The Shelf2Life Trains & Railroads Collection provides a unique opportunity for researchers and railroad enthusiasts to easily access and explore pre-1923 titles focusing on the history, culture and experience of railroading. From the revolution of the steam engine to the thrill of early travel by rail, railroads opened up new opportunities for commerce, American westward expansion and travel. These books provide a unique view of the impact of this type of transportation on our urban and rural societies and cultures, while allowing the reader to share the experience of early railroading in a new and unique way. The Trains & Railroads Collection offers a valuable perspective on this important and fascinating aspect of modern industrialization.

American railroads were the Internet of the 19th century. The whole country opened up. Industry exploded. Numerous fortunes were made, lost, and sometimes made again. Railroads had a profound impact on technology, business, politics, and culture. This reference guide includes seven essays which provide historical overview and detailed examinations of critical aspects of the railroads. Also included are 15 in-depth biographies of persons who greatly influenced the history of the rails; 23 primary documents that illustrate the story with the participants' own words; 10 photos; a timeline; and an annotated bibliography to aid further research. This book is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in this fascinating period of U.S. history. After a historical overview that opens the book, railroad historian Augustus Veenendaal explores the technology that made the railroads possible and the innovations in financing that got them built. A chapter is devoted to the Civil War, as the rails were used as a tool of war. An in-depth look at the epic story of transcontinental railroad is followed by an examination of the quest for monopolies. Finally a summary chapter focuses on the economic impact of railroads in the nineteenth century and beyond. Biographical portraits of figures like Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and James J. Hill detail the lives of industry movers and shakers. Excerpts from primary documents ranging from Abraham Lincoln's legal defense of the railroad industry to Charles Dickens' description of his railroad trip through America, to a secret agreement between J. P. Morgan and railroad tycoons to avoid competition provide first-hand accounts of the events of the day.

Mysterious ghost stations forgotten beneath the cities of Paris and London; desolate grand rail hubs in the Pyrenean mountains; metro stations in China that terminate in a wasteland; Abandoned Train Stations looks at some of the thousands of disused station buildings, platforms, lines, tunnels, and rail yards left behind by modernity. Organised by continent, this book takes the reader to every corner of the globe. Explore Canfranc International Railway Station, once a busy mountain hub of international travel between France and Spain; see the eerily empty platform at Kings Cross Thameslink, London, today a service tunnel following the station's closure in the early 2000s; examine the grandiose Michigan Central Train Station in Detroit, an historic Amtrak rail depot, and once the tallest rail station in the world; marvel at the dusty, overgrown shell of Abkhazia's once beautiful railway station in Psyrtskha, a physical legacy of the former Soviet era in the Caucasus; see the disused Tiwanaku train station, situated almost 4,000 metres above sea level in the Bolivian Andes; or learn about the fascinating Istvantelek Train Yard, in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, better known as the 'Red Star train graveyard' because of its many Soviet-era engine wrecks. Illustrated with more than 200 photographs, Abandoned Train Stations provides a fascinating pictorial journey through the little-known remnants of rail transport infrastructure from every part of the world.

Railroads altered the landscape of the United States. Within a few decades of the invention of the locomotive, railways stretched from coast to coast, enabling people and goods to travel far greater distances than ever before, completely altering our concept of time and space. And while railroads may seem like an "old" technology, they continue to be an essential means of transporting both goods and people, and new technologies are making the railroads an increasingly relevant resource for the 21st century. This volume in the Greenwood Technographies series provides an accessible overview of the nearly 200 years of the growth and development of this historically significant--and popular --technology. The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology gives students and railroad enthusiasts plenty of information on the development of this popular technology: * Chronicles the early years of the railroad, from early wooden tramways in Massachusetts, to the famous "Tom Thumb" * Discusses the important technological "failures," such as the narrow-gauge craze of the late nineteenth century with track widths as small as two feet. * Covers all aspects of railroad technology -- everything from the structure of the track to communications to what powers the locomotive. * Links the technology to broader social developments, such as the decline of the railroad in the mid-20th century to outmoded governmental and labor restrictions, and the current rise of railroad technology as a result of new managerial techniques. The volume includes a timeline of important dates in railroad history, a glossary of important terms, and a selected bibliography of works appropriate for further research.