Table Of ContentA N I L L U S T R AT E D
HISTORY OF THE RAILROAD
CHRISTIAN WOLMAR
LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH,
MELBOURNE, DELHI
Editor Hugo Wilkinson First American edition, 2014
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Contents
Introduction 8
12 THE FIRST TRACKS
From Wagonways to Railroads 14
The Father of Railroads 22
Powering the Engine 30
The First American Railroads 32
The Early Years of American Steam 40
Europe Takes to the Rails 42
Map: Western European Railroads 50
Railroad Mania 52
Wheels and Trucks 58
The American Civil War 60
Signals in the Steam Age 66
Heroic Failures 68
India: Dalhousie’s Colonial Imperative 76
Map: Early Indian Railroads 82
The Navvies: Digging, Drinking, and Fighting 84
The Track Structure 90
Cuban Sugar Railroads 92
100 THE SPREAD OF THE RAILROADS
Crossing the Alps 102
Climbing Mountains 108
The Panama Railroad: A Deadly Rush for Gold 110
Crossing America 120
Map: North American Transcontinentals 128
Going Underground 130
Death on the Rails 138
Stopping the Train 144
The Railroad Experience 146
Turnouts and Sidings 152
Temples of Steam 154
Railroad Signal Telegraphy 160
Monopolies and Railroad Barons 162
Building Bridges 168
The Pullman Phenomenon 170
178 RAILROADS COME OF AGE
The Trans-Siberian Railway 180
Map: The Trans-Siberian Railway 188
The Orient Express 190
The Most Spectacular Railroads in the World 198
Going Uphill 204
Henry Flagler and the Overseas Railroad 206
Hauling Freight 212
Cape to Cairo: the Railroad that Never Was 214
Map: Cape to Cairo 222
Electricity Lightens the Load 224
Going Electric 230
The People Who Ran the Railroads 232
The Wrong Side of the Tracks 240
Indian Hill Railroads: Climbing Out of the Heat 248
258 WAR AND UNCERTAINTY
The Golden Age of the Railroads 260
The Field Railroads of World War I 270
American Luxury 276
Wartime Railroad Disasters 278
The Hejaz Railway 288
Streamliners 294
Australia’s Gauge Bungle 296
High-speed Steam Trains 304
Going Diesel: from the Fliegende Hamburger to the Future 312
Diesel Power Meets Electricity 318
World War II: Atrocities on the Line 320
328 THE IRON ROAD TODAY
Brezhnev’s Folly 330
Railroads Lost and Found 340
Vive le Channel Tunnel 348
Building Tunnels 354
Switzerland: the Best of the Best 356
Going Faster: Bullet Trains and High-speed Lines 364
China, the New Pioneer 372
The Railroad Renaissance 382
Maglev Trains 388
Glossary 390
Bibliography 392
Index 394
Acknowledgments 399
8
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
O
f all the great inventions of the Industrial Revolution, the
railroads had the most impact. In a world before rail, travel
over any distance was a major undertaking. Regions of even small
countries, such as France or England, could be up to seven days’
journey from the capital, while large countries like the United
States, China, or Russia could take months to cross. Until the
early 19th century, most people lived their whole lives within
the confines of the town or rural area in which they were born,
and no one had ever gone faster than a horse could gallop. Travel
was simply too difficult and too expensive for the vast majority of
people, which in turn limited the spread of ideas and technology.
Lack of mobility was a major barrier to economic and social
development. In the absence of rapid transportation, people
could starve within only a few hundred miles of plentiful food
supplies. The slow transit of goods by horse and cart, or along
rivers and canals, meant that perishables had to be consumed
very rapidly. Sending a letter across the country took days, and
newspapers were a misnomer, since they were effectively full of
old information. It took months for people to learn the fate
of loved ones at war, and news of major events, from even just a
short distance away, filtered through slowly.
Limitations on travel also translated into social restriction—
people had little choice of spouse, since opportunities to meet
potential marriage partners from even neighboring towns were
rare. Concepts of time, too, were different before the railroads.
Daily life was regulated by the sun, and towns just a few miles east
or west of each other could operate on different schedules.
