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The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America
America was made by the railroads. The opening of the Baltimore & Ohio line -- the first American railroad -- in the 1830s sparked a national revolution in the way that people lived thanks to the speed and convenience of train travel. Promoted by visionaries and built through heroic effort, the American railroad network was bigger in every sense than Europe's, and facilitated everything from long-distance travel to commuting and transporting goods to waging war. It united far-flung parts of the country, boosted economic development, and was the catalyst for America's rise to world-power status.
Every American town, great or small, aspired to be connected to a railroad and by the turn of the century, almost every American lived within easy access of a station. By the early 1900s, the United States was covered in a latticework of more than 200,000 miles of railroad track and a series of magisterial termini, all built and controlled by the biggest corporations in the land. The railroads dominated the American landscape for more than a hundred years but by the middle of the twentieth century, the automobile, the truck, and the airplane had eclipsed the railroads and the nation started to forget them.
In The Great Railroad Revolution , renowned railroad expert Christian Wolmar tells the extraordinary story of the rise and the fall of the greatest of all American endeavors, and argues that the time has come for America to reclaim and celebrate its often-overlooked rail heritage.
Every American town, great or small, aspired to be connected to a railroad and by the turn of the century, almost every American lived within easy access of a station. By the early 1900s, the United States was covered in a latticework of more than 200,000 miles of railroad track and a series of magisterial termini, all built and controlled by the biggest corporations in the land. The railroads dominated the American landscape for more than a hundred years but by the middle of the twentieth century, the automobile, the truck, and the airplane had eclipsed the railroads and the nation started to forget them.
In The Great Railroad Revolution , renowned railroad expert Christian Wolmar tells the extraordinary story of the rise and the fall of the greatest of all American endeavors, and argues that the time has come for America to reclaim and celebrate its often-overlooked rail heritage.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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About the author
Christian Wolmar
47 books83 followersChristian Wolmar is a journalist, focusing on the history and politics of railways.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
June 29, 2015
This is a fine read for anyone who wants to get a sense of how much of the USA's success as a nation can be attributed to the investment in railroads as a means of transportation. Wolmar does a fine job of carrying us from the initial development of railways, to their near collapse and current strengths.
I was enlightened by his spotlighting the Charleston & Hamburg's role in early railroad development and his insights into why Chicago became a hub, rather than simply a big station for railroads linking East and West.
Wolmar has a European perspective, so he misses some of the particular American nuances. For instance in one of his maps, he chooses to highlight the state capitals rather than understand that in many states, the railroads chose to ignore them in favor of economic centers. He does a great service in showing the reactions of Europeans, such as Charles Dickens, to the American way of railroading.
While many will point to his mistakes and quibble about his lack of detail in various sections, I think it is a great help in understanding the contribution of railroads to the development and success of the American economy.
I was enlightened by his spotlighting the Charleston & Hamburg's role in early railroad development and his insights into why Chicago became a hub, rather than simply a big station for railroads linking East and West.
Wolmar has a European perspective, so he misses some of the particular American nuances. For instance in one of his maps, he chooses to highlight the state capitals rather than understand that in many states, the railroads chose to ignore them in favor of economic centers. He does a great service in showing the reactions of Europeans, such as Charles Dickens, to the American way of railroading.
While many will point to his mistakes and quibble about his lack of detail in various sections, I think it is a great help in understanding the contribution of railroads to the development and success of the American economy.
July 23, 2015
A perfectly fine history of the American railroad as researched and seen first-hand by a British historian. The cultural and national distance is actually one of the things that drew me to this work, since outside observers are usually not as tendentious and prickish as locals.
