The Electric Interurban Railways in America

The Electric Interurban Railways in America
Author: George Woodman Hilton
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 500
Release: 1964
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9780804740142

One of the most colorful yet neglected eras in American transportation history is re-created in this definitive history of the electric interurbans. Built with the idea of attracting short-distance passenger traffic and light freight, the interurbans were largely constructed in the early 1900s. The rise of the automobile and motor transport caused the industry to decline after World War I, and the depression virtually annihilated the industry by the middle 1930s. Part I describes interurban construction, technology, passenger and freight traffic, financial history, and final decline and abandonment. Part II presents individual histories (with route maps) of the more than 300 companies of the interurban industry. Reviews "A first-rate work of such detail and discernment that it might well serve as a model for all corporate biographies. . . . A wonderfully capable job of distillation." —Trains "Few economic, social, and business historians can afford to miss this definitive study." —Mississippi Valley Historical Review "All seekers after nostalgia will be interested in this encyclopedic volume on the days when the clang, clang of the trolley was the most exciting travel sound the suburbs knew." —Harper's Magazine "A fascinating and instructive chapter in the history of American transportation." —Journal of Economic History "The hint that behind the grand facade of scholarship lies an expanse of boyish enthusiasm is strengthened by a lovingly amassed and beautifully reproduced collection of 37 photographs." —The Nation

The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story

The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story
Author: Herbert H. Harwood, Jr.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2015-09-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 025301770X

From 1901 to 1938 the Lake Shore Electric claimed to be—and was considered by many—"The Greatest Electric Railway in the United States." It followed the shore of Lake Erie, connecting Cleveland and Toledo with a high-speed, limited-stop service and pioneered a form of intermodal transportation three decades before the rest of the industry. To millions of people the bright orange electric cars were an economical and comfortable means of escaping the urban mills and shops or the humdrum of rural life. In summers during the glory years there were never enough cars to handle the crowds. After reaching its peak in the early 1920s, however, the Lake Shore Electric suffered the fate of most of its sister lines: it was now competing with automobiles, trucks, and buses and could not rival them in convenience. The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story tells the story of this fascinating chapter in interurban transportation, including the missed opportunities that might have saved this railway.

Solutionary Rail

Solutionary Rail
Author: Bill Moyer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2016-11-04
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9780998096308

The Solutionary Rail vision draws unlikely allies together. It provides common cause to workers, farmers, tribes, urban and rural communities via the tracks and corridors that connect them. Part action plan and part manifesto, this book launches a new people-powered campaign to transform the way we use trains and the corridors they travel through.

Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1895-1968

Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1895-1968
Author: Michael Bezilla
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 1980
Genre: History
ISBN:

The first comprehensive case study of railroad electrification in the United States, this pioneering book highlights a subject of current government and industry studies and a target of billions of dollars of Amtrak rehabilitation funds. Both energy conservation and environmental quality remain at stake together with transportation efficiency. Electric traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad was a technological success handicapped by an economic factor: the onetime relatively low cost of petroleum, which gave diesel locomotives and highway vehicles a temporary advantage. Today the growing cost advantage of electricity--generated with coal; atomic energy; water, wind, and solar power--prefigures a revival of electric railroad traction. Drawing upon previously untapped records of the PRR and its suppliers, notably General Electric, the author traces stages in cooperative risk management. First came challenges of limited scope which steam locomotives were unable to meet: the New York City tunnel extension of 1910 and the Philadelphia suburban modernization begun in 1913. Next came a decade of mainline electrification, 1928-38: first New York to Washington and then passenger and freight extensions to Harrisburg. These projects were preceded by large-scale research and experimentation, followed by constant improvement in equipment and operations. Electric traction is depicted as a program involving not only the railroad but also its consultants, equipment and energy suppliers, and (to a lesser degree) governmental bodies. Locomotive and power transmission design is described in detail--with copious illustrations--as are the creative achievements of managers, engineers, and workers. And the presentation will be clear to readers without specialized technical or business backgrounds.

Frank Julian Sprague

Frank Julian Sprague
Author: William D. Middleton
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2009-09-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0253023599

“[This] biography of the ‘Father of Electric Traction’ details the life and times of an exceptional engineer, maverick innovator, [and] entrepreneur.” —NMRA Magazine Frank Julian Sprague invented a system for distributing electricity to streetcars from overhead wires. Within a year, electric streetcars had begun to replace horsecars, sparking a revolution in urban transportation. Sprague (1857–1934) was an American naval officer turned inventor who worked briefly for Thomas Edison before striking out on his own. Sprague contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His innovations would help transform the urban space of the 20th century, enabling cities to grow larger and skyscrapers taller. The Middletons’ generously illustrated biography is an engrossing study of the life and times of a maverick innovator. “The authors weave this biography through time, with technological and political details that make Sprague human, a creative soul pressing his ideas with a sports-like outcome—some wins, some losses, and some ties . . . I recommend this well-written book detailing the life of the ‘Father of Electric Traction’ to explain the development of what we so casually take for granted.” —Trains “No one has previously used Sprague’s personal papers in a published biography . . . Recommended.” —Choice “Frank Sprague . . . is a major historical figure who for decades lacked a significant biography. This void has been ably and engagingly filled in this book by the dean of electric traction authors, William D. Middleton, and his son, William III.” —Classic Trains

Portland's Interurban Railway

Portland's Interurban Railway
Author: Richard Martin Thompson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 0738596175

At the end of the 19th century, Portland led the nation in the development of interurban electric railways. The city became the hub of an electric rail network that spread throughout the Willamette Valley. This is the story of the pioneering local railways that started it all as they built south along the Willamette River to Oregon City and east to Estacada and Bull Run in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. More than 200 historic images illustrate Portland's Interurban Railway from its rudimentary beginnings through the peak years, when passengers rode aboard the finest examples of the car builders' art, to the sudden end in 1958.

Logging Railroads of the Adirondacks

Logging Railroads of the Adirondacks
Author: William Gove
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2006-01-16
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9780815607946

The period of 1890-1950 marked the romantic era of steam power as the rails reached deep into the old growth of the Adirondack woods to harvest the timber crop. In this volume, not only does William Gove provide an in-depth history of railroad activity in the Adirondacks he also describes the logging methods used, the role of railroads in the logging industry, and the influence of the railroads on the condition of the Adirondack forest today. In addition, he addresses the political and economic forces determining the location and viability of logging railroads, villages, and the forest industry.