Sunset Limited

The only major U.S railroad to be operated by westerners and the only railroad built from west to east, the Southern Pacific acquired a unique history and character It also acquired a reputation, especially in California, as a railroad that people loved to hate This magisterial history tells the full story of the Southern Pacific for the first time, shattering myths about the company that have prevailed to this day A landmark account, Sunset Limited explores the railroad s development and influence especially as it affected land settlement, agriculture, water policy, and the environment and offers a new perspective on the tremendous, often surprising, role the company played in shaping the American West.Based on his unprecedented and extensive research into the company s historical archives, Richard Orsi finds that, contrary to conventional understanding, the Southern Pacific Company identified its corporate well being with population growth and social and economic development in the railroad s hinterland As he traces the complex and shifting intersections between corporate and public interest, Orsi documents the railroad s little known promotion of land distribution, small scale farming, scientific agriculture, and less wasteful environmental practices and policies including water conservation and wilderness and recreational parklands preservation.Meticulously researched, lucidly written, and judiciously balanced, Sunset Limited opens a new window onto the American West in a crucial phase of its development and will forever change our perceptions of one of the largest and most important western corporations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Read Sunset Limited – kino-fada.fr An impressive though certainly overly comprehensive rejoinder to the typical progressive, railroad bashing tomes that litter modern history libraries.Unlike most historians, Orsi is a rabid railfan, thoroughly enad of the majesty and accomplishments of the 19th century railroads, and he brings his enthusiasm for rails and California history to this presentation of the Southern Pacific Railroad during its glory days, when this now forgotten company was the largest transportation concern on th An impressive though certainly overly comprehensive rejoinder to the typical progressive, railroad bashing tomes that litter modern history libraries.Unlike most historians, Orsi is a rabid railfan, thoroughly enad of the majesty and accomplishments of the 19th century railroads, and he brings his enthusiasm for rails and California history to this presentation of the Southern Pacific Railroad during its glory days, when this now forgotten company was the ...This actually could have been a three star review, but I have to give credit to the thuroughness of the scholarship, the excellent photographs and the superb 200 end notes, which are a mini book in themselves Orsi s book is revisionist if it is proper to call a thesis that glorifies a massive American corporation revisionist I suppose that it qualifies if one is taking the scholarship of major American and French universities from the sixties onward as the standard Simply put, Orsi s goa This actually could have been a three star review, but I have to give credit to the thuroughness of the scholarship, the excellent photographs and the superb 200 end notes, which are a mini book in themselves Orsi s book is revisionist if it is proper to call a thesis that glorifies a massive American corporation revisionist I suppose that it qualifies if one is taking the scholarship of major American and French universities from the sixties onward as the sta...The railroad s founders and most of its later top executives and, importantly, its middle level managers were Californians, often long time residents With remarkable tenure in their positions, these men identified their company s interests with those of their home state, its economic, social, and cultural development, and secondarily with the ...The Southern Pacific was one of the best of the Guilded Age railroads and it pioneered many aspects of modern American business It spanned from the Gulf of Mexico in Texas across New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah Sadly this book is California centric with no concentration on operations in other states It didn t even mention the regularity of train robbings east of Tucson and how the railroad dealt with it Sections dealing with the Salton Sea and Pacific Fruit Express The Southern Pacific was one of the best of the Guilded Age railroads and it pioneered many aspects of modern American business It spanned from the Gulf of Mexico in Texas across New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah Sadly thi...This is Southern Pacific s side of the railroad s development Portrays Theodore Judah as being a poor manager still, he was a guide surveyor and political promoter

• English
• 01 December 2017
Richard J. Orsi
• Hardcover
• 637 pages
• 0520200195
• Richard J. Orsi
• Sunset Limited