Goes through all the motions for the layperson: the development of the technology, the early leaps made in New England and the greater northeast, then the 19th century heyday. The latter is the bulk of the book focusing on the scoundrels who made the American rail network what it was and who effectively ruined a good resource for transportation by sullying it in the public's eye. There is a great section on railroads and the Civil War, too, and the expansion west, but the real meat of this book is the antebellum period up to today where we see the real story of an industry hounded into the ground by regulation, never subsidized (while the highways were), where freight dominated over passenger travel and the final half death-knell, half-resurrection of rail through Amtrak. The future doesn't look so bleak, though, for rail in the US, since other countries' use of it highlights the wisdom of it as a technology.
Goes through all the motions for the layperson: the development of the technology, the early leaps made in New England and the greater northeast, then the 19th century heyday. The latter is the bulk of the book focusing on the scoundrels who made the American rail network what it was and who effectively ruined a good resource for transportation by sullying it in the public's eye. There is a great section on railroads and the Civil War, too, and the expansion west, but the real meat of this book is the antebellum period up to today where we see the real story of an industry hounded into the ground by regulation, never subsidized (while the highways were), where freight dominated over passenger travel and the final half death-knell, half-resurrection of rail through Amtrak. The future doesn't look so bleak, though, for rail in the US, since other countries' use of it highlights the wisdom of it as a technology.
October 25, 2018
“There was, of course, one group that was happy to sit in boxcars. There had been hoboes on the railroads ever since the American Civil War, but with the Depression the phenomenon increased exponentially. Moreover, it was not just adults but a vast horde of teenagers who were on the move, estimated by Errol Lincoln Uys to number a quarter of a million in the 1930s: ‘Often as young as 13, each one came from a different background, each left home to ride the rails for different reasons, and each had unique experiences. They were part of an army, estimated at 1.5 million during the peak years of the 1930s, who used the railroads to get around the country to seek work. They suffered a terrible toll. According to the Interstate Commerce Commission, in the decade to 1939, nearly 25,000 trespassers--seven a day--were killed and the same number injured, often losing a limb on the rail property. Although not all of these would have been hoboes, a great proportion undoubtedly were, as jumping on and off moving trains was a hazardous business, belying the romantic notion of the life often presented in films and books.”
March 31, 2021
Decent popular overview. The author takes a careful course between siding with the owners and and with the "public." He makes a convincing argument that over-regulation almost killed the industry and hamstrung it throughout the 20th C (and I am a dedicated pro-regulation Dem). There is a very, very good "further reading" at the end of the book. Would that all standard histories included this.
November 16, 2025
Why doesn’t this book have better reviews ???? Probably bc it’s 400 pages and about trains. Anyway ..
I found the book incredibly well researched and balanced while also crafting a good narrative. I also liked that the author inserted his opinions on stuff. I found out he and I are quite alike, in that we are both enthusiasts of trains as well as proponents of cutting all long cross country Amtrak service!
Takes you through the early days of rail when they fought with the canals, to the westward expansion and creation of small town America, to the fight against too big to fail and evil corporate conglomerates, to the war efforts and development of street car suburbs, to the eventual demise at the hand of the car / highways and the eventual nationalization of passenger service. Great coverage of both freight and passenger trains.
Overall great read. It’s actually 33% shorter than I thought as the last 25% is actually just footnotes (beast) so I finished sooner than expected!
I found the book incredibly well researched and balanced while also crafting a good narrative. I also liked that the author inserted his opinions on stuff. I found out he and I are quite alike, in that we are both enthusiasts of trains as well as proponents of cutting all long cross country Amtrak service!
Takes you through the early days of rail when they fought with the canals, to the westward expansion and creation of small town America, to the fight against too big to fail and evil corporate conglomerates, to the war efforts and development of street car suburbs, to the eventual demise at the hand of the car / highways and the eventual nationalization of passenger service. Great coverage of both freight and passenger trains.
Overall great read. It’s actually 33% shorter than I thought as the last 25% is actually just footnotes (beast) so I finished sooner than expected!
