The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America

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America was made by the railroads The opening of the Balti Ohio line the first American railroad in the 1830s sparked a national revolution in the way that people lived thanks to the speed and convenience of train travel Promoted by visionaries and built through heroic effort, the American railroad network was bigger in every sense than Europe s, and facilitated everything from long distance travel to commuting and transporting goods to waging war It united far flung parts of the country, boosted economic development, and was the catalyst for America s rise to world power status.Every American town, great or small, aspired to be connected to a railroad and by the turn of the century, almost every American lived within easy access of a station By the early 1900s, the United States was covered in a latticework of than 200,000 miles of railroad track and a series of magisterial termini, all built and controlled by the biggest corporations in the land The railroads dominated the American landscape for than a hundred years but by the middle of the twentieth century, the automobile, the truck, and the airplane had eclipsed the railroads and the nation started to forget them In The Great Railroad Revolution, renowned railroad expert Christian Wolmar tells the extraordinary story of the rise and the fall of the greatest of all American endeavors, and argues that the time has come for America to reclaim and celebrate its often overlooked rail heritage. Download The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America author Christian Wolmar – kino-fada.fr A perfectly fine history of the American railroad as researched and seen first hand by a British historian The cultural and national distance is actually one of the things that drew me to this work, since outside observers are usually not as tendentious and prickish as locals.Goes through all the motions for the layperson the development of the technology, the early leaps made in New England and the greater northeast, then the 19th century heyday The latter is the bulk of the book focusing on A perfectly fine history of the American railroad as researched and seen first hand by a British historian The cultural and national distance is actually one of the things that drew me to this work, since outside observers are usually not as tendentious and prickish as locals.Goes through all the motions for the layperson the development of the technology, the early leaps made in New England and the greater northeast, then the 19th century heyday The latter is the bulk of the book focusing on the scoundrels who made the American rail network what it was and who effectively ruined a good resource for transportation by sullying it in the public s eye There is a great section on railroads and...There was, of course, one group that was happy to sit in boxcars There had been hoboes on the railroads ever since the American Civil War, but with the Depression the phenomenon increased exponentially Moreover, it was not just adults but a vast horde of teenagers who were on the move, estimated by Errol Lincoln Uys to number a quarter of a million in the 1930s Often as young as 13, each one came from a different background, each left home to ride the...This is a fine read for anyone who wants to get a sense of how much of the USA s success as a nation can be attributed to the investment in railroads as a means of transportation Wolmar does a fine job of carrying us from the initial development of railways, to their near collapse and current strengths I was enlightened by his spotlighting the Charleston Hamburg s role in early railroad development and his insights into why Chicago became a hub, rather than simply a big station for railr This is a fine read for anyone who wants to get a sense of how much of the USA s success as a nation can be attributed to the investment in railroads as a means of transportation Wolmar does a fine job of carrying us from the initial development of railways, to their near collapse and current strengths I was enlightened by his spotlighting the Charleston Hamburg s role in early railroad development and his insights into why Chicago became a hub, rather than simply a big station for railroads linking East and West.Wolmar has a European perspective, so he misses some of the particular American nuances For instance in one of his maps, he chooses to highlight the state capitals rather than understand that in many state...A fair amount of interesting information here, but too much of it repeated over and over to m,ake for a successful book The author seems to have done no original research, other than ride trains, and relies almost exclusively on other authors secondary studies His judgements and general analysis is good and insightful, but also tends to be repeated A littledetail and less repetition would have made it much better In many spots incorporates the author s native British railroad terms e A fair amount of interesting information here, but too much of it repeated over and over to m,ake for a successful book The author seems to have done no original research, other than ride trains, and relies almost exclusively on other authors secondary studies His judgements and general analysis is good and insightful, but also tends to be repeated A littledetail and less repetition would have made it much better In many spots incorporates the author s native British railroad terms e...Incredible book giving a great look into the past of the American railways Shows both sides of the story, but does not overemphasize the bad side indentured servants, etc like Howard Zinn.There is a great danger when historians of a given subject, like the history of rail transportation in the United States take off their historian hat and become advocate for various rail solutions, such as increased subsidies for rail transportation that hardly anyone wants to use The author tries to argue, using various dodgy means, that trains are an ecologically superior solution to transportation than private motor vehicles, but this book stumbles badly in serving both as a warts and all d There is a great danger when historians... The Great Railroad Revolution is a history of trains in the United States from their beginnings to the present day The author, Christian Wolmar, also provides some background information about railroads in Britain early in the book, because steam trains originated in that country The use of rails to reduce friction for moving heavy loads, such as ore from mines, has a long history Horses were often use as the motive power before steam, and initially on railroads it was not uncommon for the hThe Great Railroad Revolution is a history of trains in the United States from their beginnings to the present day The author, Christian Wolmar, also provides some background information about railroads in Britain early in the book, because steam trains originated in that country The use of rails to reduce friction for moving heavy loads, such as ore from mines, has a long history Horses were often use as the motive power before steam, and initially on railroads it was not uncommon for the horses to be used initiall...In the past few years I ve been learning a lot about railroads, at least a lot for me. My first lesson came from major tunnel construction in my neighborhood on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC Therecent lesson came quite unexpectedly from this fine book by Christian Wolmar Quite unexpectedly because parochial would be a fair term I simply didn t expect the book to be as absorbing as it turned out to be Mr Wolmar writes in prose that is cl In the past few years I ve been learning a lot about railroads, at least a lot for me. My first lesson came from major tunnel construction in my neighborhood on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC Therecent lesson came quite unexpectedly from this fine book by Christian Wolmar Quite u...It s an outsiders viewWolmar heaps both praise and criticism on American railroads with the latter often sounding like the often typical British attitude that we Yanks are inferior to them He did do a very respectable job in the very early railroad history here and of the Civil War period On building the first transcontinental, some of his characterizations of key players were somewhat jaded He was indeed right on target on his criticism of h o w our governme...Wolmar s The Great Railroad Revolution was a fantastic introduction I m still a little shell shocked from reading it in one day last Tuesday, but I enjoyed the context Wolmar gave for each development His tone was professional, confident and reliable probably thanks to the other eight hundred books about railroads he s written The texture of his writing was smooth and enjoyable, despi...

The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America
  • English
  • 08 October 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 396 pages
  • 1610391799
  • Christian Wolmar
  • The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America