the first half of the nineteenth century to its 1987 amalgamation into the vast CSX Transportation network.
The book tells how the B&O, handicapped by its rugged route from the East Coast to the Midwest nonetheless proved second to none in serving its customers--whether on star passenger lines like the Capitol Limited and National Limited or on a freight network that
In December 1880 a French expedition attempted to map a route for a railway that would stretch from their colony in Algeria right across the Sahara desert to reach their territories in West Africa. 'Paris to Timbuctoo in Six Days' was the slogan. It would do for the French colonies what the American railways were doing in the western states at the same time. No native opposition was expected. As one of the expedition's organizers said, 'A hundred uncivilized tribesmen armed with old-fashioned spears: what is that against the might of France?' Four months later, a handful of emaciated survivors staggered into a remote outpost on the edge of the desert. Although armed with modern rifles, the column had been lured to destruction by the self-styled 'lords of the desert', the Tuareg. At this, the highpoint of European colonialism in Africa, this story of treachery, massacre, torture and even cannibalism made headlines around the world. Attacked by the Tuareg in their remote heartland, the survivors had been pursued for weeks on end, driven into the waterless desert to die. The desperate lengths they resorted to shocked Victorian sensibilities. They do not make easy reading now. This grisly story, told by our greatest living desert explorer reveals what happened when the conceit of western colonialism met the equally arrogant Tuareg, who had dominated this remote region, and anyone trying to c
The first subway line in New York City opened on October 27, 1904. To celebrate the centennial of this event, the Johns Hopkins University Press presents a new edition of Gene Sansone's acclaimed book, Evolution of New York City Subways. Produced under the auspices of New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, this comprehensive account of the rapid transit system's design and engineering history offers an extensive array of photographs, engineering plans, and technical data for nearly every subway car in the New York City system from the days of steam and cable to the present.
The product of years of meticulous research in various city archives, this book is organized by type of car, from the 1903–04 wood and steel Composite cars to the R142 cars put into service in 2000. For each car type, Sansone provides a brief narrative history of its design, construction, and service record, followed by detailed schematic drawings and accompanying tables that provide complete technical data, from the average cost per car and passenger capacity to seat and structure material, axle load, and car weight. Sansone also includes a helpful subway glossary from A Car (the end car in a multiple car coupled unit) to Zone (a section of the train to the conductor's left or right side).
Subway and train enthusiasts, students of New York City history, and specialists in the history of technology will appreciate this updated and authoritative reference work about one of the twentieth century's greatest urban achievements.
Steam locomotives were developed in the early part of the 19th Century, initially by Trevithick, and then most successfully by George Stephenson, whose engine Locomotion inaugurated the famous Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. For the next 150 years, steam locomotives were further developed and refined, until the advent of new electrical technology superseded them. Although British Railways operated its last main-line steam locomotives in 1968, there is still immense interest in the large numbers of locomotives that have been privately preserved, and which run on heritage railways and in various parts of the world. This book describes the anatomy and physiology of the steam train, to enable all train enthusiasts to understand the workings of the various types of engines in use. It covers the design of the engine, the process of converting fuel into mechanical tractive effort to haul passenger and freight trains, and the function and design of the various components of the engine. The authors also outline the reasons behind the safe and efficient operation and maintenance of steam locomotives. Although the steam locomotive originated in the UK, there were parallel lines of development in North America and in various other European countries, many of which introduced their own individual features. These are dealt with in the book, which will appeal to railway enthusiasts
" The underground railroad -- with its mysterious signals, secret depots, abolitionist heroes, and slave-hunting villains -- has become part of American mythology. But legend has distorted much of this history. Larry Gara shows how pre-Civil War partisan propanda, postwar remininscences by fame-hungry abolitionists, and oral tradition helped foster the popular belief that a powerful secret organization spirited floods of slaves away from the South. In contrast to much popular belief, however, the slaves themselves had active roles in their own escape. They carried out their runs, receiving aid only after they had reached territory where they still faced return. The Liberty Line puts slaves in their rightful position: the center of their struggle for freedom.
More than just a railroad, the Southern Pacific was an empire, anchored in San Francisco but stretching from Portland, Oregon, to several ports on the Gulf of Mexico. From austere western roots, the "Espee" grew into a far-flung railroad of some 17,000 route miles. In fact, for many years, it was the nations only true transcontinental railroad.
This illustrated history tells the tale of SP's development from 1861 through its 1996 acquisition by Union Pacific. Through some 150 archival photographs, route maps, period ads, and timetables, readers are treated to the history of steam and diesel power, as well as freight and passenger operations.
In addition to images of the Southern Pacific's flashy red and orange Daylight streamliners, the book features photography from the railroads fabled Coast Line, Shasta Route, Golden State Route, and the granddaddy of 'em all, the Overland Route.
This is a fresh and nostalgic look at the streamliners of the Santa Fe railroad from the late thirties to the early seventies. They're all here: the Super Chief, the Chief, El Capitan, and the San Francisco Chief.
Santa Fe--The Chief Way includes many photographs never before seen in other Santa Fe railroad books. Numerous interior pictures of the various cars remind us how wonderful train travel used to be. One chapter is devoted to the art collection of the Santa Fe railroad; it shows how these paintings were reproduced on menu covers and calendars. Another chapter shows most of the depots still standing in New Mexico as well as several of the Harvey House hotels rendered in beautiful hand-tinted photography. A special feature of the book is its extensive coverage of the original advertising materials used to lure travelers west through Indian Country in the Southwest. These include train brochures, timetables, post cards, magazine advertisements--all of which show the style and luxury afforded the traveler on these famous streamliners.
