Railways Of The Twentieth Century

Text and photographs present some of the best known and well remembered railroad trains of the past 100 years.

Overregulated and displaced by barges, trucks, and jet aviation, railroads fell into decline. Their misfortune was measured in lost market share, abandoned track, bankruptcies, and unemployment. Today, rail transportation is reviving. American Railroads tells a riveting story about how this iconic industry managed to turn itself around.

The transit historian and author of Under the Sidewalks of New York delivers a lively and authoritative history of New York City’s fabled subway. On the afternoon of October 27, 1904, ordinary New Yorkers descended beneath the sidewalks for the first time to ride the electric-powered trains of the newly inaugurated Interborough Rapid Transit System. More than a century later, the subway has expanded greatly, weaving its way into the fabric of New York’s unique and diverse urban life. In A Century of Subways, transit historian Brian J. Cudahy offers a fascinating tribute to New York’s storied and historic subway system, from its earliest beginnings and many architectural achievements, to the ways it helped shape today’s modern metropolis. Taking a fresh look at one of the marvels of the twentieth century, Cudahy creates a vivid sense of this extraordinary system and the myriad ways the city was transformed once New Yorkers started riding below the ground.

This authoritative history of the 20th Century Limited from 1902 to its 1967 demise examines the train; its steam, electric, and diesel motive power; and its swank passenger cars, services, and amenities. The Century was a train of magnates and movie stars, with a red carpet rolled out for departure from Chicago to New York City. With the finest of food in the diner and a full array of amenities - barber, secretary, shower, maid - the 20th Century Limited set the standards against which all other passenger trains would be measured. This book tells the complete story of this extraordinary train, from its illustrious beginning in the days of opulent wooden cars through its demise in the era of passenger-train cutbacks that lead to the formation of Amtrak.

Between 1900 and 1950, Americans built the most powerful steam locomotives of all time--enormous engines that powered a colossal industry. They were deceptively simple machines, yet, the more their technology was studied, the more obscure it became. Despite immense and sustained engineering efforts, steam locomotives remained grossly inefficient in their use of increasingly costly fuel and labor. In the end, they baffled their masters and, as soon as diesel-electric technology provided an alternative, steam locomotives disappeared from American railroads. Drawing on the work of eminent engineers and railroad managers of the day, this lavishly illustrated history chronicles the challenges, triumphs and failures of American steam locomotive development and operation.