January 6, 2024
The sub-title says it all. This is not a reference book on operations or equipment, but a book on the earliest introduction of railroad in America, to the development of Amtrak and Conrail in recent decades. Wolmar does a great job exploring the expanding impact of railroads on both passenger and freight transportation as America's railroad network grew, declined, and has been recovered. Figuring prominently in the story are the simultaneous development of river and canal transport, automobiles, trucks, the development of the Interstate Highway system, and aircraft.
Wolmar does a great job of detailing the impact of rail on these systems, and these systems impact on rail. Fascinating book.
Wolmar does a great job of detailing the impact of rail on these systems, and these systems impact on rail. Fascinating book.
November 12, 2024
It was a very enlightening explanation of the history of trains and the railroad in America. I laughed, I cried, and most importantly I learned to love the railroad for what it represents of American society: Progress and Hope.
January 1, 2018
In the past few years I've been learning a lot about railroads, at least a lot for me.. My first lesson came from major tunnel construction in my neighborhood on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC. -- http://www.virginiaavenuetunnel.com/. The more recent lesson came quite unexpectedly from this fine book by Christian Wolmar. "Quite unexpectedly" because -parochial would be a fair term -- I simply didn't expect the book to be as absorbing as it turned out to be. Mr. Wolmar writes in prose that is clear and always rich in content, and by every measure, meaning when I know a little something about the topic, has done careful and thorough research. The history of railroads in the United States is a complicated one, not least in understanding the intimate relationship between the development of railroads and the patterns of land and population changes in the US. He doesn't hold back on the corruption, often very costly governmental misjudgments, disastrous decisions by railroad owners. And he sets out the technological changes -- whether of track or engines or freight containers -- that transformed the economy and impact of railroads.
December 31, 2012
A fair amount of interesting information here, but too much of it repeated over and over to m,ake for a successful book. The author seems to have done no original research, other than ride trains, and relies almost exclusively on other authors' secondary studies. His judgements and general analysis is good and insightful, but also tends to be repeated. A little more detail and less repetition would have made it much better. In many spots incorporates the author's native British railroad terms (engine driver vs. engineer, points vs. switches, etc.) and generally shows the lack of proofreading and editing characteristic of modern publishing.
December 21, 2022
There are many things that made America a nation. The ONE thing that sewed it all together was trains and the ribbons of steel rail that held it together. This book explores the history of that sewing and the profound ramifications of railroads in America and on its psyche.
February 8, 2016
Incredible book giving a great look into the past of the American railways. Shows both sides of the story, but does not overemphasize the bad side (indentured servants, etc.) like Howard Zinn.
June 29, 2019
There is a great danger when historians of a given subject, like the history of rail transportation in the United States take off their historian hat and become advocate for various rail solutions, such as increased subsidies for rail transportation that hardly anyone wants to use. The author tries to argue, using various dodgy means, that trains are an ecologically superior solution to transportation than private motor vehicles, but this book stumbles badly in serving both as a warts and all discussion of the corruption that went into the development of rail infrastructure and the general unwillingness of freight-dominated railway conglomerates to cater to the scheduling, safety, and comfort desires of the traveling public as well as a promotion for more expensive building of railways that simply will never be profitable and will always require government support. Quite frankly, I wish the author would have focused far more on the history and far less on advocacy, because the history of railways in America is interesting, but I have no interest in joining the author's idiot parade in advocating for high-speed railway subsidies in America. The author could easily have written an enjoyable and enlightening straight history and left the advocacy for his own private blog posts on some website for people who support subsidized passenger rail, and the world would be better for it.