As an added bonus to movie buffs, one chapter deals with the silent film stars who stopped off in Albuquerque as the train was being serviced. Historical pictures show a lost, glamorous era.
This book will be a must-have for railroad buffs, historians, memorabilia collectors and those interested in the history of advertising;
This title combines three complementary titles on popular subject in one attractive gift package. Railroads have been part of the American way of life since 1828 when America's first common-carrier railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, laid its first rail. Since then, hundreds and hundreds of railroad companies have been born. "The Classic American Railroads" gift set chronicles 44 of America and Canada's most loved railroads from the golden age. Most have disappeared or merged into the super railroads of today, but these "fallen flags" are fondly remembered. Here together in one boxed set are three railroad classics: "Classic American Railroad", "More Classic American Railroads", and "Classic American Railroads, Volume III."
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“The metro may be a mere hundred years old but it tells a tale of France twenty times as long. The story begins in the fifth century BC when wild Celtic tribes roamed the countryside of Gaul. Then Julius Caesar imposed a Roman rule that lasted five hundred years and forced the Celts to settle down. All that seems like only yesterday to a Frenchman because those Celts and Romans are close friends to every reader of the French comic book series Asterix. Asterix and his fellow Celts live quite happily in a small, fortified enclave in Brittany in northwestern France. Their idyllic, primitive existence is occasionally intruded upon by those nasty Roman conquerors, but the Celts always manage to get the best of the Romans despite great odds…
“Alésia - (Métro Line 4). The Battle of Alésia (52 BC) is the oldest event commemorated in the Paris Metro. The Celtic warrior Vercingétorix managed to unite competing tribes against the Romans in one last attempt to save Gallic independence. It was not an easy task. It was difficult to live with, let alone lead, these autonomous, quarrelsome groups. Vercingétorix planned to wage hit-and-run guerrilla warfare- to starve the Romans into defeat by destroying the crops in their path as they penetrated deeper into Gaul in pursuit of the pesky Celts. In the town of Bourges the local population refused to allow the destruction of their wheat - a fatal mistake. Caesar descended on the town and confiscated it for his hungry troops. With renewed energy the Romans gave chase. The Celts retreated to a high plateau called Alésia, where they were quickly surrounded by Caesar’s forces.
“The table was now turned. Caesar built a fortification around Alésia, twelve and a half miles in circumference. It consisted of a double row of spikes, one facing inward and the other outward, which prevented both escape and the re-provisioning of the rebels. The Celts had only a month´s worth of provisions but somehow they held out for two by which time the men were famished and exhausted. Vercingétorix surrendered. Few lives had been lost in battle but countless numbers died of starvation. Vercingétorix was imprisoned in Rome where six years later when he was all but forgotten Caesar had him strangled to death…
“Both the Celts who lost and the Romans who won have contributed much to French culture, so it’s a tricky thing for the French to say whether Alésia was a victory or a defeat. One thing is clear: in real life, the Celts did not always win.
“In the end, it was most likely the mountains of horse manure that gave birth to the Paris Metro. During the last quarter of the 19th century, Paris did not lack the means of transport. What it patently lacked was a transportation system. There were competing omnibus lines, trams, trains and private conveyances, all overlapping, most taking roundabout routes throughout the city, hindering one another and certainly hindering business.
“Forty lines of horse-drawn omnibuses traversed Paris in 1870 and ten thousand horses were required to pull them. The maintenance of the horses ate up fifty percent of the entire company budget. Each omnibus held about 20 passengers, half of them riding on top of the carriage. By the turn of the century the omnibuses carried as many as forty people each, still with many sitting on the carriage roof. The roads were made of cobblestones or wood planks or sometimes just hardened mud; there were no shock absorbers on the carriages; and the stench from the horse manure was overwhelming. One hundred million passengers used the omnibuses that year, probably half of them holding perfumed handkerchiefs to their noses to ward off the stench.”
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In February 2005, General Motors announced its decision to sell its Electro-Motive Division (EMD), thus ending its 75-year association with one of the most renowned brands in railroading. Looking at the heritage of the venerable EMD in light of this momentous development, this monumental volume offers an overview of the great locomotive maker unprecedented in its scope and unparalleled in the spectacular quality of its photographs. Leading railroad author and photographer Brian Solomon provides an authoritative, comprehensive account of EMD’s history, from its genesis in 1922 as the independent Electro-Motive Corporation, to GM’s acquisition of the company in 1930, and on through the age of today’s ""superpower"" locomotives. From the earliest 1920s railcars to the iconic mid-century F units, workhorse GP and SD locomotives, and Dash series; to the company’s race with its chief competitor, General Electric, to reach 6,000 horsepower, EMD’s complete story unfolds here in depth and detail, illustrated with a wealth of archival photos from across the country, as well as a remarkable collection of color photography from top railway photographers of the last half century.
Alphabetically organized, fully cross-referenced, and packed with photographs, this enticing encyclopedia makes the perfect gift for anyone who ever felt drawn to the sight of an onrushing train. It features the most significant innovations in locomotive technology, as well as the most important and colorful characters from the history of the iron horse. Thrill to the true story of Casey Jones and his ill fated final journey; was he simply trying to stay on schedule that day--or was he determined to die? Read about the difficulties encountered during the construction of the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad, Cecil Rhodes’ ambitious and still unrealized dream of a trans-African railway. Marvel at the magnetic levitation trains that have the capability of traveling at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. With its facts and details, fabulous lore and photographs old and new, this reference brings history to life as never before.