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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Transport industries > Railway transport industries
The second volume in the history of the Union Pacific begins after
the financial panic of 1893, one of the worst depressions Americans
had yet experienced, which pushed the railroad into bankruptcy.
Maury Klein examines the complex challenges faced by the Union
Pacific in the new century--the expanding role of government and
its restrictive regulations, the growth of labor unions, the
devastating effects of two world wars, and the growing competition
from new modes of transportation--and how, under the innovative and
influential leadership of Edward H. Harriman, the Union Pacific
again played the role of industrial pioneer. Union Pacific has
remained one of the strongest railroads in the country, surviving
the eras of government regulation and the corporate mergers of the
past twenty-five years. Insightful, definitive in scope, rich in
colorful anecdotes and superb characterizations, Union Pacific is a
fascinating saga not only of a particular railroad but also about
how that industry transformed America. Maury Klein is professor of
history at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of
several books, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Life and
Legend of Jay Gould.
Covering almost every line in the country, this acclaimed series of
books juxtaposes photographs of the same railway location separated
in time by just a few years, or maybe a century or more. Sometimes
the result is dereliction or disappearance, in others a
transformation into a modern high-speed railway. In both cases, the
contrasts are intriguing and informative. This volume includes: the
Great Western main line over the South Devon banks; Great Western
lines in North Devon; the Exeter and Plymouth areas; the Southern
in East Devon; the Southern's 'Withered Arm' route to Plymouth;
and, preserved lines: the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway,
Dart Valley Railway and Seaton Tramway.
During the last decades, freight transportation experienced a
worldwide boom. At the same time, competition increased
considerably, such that efficient cost structures are indispensable
for any market player. One of the main challenges a transportation
company faces is the efficient employment of its personnel in
operations, commonly referred to as crew scheduling. In this book
the author presents solution approaches to large-scale crew
scheduling. Firstly, the implementation of state-of-the-art
operations research methods for a setting at a major European
freight railway carrier is presented. Secondly, the author
discusses acceleration techniques that make the developed
algorithms applicable even in short-term contexts. While the
analysis is based on European freight railway settings, the gained
insights also apply to other (crew) scheduling contexts. Potential
readership includes scholars and graduate students who are
interested in the fields of crew scheduling and column generation
as well as practitioners from transportation companies looking for
new planning approaches.
Presenting an account of the part played by Britain's railways
during the Second World War, this book deals with operational
matters and the impact of enemy action on railways. It also looks
at financial arrangements, the part played by railway workshops in
producing equipment for the military, and the wartime experience of
the railways' ships.
Railway disasters are almost always the result of human
fallibility--a single mistake by an engine-driver, guard, or
signalman, or some lack of communication between them--and it is in
the short distance between the trivial error and its terrible
consequence that the drama of the railway accident lies. First
published in 1955, and the result of Rolt's careful investigation
and study of the verbatim reports and findings by H. M.
Inspectorate of Railways, this book was the first work to record
the history of railway disasters, and it remains the classic
account. It covers every major accident on British railways between
1840 and 1957 which resulted in a change in railway working
practice, and reveals the evolution of safety devices and methods
which came to make the British railway carriage one of the safest
modes of transport in the world.
The British railway network was a monument to Victorian private
enterprise. Its masterpieces of civil engineering were emulated
around the world. But its performance was controversial: praised
for promoting a high density of lines, it was also criticised for
wasteful duplication of routes.
This is the first history of the British railway system written
from a modern economic perspective. It uses conterfactual analysis
to construct an alternaive network to represent the most efficient
alternative rail network that could have been constructed given
what was known at the time - the first time this has been done. It
reveals how weaknesses in regulation and defects in government
policy resulted in enormous inefficiency in the Victorian system
that Britain lives with today.
British railway companies developed into powerful regional
monopolies, which then contested each other's territories. When
denied access to existing lines in rival territories, they built
duplicate lines instead. Plans for an integrated national system,
sponsored by William Gladstone, were blocked by Members of
Parliament because of a perceived conflict with the local interests
they represented. Each town wanted more railways than its
neighbours, and so too many lines were built. The costs of these
surplus lines led ultimately to higher fares and freight charges,
which impaired the performance of the economy.
The book will be the definitive source of reference for those
interested in the economic history of the British railway system.
It makes use of a major new historical source, deposited railway
plans, integrates transport and local history through its regional
analysis of the railway system, and provides a comprehensive,
classified bibliography.
With its lake and coastal steamer fleet and its branches forming
the ideal 'Gateway to Lakeland', the Furness Railway is remembered
with affection by both local people and holidaymakers. Happily most
of the routes still exist; the main route still serves the scenic
coastal area, and the Lakeside branch is now one of Britain's
thriving preserved lines.
This work provides coverage of: Edinburgh and Leith; the East Coast
Main Line and the Waverley Route; the Forth Bridge and East Fife;
the West Fife and Clackmannan; and the West Lothian and Stirling to
Hilton Junction.
Originally part of the LNWR network, built to link industrial South
Wales with the Midlands and the North, this superbly scenic line
runs from Craven Arms to Swansea via Builth Road, Llanwrtyd Wells,
Llandovery and Llandilo, and is a popular route for steam-hauled
specials, featured among Roger Siviter's photographs.
This is a complete facsimile of the 1904 edition originally
published by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company to commemorate
the opening of New Yorkas first subway line. From the perspective
of both urban history and the history of transportation, this book
is an important primary source. Building the cityas first subway in
the early years of the twentieth century required delicate
collaboration between public and private interests and called for
the expenditure of considerable sums of both public and private
money. The book introduces us to Abram S. Hewitt, a late
nineteenth-century mayor of New York City. It was Hewitt who
realized that, while private capital alone had been perfectly
adequate for building elevated rapid transit lines in New York as
early as the 1870s, the more costly construction of underground
rapid transit lines was far beyond the ability of private
corporations to finance. Hewitt set in motion a chain of events
that sanctioned the use of public funds for subway construction,
with the completed facility then to be leased to a private company
for day-to-day operation. The private firm that emerged, both to
build and to operate the first subway in New York, was called the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company, a name that would later be
rendered more crisply as the IRT. The City of New York and the
Interborough Rapid transit Company inaugurated service over the
cityas first subway line on Thursday afternoon, October 27, 1904.
Mayor George B. McClellan, son of the Civil War general, took the
controls of the first ceremonial train at City Hall Station in
downtown Manhattan and headed north. In one way or another, the
subway has been going ever since. The book alsopresents important
tabular and statistical information, as well as clear and concise
narrative descriptions of technical details.
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