This book is a bit more than 350 pages and contains twelve chapters of material. After beginning with a list of maps and illustrations, maps, and an introduction, the author starts this book with a look at American transport at the beginning of the 19th century and shows how it was that railroads won out over canals and early turnpikes (1). After that the author talks about the passionate affair that Americans originally had with trains as cutting edge technology (2), and the way that railroads took hold through public-private partnerships and a good deal of subsidization (3). The author then discusses the role of railroads in the Civil War and how the importance of railroads dictated a great deal of operational and strategic concerns because of the logistics advantages they offered (4). The author then looked at the growth of railroads in the postwar period (5) as well as the late 19th and early 20th century phenomenon of there being a large network of railroads to (almost) everywhere (6). The good times for railroads (7) ended in a public turn against railroads in the early 20th century when safety concerns and problems with corruption were tied to more convenient forms of transportation like airline and motor vehicle travel that, especially in the latter case, did not have the same collective aspect (8). The author then looks at various train technologies (9), the roots of the decline of railway travel (10), and the near extinction of railways in the middle of the 20th century (11) before ending the book with a discussion of a supposed renaissance of freight railway while passenger rail in Amtrak struggles without many passengers (12), before notes, a note on sources, and an index bring the book to a close.
One of the ways this book is frustrating is that the author both knows and recognizes the reasons why the American people turned on the railways but yet simultaneously and naively believes that a subsidized government solution can get America back into riding the railways on a regular basis. The poor service and safety record of many railway companies, their inveterate corruption in seeking to fleece the public for private profit, and the way that they forced passengers to travel in an often spartan, deeply inconvenient, and highly collectivized form of transportation all led to a dissatisfaction of passengers with the railway companies. When you add to this the fact that railway companies themselves did not develop an ethos of customer service and were happy to get rid of passenger service when it was no longer remotely profitable, and when one compares how much faster planes are and how much more convenient cars are than railway service, it is no surprise that passenger rail has largely been abandoned except by hipsters who all apparently wish to write books to support their outmoded and corrupt form of transportation. It would be better if people like the author could either write histories without trying to insert themselves into the story and promote a pro-rail agenda, or just stop writing altogether if they cannot do so.
This book is a bit more than 350 pages and contains twelve chapters of material. After beginning with a list of maps and illustrations, maps, and an introduction, the author starts this book with a look at American transport at the beginning of the 19th century and shows how it was that railroads won out over canals and early turnpikes (1). After that the author talks about the passionate affair that Americans originally had with trains as cutting edge technology (2), and the way that railroads took hold through public-private partnerships and a good deal of subsidization (3). The author then discusses the role of railroads in the Civil War and how the importance of railroads dictated a great deal of operational and strategic concerns because of the logistics advantages they offered (4). The author then looked at the growth of railroads in the postwar period (5) as well as the late 19th and early 20th century phenomenon of there being a large network of railroads to (almost) everywhere (6). The good times for railroads (7) ended in a public turn against railroads in the early 20th century when safety concerns and problems with corruption were tied to more convenient forms of transportation like airline and motor vehicle travel that, especially in the latter case, did not have the same collective aspect (8). The author then looks at various train technologies (9), the roots of the decline of railway travel (10), and the near extinction of railways in the middle of the 20th century (11) before ending the book with a discussion of a supposed renaissance of freight railway while passenger rail in Amtrak struggles without many passengers (12), before notes, a note on sources, and an index bring the book to a close.
One of the ways this book is frustrating is that the author both knows and recognizes the reasons why the American people turned on the railways but yet simultaneously and naively believes that a subsidized government solution can get America back into riding the railways on a regular basis. The poor service and safety record of many railway companies, their inveterate corruption in seeking to fleece the public for private profit, and the way that they forced passengers to travel in an often spartan, deeply inconvenient, and highly collectivized form of transportation all led to a dissatisfaction of passengers with the railway companies. When you add to this the fact that railway companies themselves did not develop an ethos of customer service and were happy to get rid of passenger service when it was no longer remotely profitable, and when one compares how much faster planes are and how much more convenient cars are than railway service, it is no surprise that passenger rail has largely been abandoned except by hipsters who all apparently wish to write books to support their outmoded and corrupt form of transportation. It would be better if people like the author could either write histories without trying to insert themselves into the story and promote a pro-rail agenda, or just stop writing altogether if they cannot do so.
