"This book, for the first time, calls adequate attention to the physical plant over which railroads operate - the roadbeds, tracks, bridges, and tunnels, subjects that are often taken for granted. It is a book no rail fan or student of engineering can be without."--BOOK JACKET.

How trains, cars, and planes helped tame and transform the American West.

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 good and people, and new technologies are making the railroads an increasingly relevant resource for the 21st century. This volume in the Greenwood Technographies series tells the life story of all aspects of railroad technology—everything from the structure of the track to communications to what powers the locomotive.

When America faced its greatest internal crisis, Michigan answered the call with over ninety thousand troops. The story of that sacrifice is preserved in the state's rich collection of Civil War monuments, markers, forts, cemeteries, reenactments, museums and exhibits. Discover how General George A. Custer and the famed Michigan Cavalry Brigade "saved the Union." Visit the chair that President Lincoln was assassinated in at Ford's Theatre, and view the grave of the last African American Union veteran. With a foreword by Civil War historian Jack Dempsey, this work is the first of its kind to chronicle the many Civil War landmarks in the Wolverine State.

Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive documents the role played by mechanical engineers in the development of locomotive design. The steam engine and the mechanical engineering profession both grew directly out of the Industrial Revolution's need for sources of power beyond that of men and animals. Invented in England when coal mining was being developed, the practical steam engine eventually found numerous applications in transportation, especially in railroad technology. J. Parker Lamb traces the evolution of the steam engine from the early 1700s through the early 1800s, when the first locomotives were sent to the United States from England. Lamb then shifts the scene to the development of the American steam locomotive, first by numerous small builders, and later, by the early 20th century, by only three major enterprises and a handful of railroad company shops. Lamb reviews the steady progress of steam locomotive technology through its pinnacle during the 1930s, then discusses the reasons for its subsequent decline.

Yet there isn't a train goes by all day But I hear its whistle shrieking.... Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going. —Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Travel" "Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take" is a collection of stories about favorite train journeys by an inveterate railway enthusiast and train traveler. A half century career as an engineer, Naval officer, and university administrator took Bill Middleton to almost every part of the globe, and everywhere he took with him an abiding interest in railways, and a notebook and camera to record his experiences. His North American journeys have included experiences as diverse as the long journey north through Manitoba to polar bear country on Hudson Bay, a trip to Minnesota's Mesabi Range to haul a boatload of iron ore to Lake Superior behind a giant Yellowstone articulated steam locomotive, and the trip between Costa Rica's Atlantic and Pacific coasts by narrow gauge railway. His European travels have ranged from a Pullman seat on the crack London-Paris Golden Arrow to the slow trip across Thrace on one of the last runs of the celebrated Simplon-Orient Express. In Asia he traveled through the Toros Mountains of Turkey on the famous Istanbul-Baghdad Toros Express, experienced modern high-speed railroading in the cab of Japan's Bullet Train, and rode to Asia's highest mountain east of the Himalayas on the little trains of Taiwan's Ali Shan Forestry Railway.

Richman provides a rare photographic and poetic journey across 60 of New Jersey's bridges, ranging from impressive suspension spans such as the Ben Franklin and George Washington Bridges, to the small wrought iron and stone bridges that are cherished by local citizens.