The Story of America's Railroads

104 Pages·1991·16.092 MB·English

by  Ray Spangenburg and Diane K. Moser

CONNECTING A CONTINENT
THE STORY
OF AMERICA'S
RAILROADS
Spangenburg and Diane K. Moser
ilay
i*K» --
BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
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THE STORY OF
AMERICA'S
RAILROADS

CONNECTING CONTINENT
A
• •
THE STORY OF
AMERICA'S
RAILROADS
Ray Spangenburg
and Diane K. Moser
FactsOnFile
New York • Oxford
6
—
To alltherailroadpeople
engineers, track layers, condu—ctors,
entrepreneursandhobos
and to allwho love the hauntingsound
offaraway train whistles and clackingwheels
TheStoryofAmerica'sRailroads
Copyright© 1991 byRaySpangenburgandDiane K. Moser
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanymeans,
electronicormechanical, includingphotocopying, recording,orbyanyinformationstorageorre-
trievalsystems,withoutpermission inwritingfrom thepublisher. Forinformationcontact:
Facts On File, Inc. FactsOn FileLimited
460ParkAvenueSouth CollinsStreet
NewYorkNY1001 OxfordOX4 1XJ
USA UnitedKingdom
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Spangenburg, Ray, 1939—
Thestory ofAmerica'srailr—oads/ byRaySpangenburgandDiane K. Moser.
p. cm. (Connectingacontinent)
Includesbibliographical referencesandindex.
Summary:TracesthehistoryofrailroadsinAmerica,focusingon the technology, people,
andlifeon therailroads.
ISBN0-8160-2257-7
— —
1.Railroads—UnitedStates History—Juvenileliterature.
[1. Railroads History.] I. Moser, Diane, 1944- . II.Title.
IIL_S£.ries: Spangenburg, Rav, 1939- Connectingacontinent.
£TF23.S72 1991 J> <-/ . 91-11553
BritishCIPdataavailableonrequestfromFactsOnFile.
FactsOnFilebooksareavailableatspecialdiscountswhenpurchasedinbulkquantitiesforbusi-
nesses,associations,institutionsorsalespromotions. PleasecontacttheSpecialSalesDepartmentof
ourNewYorkofficeat212/683-2244 (dial 800/322-8755exceptinNY,AK,orHI).
TextandJacketdesignbyDonnaSinisgalli
CompositionbyFactsOnFile,Inc.
ManufacturedbytheMaple-VailBookManufacturingGroup
Printedin theUnitedStatesofAmerica
1098765432 1
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
5
.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vi
1 Birth ofthe Iron Horse 1
2. RailroadsArrivein America: 1812-1832 6
3. TravelTransformed: Railroad NetworksReplaceCanals, 1833-1860 1
4. Railroading Fights aWar: 1859-1865 25
5. Building a RailroadAcrossAmerica: The Central Pacific Builds Eastward,
1853-1869 33
6. Building a RailroadAcrossAmerica:The Union Pacific BuildsWestward,
1848-1869 42
7. Heydayofthe Railroads: 1870-1914 51
8. Building a Northern Crossing: 1864-1894 61
9. The Decline Begins: Railroads 1914-1960 67
10. The Age ofMergers: Conrail andAmtrak, 1960to the 1990s 75
Epilogue 82
Glossary 83
Bibliography 84
Index 86
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We'dlike to thank the manyindividuals, too numerous to name,who helped uson
—
this project we greatly appreciated both their aid and enthusiasm. Several made
special contributions, going out of their way to help make this book better,
including,especially,AnneBennofoftheAssociationofAmericanRailroads,aswell
as: Anne Calhoun of the B&O Museum; Bob Durham; Dave Letourneau of the
Burlington Northern Railroad; Connie Menninger, manuscripts archivist at the
Kansas State Historical Society; and Bill Shank ofthe American Canal and Trans-
portation Center.AspecialthanksalsotooureditoratFactsOn File,JamesWarren,
for his many insightful suggestions in shaping this series.