The Indiana, Alabama & Texas Railroad emerged from a proposal to build a line between Mobile, Alabama, and Evansville, Indiana. Despite its grand plans, the railroad completed only about 30 miles of narrow gauge track from Clarksville, Tennessee, toward Princeton, Kentucky. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad purchased the railroad in 1886 and converted the line to standard gauge. The Louisville & Nashville abandoned the route, later known as the Clarksville & Princeton Branch, in May 1933, relegating it to the history books. Author Todd DeFeo recounts the captivating story of this largely forgotten railroad.

Clarksville, Tennessee, has a fascinating railroad history. The push for a railroad in the community dates to the 1830s, but it wasn't until 1852 that the state of Tennessee chartered the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad. A street railroad, in one form or another, operated in Clarksville from 1885 until 1928. Mules powered the first cars, and the line later electrified. What is perhaps most interesting about streetcars in the city is the sheer number of companies organized to operate. Considering the history of the city's street railway system stretches less than a half-century, its history is dizzying.

The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad is a perfect example of rail lines in the mid-nineteenth century. Chartered in 1852, the line ran from Paris, Tennessee, to the Kentucky state line and connected with two other routes to create a seamless link between Memphis and Louisville. It shortened the travel time between major economic cities, but its ability to make money didn't match its founders' aspirations. Its detractors ridiculed the route as "beginning in the woods and ending in a hollow tree." Following the Civil War, the railroad revitalized the line, only to run out of money and largely fade away. Author Todd DeFeo recounts the fascinating story of a historic line.

An updated, in-depth history of the rise and fall of the L&N Railroad that serviced the southeastern United States. After the Civil War, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad took the lead among southern railroads in developing rail systems and organizing transcontinental travel. Through two world wars, federal government control, internal crises, external dissension, the Depression, and the great Ohio River flood of 1937, the L&N Railroad remained one of the country's most efficient lines. It is a southern institution and a railroad buff's dream. When eminent railroad historian Maury Klein’s definitive History of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was first published in 1972, it quickly became one of the most sought-after books on railroad history. This new edition both restores a hard-to-find classic to print and provides a new introduction by Klein detailing the L&N’s history in the thirty years since the book was first published. Praise for History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad “A fascinating look at the L&N’s long and tumultuous history.” —Business Horizons “Stands both as an excellent example of what business history can accomplish and as an illustration of the work that remains to be done in the field.” —H-Net Reviews “Reading like an epic saga, albeit with a corporation as the main character, this enduring and definitive account of the L&N successfully offers a broad yet detailed survey befitting a company that at one time helped develop and mold the South while amassing great wealth.” —Journal of Appalachian Studies “A detailed account of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad’s first century of operation. The story of the L&N is a great one, and Klein has written a definitive corporate and financial history of the railroad. Klein's vivid account of this period in the L & N’s history will be very informative to those who wonder why America’s railroads are what they are today.” —Journal of Southern History

Military method, weaponry, and communication technology receive detailed treatment, in the text and in the maps.".

Lawyering for the Railroad provides the first full account of railroad monopoly power, tracing its sources and effects in the southern political economy. Issues touching on railroad development were major components of politics in the days of both Populism and Progressivism, and railroad attorneys -- often in their role as lobbyists -- were always in the middle of the action. They distributed free passes to legislators, retained the best counsel for their clients, laid out the legal agreements to form monopolies, and instituted practices to ensure quick and favorable settlements for the railroads. In this intriguing work, William G. Thomas introduces the southern attorneys who represented railroads between 1880 and 1916, closely examining their role in the political economy of the South during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, a period in which the region experienced sharp change, explosive growth, and heated political contests. Thomas tells his fascinating story with legal department records from some of the largest interstate railroad companies in the South. With the help of these records, he demonstrates how the railroads tried to use the law and the legal process to mold the southern political economy to their ends and what kind of opposition they faced. Standing at the crossroads of business, law, and politics, Lawyering for the Railroad gives context, depth, and specificity to what have been cursory glimpses into the shady world of corporate power in the Gilded Age. From small-town lawyers to big-city firms, the story of the railroad attorneys brings into focus the many ways the interstate railroad transformed the South.