This masterful, richly illustrated account of the planning and
building of the most important and influential early American
railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, is an essential contribution not
only to railyway history but also to the broader history of the
development of the United States in the first half of the
nineteenth century. There was no precedent for the building of the
B&O. The construction of the 380-mile line from Baltimore to
the Ohio River over a period of 25 years is an epic story of astute
planning and innovative engineering that overcame many formidable
obstacles, notably the arduous traversing of 200 miles of mountain
wilderness. Its successful inauguration provided a spur to internal
improvements throughout the United States. Railroads, and certainly
the B&O, epitomized progress, not only in the development and
extension of the Western frontier but in the revelation that
personal travel and the delivery of freight could be dramatically
faster, better, and cheaper. The railroad deeply affected the
development of Baltimore's port, industry, and urban geography, as
well as its financial, educational, and cultural institutions.
George Peabody, Enoch Pratt, William Walters, and Johns Hopkins-the
city's most prominent philanthropists-were involved with the
B&O, some intimately; the Johns Hopkins University was founded
on B&O Railroad stock. The B&O also contributed by aiding
in the growth of the state's iron and coal industries. The B&O
came to be called "the Railroad University of the United States."
Its civil engineers formed the core of the railroad engineering
profession in America. The company's annual reports during the
building of the line were, according to the American Railroad
Journal in 1835, "a textbook and their road and workshops have been
as a lecture room to thousands." Throughout, the author highlights
the many types of men who were involved in that history: promoters,
financiers, politicians, lawyers, newspaper editors, fixers and
bagmen, civil engineers, inventors and mechanics, foremen,
contractors, and feuding Irish laborers, who together built the
first long-distance, general-purpose railroad in the United States.
The book is illustrated with 80 photographs and drawings and 5
maps.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(2)