July 23, 2025
Next year will be the 250th anniversary of our country’s independence. It’ll also be the 200th anniversary (more or less) of the establishment of the first railroads in the United States. Although the steam locomotive and the railroad were invented in England, railroads seemed to be particularly well suited to the United States, and they have played an important role in the country’s economic development- although in these days, many Americans aren’t aware of the role that railroads have played and continue to play. “The Great Railroad Revolution” is an interesting introduction to the history of American railroads, from the first short lines to today’s interconnected national rail network.
In the 1820s, several railroads, using British equipment and Americans interested in innovation, established short lines on several areas of the country- so much so that it’s not fully clear who can claim the title of the first American railroad. American railroads quickly expanded all over the young national, quickly becoming the preferred way to ship goods, replacing the few poor roads as well as canal systems and rivers. The railroads were an important component of the Civil War; both armies depended on railroads to move troops and supplies, and took action to deny use of the railroads to the enemy; the war was also the first time that the U.S. government seized control of the railroads to ensure more efficient operations.
After the Civil War, the race to build the transcontinental railroads began in earnest; the railroads got built thanks to a lot of government support, but the businessmen running them took advantage of governmental subsidies and the public to grow. Many of the most important figures of the Gilded Age “robber barons” were running railroads, and their shenanigans made them rich while souring customers on them. The relationship between the railroads and the public continued to strain through the turn of the 20th century, thanks to labor troubles and government regulation; by the time of the American entry into the First World War, the railroads were such a mess that the government had to nationalize them to ensure they could support the war effort.
Between the wars, railroads entered a new era of innovation, allowing for faster and more efficient service; the railroads also entered a golden era of passenger service, providing speedy and luxurious service that lost money but earned railroads greater prestige. World War II was a period of high demand, but the end of the war began an era of decline, where competition from aviation and trucking, helped by government-funded improvements to roads and airports that didn’t have an equivalent for the railroads, just about killed passenger rail and severely impacted freight service. The railroads’ freight services rebounded with deregulation and the shifting of passenger services to Amtrak and local governments, and a new interest in passenger rail seems to offer the possibility of a return of such services.
As you might guess, The Great Railroad Revolution isn’t a quick read. While avoiding a focus on the more technical aspects of railroads in favor of a general overview of the business and the business’ impact on the nation and vice versa, there’s a lot to cover here, but the author does a good job of providing a thorough look at the history of American railroads without fawning over them or getting lost in the weeds. If you want to learn about the importance of railroads to our country and get a feel for the issues that have impacted them and continue to do so, this book’s a great opportunity to learn about it. Recommended!
In the 1820s, several railroads, using British equipment and Americans interested in innovation, established short lines on several areas of the country- so much so that it’s not fully clear who can claim the title of the first American railroad. American railroads quickly expanded all over the young national, quickly becoming the preferred way to ship goods, replacing the few poor roads as well as canal systems and rivers. The railroads were an important component of the Civil War; both armies depended on railroads to move troops and supplies, and took action to deny use of the railroads to the enemy; the war was also the first time that the U.S. government seized control of the railroads to ensure more efficient operations.
After the Civil War, the race to build the transcontinental railroads began in earnest; the railroads got built thanks to a lot of government support, but the businessmen running them took advantage of governmental subsidies and the public to grow. Many of the most important figures of the Gilded Age “robber barons” were running railroads, and their shenanigans made them rich while souring customers on them. The relationship between the railroads and the public continued to strain through the turn of the 20th century, thanks to labor troubles and government regulation; by the time of the American entry into the First World War, the railroads were such a mess that the government had to nationalize them to ensure they could support the war effort.
Between the wars, railroads entered a new era of innovation, allowing for faster and more efficient service; the railroads also entered a golden era of passenger service, providing speedy and luxurious service that lost money but earned railroads greater prestige. World War II was a period of high demand, but the end of the war began an era of decline, where competition from aviation and trucking, helped by government-funded improvements to roads and airports that didn’t have an equivalent for the railroads, just about killed passenger rail and severely impacted freight service. The railroads’ freight services rebounded with deregulation and the shifting of passenger services to Amtrak and local governments, and a new interest in passenger rail seems to offer the possibility of a return of such services.
