- The Consolidation Type - The most prolific steam locomotive design in America and one of the most common types around the world.
- Electric pioneers - The earliest commercial applications for Edison, Tesla, and Siemens. Featuring hardware from Germany and Scandinavia.
- Gas-Electrics and Wind-splitters - Pioneering aerodynamic trains that looked like machines dreamed up by Rube Goldberg.
- Budd stainless-steel streamliners - Burlington's famous Zephyr and the trains it inspired swept public imagination.
- Britain's Sir Nigel Gresley and his remarkable locomotives - Includes World Famous Flying Scotsman and steam speed record holder Mallard .
- Electro-Motive's F-unit - The iconic American diesel that killed steam.
- Germany's Flying Hamburger - The pioneer high-speed diesel streamliners from 1932.
- Stanier's Black Five and 8F 2-8-0 - Trendsetting British designs that found widespread application as far afield as Turkey and Egypt.
- Spanish TALGO trains - Innovative lightweight passenger trains sold around the world.
- Japanese Shinkansen trains - These record-breaking electric trains are the epitome of high-speed rail.
- French TGVs - Some of the world's fastest services with trains operating in more than a dozen nations.
- Soviet M62 diesel - Soviet-era relics continue to work in the former Eastern Bloc.
- Swedish Rc Electrics - Over the last 50 years, these icons have worked in countries across Europe, as well as Iran.
- Siemens Vectron - During the last decade this versatile electric design has rapidly displaced older electric locomotives across Europe.
More than a century before airlines placed it at the center of their systems, Chicago was already the nation's transportation hub -from Union Station, passengers could reach major cities on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts as well as countless points in between.
Chicago's history is tightly linked to its railroads. Railroad historian Fred Ash begins in the mid 1800's, when Chicago dominated Midwest trade and was referred to as the Railroad Capital of the World. During this period, swings in the political climate significantly modified the relationship between the local government and its largest landholders, the railroads. From here, Ash highlights competition at the turn of the twentieth century between railroad companies that greatly influenced Chicago's urban landscape. Profiling the fascinating stories of businessmen, politicians, workers, and immigrants whose everyday lives were affected by the bustling transportation hub, Ash documents the impact Union Station had on the growing city and the entire Midwest.
Featuring more than 100 photographs of the famous beaux art architecture, Chicago Union Station is a beautifully illustrated tribute to one of America's overlooked treasures.
Whether dashing through the Plains, creeping over the Rockies, hurtling across the Great Basin, or threading the Sierra Nevada, the California Zephyr is an earthbound cruise ship bearing five hundred souls, each with a story to tell. Within its eighteen cars one hears tales of trysts in showers and sleepers, of charming serendipities in dining cars, of smuggling drugs and pets (including an elusive boa constrictor), and of a small child's tragic death on the tracks. The California Zephyr remains America's most exhilarating transcontinental train, traversing breath-taking mountain scenery and retracing the route of countless westering pioneers.
Veteran journalist Henry Kisor climbs aboard this train and introduces us to the men and women who ride the rails - some out of restlessness, some as a hobby, some seeking love or friendship as they open new frontiers in their deeper selves. And of course there are the resourceful train crews, who tell tales of "dog-robbing" supplies in the yards, of coping with medical emergencies en route, and of keeping their good humor over the train's 51-hour run. The Zephyr's route is a passage of surprising connections, as the grand history of railroads, terminals, luxury limiteds, and western bandits exists side by side with contemporary concerns.
Through Kisor's eyes, we participate in all the events that make a train trip magical. Fans of his acclaimed memoir, What's That Pig Outdoors? (which The New York Times Book Review said "may well become an American classic"), will not be surprised to find Kisor to be an active participant in his story and an affable traveling companion. As we head westward with him at our side, Zephyr becomes more than just a leisure trip, but a personal journey into the heart of America.
Appealing to more than just railroad fans, this fascinating account of early Japanese efforts to build railways also paints a clear picture of the Meiji era and the historical, cultural and social ramifications of the railway in Japan.
The photographic record of eight separate journeys in this book features lines where steam is still king. It includes the Lumberjack train of Romania, the Trans-Manchurian trains of China and the last working steam train in Europe.
Acclaimed travel writer Anthony Lambert presents his selection of train journeys with real character, sublime scenery, a sense of history, a well-appointed train, or even the opportunity to enjoy a meal with proper napery, silver and glass...
Some journeys are well known, such as the Glacier or Orient Expresses, which combine glamour, outstanding cuisine and service and colorful history. Others less so: The Sunset Limited traverses through the quintessential Wild West country of New Mexico; or the coast-to-coast journey through the chestnut- and pine-clad mountains of Corsica, crossing one of Gustave Eiffel's glorious viaducts of gossamer steel. From the modest line of the Alaska Railroad to the Trans-Siberian; from a narrow-gauge web of lines in the Harz Mountains to the train that crosses Australia's barren Nullarbor Plain in a dead-straight 478km, Lambert's is an unmissable selection for any lover of travel that is as delightful as the destination.
-- A Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club
-- A finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Awards
-- Appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle and Wordstock bestseller lists
