In an ongoing state of “under construction.” Last updated: December 26, 2006.
The following is a suggested bibliography of books that have come to my attention through either personal reading, or recommendation by other rail sources. Where possible, I give a thumbnail description of what the book entails. Each entry concludes with the volume’s ISBN, where possible, to aid in requests for book orders, interlibrary loan, etc. (Note when ordering that some books may be out of print.)
While I commonly give the LC and Dewey call numbers in my Bookshelf Reviews, I do not here. Use of even a Dewey number can vary from library to library, with some institutions cutting the number at certain designated points to accommodate the complexity of their particular needs and catalogue. Older volumes may have been reclassified as the schedules are revised. Many online catalogues allow searches on “Standard Book Number” or ISBN today, and this is the safest number to offer.
General works (history, discussion of lines, etc.):
Drury, George H., comp. The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. Updated ed. Waukesha, Wisc.: 1985, Kalmbach Books. 424 p.; ill. 0890240728.
Drury has compiled a good short reference on over 160 railroads that have disappeared for one reason or another since 1930, when the Great Depression combined with the government’s leftover regulations from the First World War and the increasing popularity of the automobile to eat into revenues and profit margins. The history is not exhaustive, of course; but it gives a reasonable description of each line’s basic operations until it closes or merges with another line.
Hubbard, Freeman. Encyclopedia of North American Railroading: 150 Years of Railroading in the United States and Canada. New York: 1981, McGraw Hill. 377 p.; ill. 0070308284.
Dated, of course, by 2006-7 standards (when this is being written), but still a source of brief, usable information, especially in things that books focusing on the railroads and their operations themselves might overlook. Beyond the usual matter, the reader is given information on railroad buttons, station Bible racks, the American Freedom Train, and station chapels and hotels. Useful, if behind the times on other things.
Schafer, Mike. Classic American Railroads. St. Paul, Minn.: 1996, MBI Publishing. 160 p.; ill. 0760302391.
–. More Classic American Railroads. St. Paul, Minn.: 2000, MBI Publishing. 156 p.; ill. 076030758X.
Combined, these two volumes give an excellent short history on some of the most famous names in railroading, some of which survive today in one form or another. The first volume covers 15 greats such as the Santa Fe, the Rock Island, the New York Central and Pennsy, and the Union Pacific. The second book takes in 16 more lines, including the C&O/Chessie System, Bangor & Aroostook, Southern Railway, Nickel Plate and Missouri Pacific. Lavishly illustrated, including pictures of timetable fronts and route maps. One can hope for a third volume someday!
Welsh, Joe. The American Railroad. St. Paul, Minn.: 1999, MBI Publishing. 160 p.; ill. Includes index. 0760305129.
Gives a good overview of the major aspects of American railroading: history, passenger and freight trains, stations, the locomotives themselves, and the people who make the rails roll.
Yenne, Bill, ed. The History of North American Railroads. New York: 1986, Gallery Books/W. H. Smith. 256 p.; ill. 0831727977.
Written as a series of essays on blocks of time in railroad development. One thing worries me, though: the authors of at least two of the essays. The piece on diesels was prepared by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, and the article on “American Railroads Today” by the American Association of Railroads. You won’t get pure objectivity in a popular book, of course (let alone any human endeavor); but having pieces written by key players in the subject they are discussing is tricky at the least.
Other volumes:
Del Vecchio, Mike. Railroads Across America: A Celebration of 50 Years of Railroading. Osceola, Wisc.: 1998, MBI Publishing. 224 p.: ill. Includes index and bibliography. 0760306427.
Frederickson, Jim. Railscapes: A Northern Pacific Brasspounder’s Album.
Pullman, Wash.: 2003, Washington State University Press. 154 p.: ill. Includes index. 0874222710.
Lovegrove, Keith. Railroad: Identity, Design and Culture. American ed. New York: 2005, Rizzoli. 160 p.: ill. Includes index and bibliography. 0847827194.
Schafer, Mike, with Joe Welsh and Kevin Holland. The American Passenger Train. St. Paul, Minn.: 2001, MBI Publishing. 156 p.: ill. Includes index. 0760308969.
Standiford, Les. Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean. New York: 2002, Crown/Random House. 273 p.: ill. Includes index and selected bibliography. 0609607480.
Wheaton, Melville, ed. All Aboard America: Classic American Trains. New York: 1995, Smithmark Publishers. 80 p.: ill. 0831714522.
