The Story of American Railroads From the Iron Horse to the Diesel Locomotive

This richly comprehensive history by a self-proclaimed "low-brow" historian features more than 100 photographs and contemporary prints of America's railway system. Stewart H. Holbrook presents a dramatic, highly readable chronicle of the development of the backbone of the country's commerce and industry. Abounding in episodes of ingenuity and achievement, the growth of the railway system required constant improvements in techniques, devices, and machines, from the first wood burner that traveled on wooden rails to modern streamliners and diesel-powered giants.
In addition to technological innovations, the colossal enterprise required courage and resolve to battle challenges posed by nature as well as by political maneuvering and corruption. This fascinating survey draws upon many hitherto unknown original sources and new data, in addition to firsthand accounts from hundreds of brakemen, conductors, engineers, and other railroad employees. Sound and authoritative, it constitutes a definitive history of America's railroads.

Stewart Hall Holbrook (1893–1964) worked as a lumberjack, actor, cartoonist, artillery man, and editor. In addition to reviews for the New York Herald Tribune and editorials and feature articles for the Portland Oregonian, he wrote several lively books on American history, covering topics as diverse as the timber industry, the Wobblies, Ethan Allen, and eccentrics of the Pacific Northwest.

1. Panorama2. The Prophets3. Primeval Railroading4. Railroad Fever5. "The Work of the Age"6. Forgotten Genius7. The Pennsy and The Central8. The Art of Colonization9. Hoosiers Start a Railroad--The Monon10. War Comes to a "Neutral" Line11. The Big Junction12. The Rebel Route's Abraham Lincoln13. Land--Uncle Sam's Alternate Sections14. The First Transcontinental15. Jim Hill's Empire16. Locating the Route17. The Saga of Stampede Pass18. Out in the Wild and Woolly19. Up in the Cold and Icy20. The Carriers are Harassed21. Times of Trouble22. Through the Dark Ages--And After23. Moments of Disaster24. The Airbrake Fanatic25. The Rise of the Railway Express26. The Fast Mail27. The Story of the Sleeping Car28. The Life of the Pullman Porter29. Spotters30. First Transcontinental Trip31. Time and the Railroads32. The Little Fellers33. Robbing the Steam Cars34. Riders of the Rods and the Blinds35. News Butchers36. The Biography of a Flagstop37. The Railroad in the Drama38. Ballads of the Rails39. The Second CenturyA Railroad AlmanacBibliographyIndex