Rails Across The Mississippi

"A tale of grand dreams, shady politics, daring engineering experiments, greed, ambition, and westward expansion, Rails across the Mississippi is the first book-length history since 1881 to document the planning, financing, and construction of the first bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, a national engineering landmark completed in 1874 that is now known as the Eads Bridge. Robert W. Jackson takes a fresh look at this monumental project, dispersing the myths and filling in the gaps left by earlier scholarship."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Covering legendary and obscure intercity passenger trains in a dozen Southeastern states, this book details the golden age of train travel. The story begins with the inception of steam locomotives in 1830 in Charleston, South Carolina, continuing through the mid-1930s changeover to diesel and the debut of Amtrak in 1971 to the present. Throughout, the book explores the technological achievements, the romance and the economic impact of traveling on the tracks. Other topics include contemporary museums and excursion trains; the development of commuter rails, monorails, light rails, and other intracity transit trains; the social impact of train travel; and historical rail terminals and facilities. The book is supplemented with more than 160 images and 10 appendices.

"Outside the Rails: A Rail Route Guide from Chicago to Kansas City" is a 334-page route guidebook for passengers traveling Amtrak's Southwest Chief train through Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. Learn interesting facts about the people, place, and history passing by outside the window between Chicago and Kansas City. This book was written by Robert and Kandace Tabern with the Midwest Rail Rangers.

An epic and revelatory narrative of the most important transportation technology of the modern world In his wide-ranging and entertaining new book, Tom Zoellner—coauthor of the New York Times–bestselling An Ordinary Man—travels the globe to tell the story of the sociological and economic impact of the railway technology that transformed the world—and could very well change it again. From the frigid trans-Siberian railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the Japanese-style bullet trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of this most indispensable form of travel. A masterful narrative history, Train also explores the sleek elegance of railroads and their hypnotizing rhythms, and explains how locomotives became living symbols of sex, death, power, and romance.

The official guidebooks for the nationwide rail-trails system, the new Rail-Trails series books have an easy-to-use layout and design, clear maps, and precise trip descriptions. With 55 rural, suburban, and urban trails spanning 630 miles, Rail-Trails Southeast covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. Visit historic battlefields, see the world's largest cast-iron statue, travel through a gorge, and watch beavers and herons along the Southeast's historic rail-trails. Includes two-color maps for each trip and succinct directions.