Engineering (stations, bridges, tunnels, etc.)
There is more to a railroad than trains and rails. Tonnes of infrastructure go into making the rails run.
Ballon, Hilary. New York’s Pennsylvania Stations. With a photo essay by Norman McGrath and a contribution by Marilyn Jordan Taylor. New York: 2002, W. W. Norton. 223 p.: ill. Includes index. 0393730786.
Brown, Christopher. Still Standing: A Century of Urban Train Station Design. Bloomington, Ind.: 2005, Indiana University Press. 134 p.: ill. Includes index and bibliography. 0253346347.
Ferrarini, Alessia. Railway Stations: from the Gare de l’Est to Penn Station. Milan: 2005, Electaarchitecture (dist. by Phaidon). 217 p.: ill. 1904313345.
Halberstadt, Hans and April. Train Depots and Roundhouses. 2nd ed. St. Paul, Minn.: 2002, MBI Publishing. 192 p.: ill. Includes index and bibliography. 0760313512.
Solomon, Brian. Railway Masterpieces. Iola, Wisc.: 2002, Krause Publications. 160 p.: ill. Includes index and bibliography. 0873493230.
Pullman Coaches
What I thought before reading these was wrong; Pullman did not just build the famous sleeping cars that made him and his company rich. The company also staffed the cars. The following two books give much of the story behind what could be called the world’s largest and most mobile hotel.
Perata, David D. Those Pullman Blues: An Oral History of the African American Railroad Attendant. New York: 1996, Twayne / Simon & Schuster. 179 p.: ill. Includes index. 0805745203.
Welsh, Joe, and Bill Howes. Travel by Pullman: A Century of Service. St. Paul, Minn.: 2004, MBI Publishing. 156 p.: ill. Includes index. 0760318573.
Transcontinental Railroads
Reams have been written about the uniting of the east and west coasts of North America by roads of steel.
United States
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869. New York: 2000, Simon & Schuster. 432 p.; ill. 0684846098.
Ambrose was most familiar for his books on the “living history” of World War II, especially the memories of the soldiers of D-Day in France. Here, the author tackled another subject, with some degree of success. More balanced than Dee Brown’s book (below), though it can be said that Ambrose treaded a little too lightly over the Crédit Mobilier scandal and the Union Pacific’s finances.
Bain, David Howard. Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad. New York: 1999, Viking/Penguin. 797 p.; ill. 067080889X.
I have not examined this book in depth yet, but it looks as if it takes the best middle road between respect for the railroad owners and an objective examination of their financial machinations.
Brown, Dee. Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroad. New York: 1977, Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Paperback ed.: 310 p.; ill. 0805068929.
Brown also wrote Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which redrew much of the general attitude toward the Native Americans and their interactions with the white man. This book is written in much the same vein, and is a child of its era; while telling the story of the building of the first American transcontinental railroad, it takes an unremitting gimlet stare at the companies that did the building, and their legacy down to date. Close to being a polemic, especially in the concluding paragraphs, and in the 2001 introduction added to this paperback edition.
Canada
Berton, Pierre. The National Dream: The Great Railway, 1871-1881. 2001 pbk. ed.: Doubleday Canada. 456 p. Includes maps and index. 0385658400.
–. The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885. 2001 pbk. ed.: Doubleday Canada. 496 p. Includes index and maps. 0385658419.
Considered the standard works on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first transcontinental route through Canada. The two volumes run from the early searching, fights and financial scandals to link British Columbia with the eastern provinces in the newly-born Canada (the famous Pacific Scandal brought down the government of Canada’s first Prime Minister, John McDonald), to the driving of the last spike at Craigellachie, B.C. in 1885. Berton wrote with flair, interest in the topic, and attention to the players in the drama, including their many personal risks to unite a nation a-borning.
McKee, Bill, and Georgeen Klassen. Trail of Iron: The CPR and the Birth of the West, 1880-1930. Vancouver, B. C.: 1983, Douglas & McIntyre. 192 p.: ill. Includes index and bibliography. 0888943997.
This pair takes the story farther, up to 1930, after the CPR had established itself as “The World’s Greatest Travel System,” built the spectacular chalet hotels in the Canadian Rockies, and brought in the settlers that helped carve out three provinces and bridge the huge gap between Canadian east and west.
To be continued….