As you might guess, The Great Railroad Revolution isn’t a quick read. While avoiding a focus on the more technical aspects of railroads in favor of a general overview of the business and the business’ impact on the nation and vice versa, there’s a lot to cover here, but the author does a good job of providing a thorough look at the history of American railroads without fawning over them or getting lost in the weeds. If you want to learn about the importance of railroads to our country and get a feel for the issues that have impacted them and continue to do so, this book’s a great opportunity to learn about it. Recommended!
June 16, 2019
It's an outsiders view
Wolmar heaps both praise and criticism on American railroads with the latter often sounding like the often typical British attitude that we Yanks are inferior to them. He did do a very respectable job in the very early railroad history here and of the Civil War period. On building the first transcontinental, some of his characterizations of key players were somewhat jaded. He was indeed right on target on his criticism of h o w our government ignored and mistreated our railroad industry. At the end Wolmar presents a lengthy list of what railroads and government should to bring our rail transportation system to the next level. John w. Harbingers 1956 book covered that topic quite well already!
Wolmar heaps both praise and criticism on American railroads with the latter often sounding like the often typical British attitude that we Yanks are inferior to them. He did do a very respectable job in the very early railroad history here and of the Civil War period. On building the first transcontinental, some of his characterizations of key players were somewhat jaded. He was indeed right on target on his criticism of h o w our government ignored and mistreated our railroad industry. At the end Wolmar presents a lengthy list of what railroads and government should to bring our rail transportation system to the next level. John w. Harbingers 1956 book covered that topic quite well already!
December 22, 2023
I picked this up on a whim, after discovering the railroad industry invented both time zones and labor unions -- how did something that seems so unimportant and bland today, matter so much 150 years ago?
This book is quite well-written for a target audience like myself: curious, but maybe not *too* interested. It runs through nearly 200 years of railroad history with a focus on social and economic impact, rather than technical details. It covers important history-101 topics, but delightfully, it also goes for the fun, less-important details. I believe Jim Fisk, a minor robber baron with a wild American-con-artist life journey, gets as many paragraphs as Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Good stuff. I think I'm done with trains; I'm glad this was my guide.
This book is quite well-written for a target audience like myself: curious, but maybe not *too* interested. It runs through nearly 200 years of railroad history with a focus on social and economic impact, rather than technical details. It covers important history-101 topics, but delightfully, it also goes for the fun, less-important details. I believe Jim Fisk, a minor robber baron with a wild American-con-artist life journey, gets as many paragraphs as Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Good stuff. I think I'm done with trains; I'm glad this was my guide.
February 1, 2024
A good overall read. Somehow simultaneously got into the weeds on railroad development, yet also skimmed over the influence of the railroad barons and others that wielded major influence on them throughout history. Much more of a nuts and bolts of the actual railroads and how they developed with some human influence sprinkled throughout. May have to find another book to look at the barons specifically, though I did like the look at the reasons why the RR waned in popularity and effectiveness. Was written through the lens of a train enthusiast without ignoring the warts of the American rail history.
January 29, 2025
An insightful look into both the innovative and exploitative history of railways in the United states. The Great Railroad Revolution deconstructs the differences between American and British rails in a superb fashion. So many factors went into the construction of railroads such as: socioeconomic conditions, racism, construction parts/costs, and legislation. The once glorious trains grew ire from the average worker after the rich continually used the rails as a way to enrich themselves. Trains were once a central part of everyday life, but now they are largely a relic of the past. Great read highly recommend for train enthusiasts!
February 14, 2018
An extremely educational book on how, why, when and where the railroads were built. The author does a great job of explaining the corruption behind the scenes both privately and politically. Yet still conveys the importance of the railroad. A real credit to the persistence of American drive and foresight. It is sad to hear that so much corruption existed back in those early years and still is rampant today. However, the impact that the railroad had in the development of this country and the impact it still has today is well worth knowing.
