Excerpt from The Railway Problem and the Railways of the Future The existing railway machinery will be found monstrously dis proportionate to the useful effect produced in four-fifths of the number of times that the machine is put in action. And to this waste of power may be most justly attributed much of the present embarass ment of railway companies. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Opinions of the Press in England on "the Railway Problem," and "the Railways of the Future," Vol. 1 This little pamphlet has no claim whatever to origina ilty, as the contents prove, how it came to be printed I shall explain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!

Excerpt from The Railways and the Nation: Problems and Possibilities The spectacle of a splendidly equipped, partially utilised, and but moderately profitable means of transit like the British railway system, running through miles of fertile but empty country, and connecting congested cities and towns where people lack the means of healthy physical subsistence, is one among many examples of national waste which may be attributed to the lack of system in our social arrangements. From the national point of view a well-ordered transit system is a vital necessity, but the transit system of the country has been allowed to grow up without any attempt at scientific arrangement, with the result - as might have been expected - that in transit matters we now have a chaos of conflicting interests and anomalies with which it will require a very courageous Government to interfere. That the problem of inland transit will have to be faced, and in no half-hearted or uncertain manner, is becoming increasingly obvious, even to those who deprecate Government interference in such matters. To leave the question alone any longer, or to pursue the time-honoured policy of tinkering, must imperil the future prosperity of the nation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The People and the Railways: A Popular Discussion of the Railway Problem in the United States, by Way of Answer to the Railways and the by James F. Hudson, and With an Examination of the Interstate Commerce Law The'animosity towards the Railway Interest, shown in a volume, the railways and the republic, by Mr. James F. Hudson, has been so largely prevalent among our people; so many honest and worthy persons have conscientiously shared. In it, that it has seemed to me that a conscientious attempt to allay it would not be looked upon either as surplusage or as mere assumption. If I have, therefore, in the following pages, personified this ani mosity as Mr. Hudson, it has been purely for my own conven icnce, not in the least because I think his book either import ant or dangerous on the whole. In rejoining to Mr. Hudson's book, not the least of the labor has been the reduction of his ram bling and riotous charges, statements and conclusions to some sort of classification as to their subject-matter, and so to avoid the ne cessity of an equally ponderous volume of six hundred pages. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Railway Problems: Edited With an Introduction This collection of reprints, like its predecessor, Trusts, Pools, and Corporations, is directed to the accomplishment of two purposes: not alone to render more easily accessible to the interested public, valuable technical material upon a question of paramount interest and importance at the present time, but also to facilitate the work of the college instructor in the economics of transportation. The worst evil of modern academic life, particularly under the elective system, is that the student may so seldom be called upon to think for himself; - not merely to "cram" and memorize, to absorb information predigested by an instructor, but rather to actively use his reasoning powers in effecting recombinations of ideas. Mere passive contact for a brief period of life with cultivating influences and high ideals, as exemplified in books, general environment, and, it is to be hoped, instructors of the right sort, tends to produce the dilettante, unless at the same time the mind is constantly invigorated by action. This is especially true of the economic and social sciences. To provide material, preferably of a debatable sort, which may be worked over under discussion in the class room, instead of being merely committed to memory, constitutes the pedagogical aim of this book. Some of the extracts, especially the historical ones, are of course not susceptible of such treatment. They are merely reference readings for convenient use. But the others, notably the decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission, usually provide debatable matter of an admirable sort. This is peculiarly true of cases or decisions with a dissenting minority opinion. Another advantages which many of these economic cases possess, over proposition in mathematics, logic, or even laws, as material for training the intelligence, is that they are always charged with human, and often with great public, interest and that they incidentally involve an acquaintance with the underlying business condition and trade of the country at large. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

During the tumultuous year of 2008--when gas prices reached $4 a gallon, Amtrak set ridership records, and a commuter train collided with a freight train in California--journalist James McCommons spent a year on America's trains, talking to the people who ride and work the rails throughout much of the Amtrak system. Organized around these rail journeys, Waiting on a Train is equal parts travel narrative, personal memoir, and investigative journalism. Readers meet the historians, railroad executives, transportation officials, politicians, government regulators, railroad lobbyists, and passenger-rail advocates who are rallying around a simple question: Why has the greatest railroad nation in the world turned its back on the very form of transportation that made modern life and mobility possible? Distrust of railroads in the nineteenth century, overregulation in the twentieth, and heavy government subsidies for airports and roads have left the country with a skeletal intercity passenger-rail system. Amtrak has endured for decades, and yet failed to prosper owing to a lack of political and financial support and an uneasy relationship with the big, remaining railroads. While riding the rails, McCommons explores how the country may move passenger rail forward in America--and what role government should play in creating and funding mass-transportation systems. Against the backdrop of the nation's stimulus program, he explores what it will take to build high-speed trains and transportation networks, and when the promise of rail will be realized in America.

Excerpt from American Railway Problems: In the Light of European Experience or Government Regulation Vs; Government Operation of Railways The purpose of this work is to present the broader economic, political and social aspects of our railway pro-e blem, while leaving in the background those technical and administrative questions which must remain largely the same, whether we adhere to our present policy of Government regulation or decide to embark upon a regime of public ownership and management. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.