Editor's Note: David Wilkins loves to read. As a result, he reads a lot of railroad-related history and technical books. As David goes through his book collection, he decided to write short articles on railroad books he thinks you should read. This is the first installment:
Today, America’s railroads are
part of an integrated transportation network that spans not only North America,
but also the entire globe. Today it is
commonplace for a container originating in China to be offloaded from a ship in
California, travel by rail to St. Louis, and delivered the last mile by a
truck. Coal mined in eastern Wyoming routinely travels by rail to power plants
in the Midwest, often over several different railroads. Those who promoted early railroads in the
United States could not have even imagined the development of railroads into a cohesive
transportation network.
George Rogers Taylor and Irene
D. Neu chronicle these early years of American railway construction and
evolution into a network with their classic book The American Railroad Network, 1861-1890. This book, first published in 1956 is
available once again, thanks to University of Illinois Press. Taylor and Neu
demonstrate how new transportation technology often finds itself at odds with
existing forms of transportation as well as political and business
interests. In particular, railroads
often became engaged in political battles to prevent now-routine practices such
as interchange of freight cars.
Early American railroads were
often conceived to compliment existing forms of transportation, or for one city
to promote trade with the surrounding region.
They were not conceived as a broad network of connecting lines,
facilitating national and international commerce. As railroad construction progressed
throughout the 19th century, railroads often did not connect, even
when they served the same city. Railroad
freight traveling through cities like Erie, Pennsylvania had to be unloaded,
transported across town by wagon, and reloaded for the continuation of the
trip. Complicating the matter, railroads
were often built to different track gauges.
Railroads were not conceived as a network, but simply a means to enhance
already-existing transportation infrastructure.
Rogers and Neu also examine
how the necessity of the Civil War was the harbinger needed to begin the
process of developing the North into cohesive railroad network. Standardization of track gauge did not happen
until 1886 in the South. The study ends
in 1890 when America finally had a connected, integrated railroad network, able
to achieve the promise of efficient transportation the technology offered. The book is informative and well written,
accompanied by maps and illustrations to enhance the text. While some may consider this book and its
scholarship to be dated, it is an essential read for anyone interested in
American Railroad history.
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