February 24, 2019
Maybe if I had an obsession with trains, I would have thought this book was wonderful. But I don't. I read the whole ding-dang thing and still feel nothing about trains. I was mostly bored to death, but powered through because it was required for a class.
The two most important ideas I took from the book were that the Civil War wouldn't have happened without trains, and that hoboes are a proud people with an annual convention in Iowa. "Whereas hoboes travel and work, a tramp simply travels and begs, while a bum, who may or may not go on the road, simply drinks or takes drugs."
The two most important ideas I took from the book were that the Civil War wouldn't have happened without trains, and that hoboes are a proud people with an annual convention in Iowa. "Whereas hoboes travel and work, a tramp simply travels and begs, while a bum, who may or may not go on the road, simply drinks or takes drugs."
March 21, 2019
Wolmar’s The Great Railroad Revolution was a fantastic introduction. I’m still a little shell-shocked from reading it in one day last Tuesday, but I enjoyed the context Wolmar gave for each development. His tone was professional, confident and reliable probably thanks to the other eight hundred books about railroads he’s written. The texture of his writing was smooth and enjoyable, despite a few wrinkles. The other gift of this book was an informative bibliography; notes on the chief scholars, best books, and sometimes dated perspectives was added easily into the text itself.
July 20, 2024
An enjoyable and for its size and the period covered quite a solid coverage of American rail. It is biased towards the railroads and is something of an advocate for them which isn't necessarily a bad thing for a book on railroads. Still it is somewhat less than a straight up history.
The meat of the book is the time period up to about 1945 which is the most exciting period so that makes sense. A good read for folks interested in the American rail system who are willing to invest some hours in learning and don't already have an extensive knowledge. US rails 101.
The meat of the book is the time period up to about 1945 which is the most exciting period so that makes sense. A good read for folks interested in the American rail system who are willing to invest some hours in learning and don't already have an extensive knowledge. US rails 101.
October 30, 2021
I thought this book would go into detail about the railroad lines I'm interested in. Instead it was about the history of the railroad industry in America and didn't focus on the history of individual lines. I'll need to read a book about individual railroad lines in order to learn what I want to know. I'll need to take a look at the bibliography of this book to see if it cites books that would provide the information I need.
August 4, 2017
Good overview of railroads and their impact on the United States. Sometimes seems to skip details on the assumption that they are known, but still gives a good overview on the rise and fall of American Railroads as well as their impact on politics, business and culture. The author's political biases show up sometimes, but that can be coped with.
August 1, 2019
This is an excellent and very thorough book on the development and present state of railroads, especially in the United States, although it often documents information as to what has or is going on elsewhere in the world of rail. It includes sections on light rail, streetcars, etc. A very thorough book!
July 14, 2021
The first 2/3 of this are a fairly lackluster accounting of railroad history that most Americans should already be familiar with after graduating high school. However, the last 100 pages, especially the last chapter, are a solid analysis of the decline of American rail and lay out real solutions to revitalize trains in the U.S. following the European model.
January 30, 2024
I skipped around to be frank. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Never had realized just how integral the rail roads have been in the US’s culture. I have a new found appreciation for them when I get stopped by them in College Station. Was particularly interested in learning about passenger rail which was touched on a bit.
April 30, 2019
The economics and political and sociological angles of the history of railroads in the U.S. Very little about the technology. If it was the other way around, I would have enjoyed the book more. As it is, I found it very dry and hard to finish
February 9, 2020
A very fascinating look at the history of railways in America. Wolmar does an excellent job of explaining the Great Railroad revolution.
May 28, 2020
Great history of the railroad in the U.S. which shows how integral to the nation’s development railroads were and how large a part they still are but not as visibly.
April 10, 2024
This was a fairly comprehensive popular history of the American railroads, and I learned a decent amount from it, including both the early (pre-Civil War) era and more recent periods.
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