Book Description
Includes schedule of the California Zephyr, and brief comments about points of interest along the route from Chicago to San Francisco.
Author : Carlos A. Schwantes
Publisher :
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 22,96 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :
Includes schedule of the California Zephyr, and brief comments about points of interest along the route from Chicago to San Francisco.
Author : John Sedgwick
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 20,10 MB
Release : 2021-06-01
Category : History
ISBN : 1982104309
“Riveting...A great read, full of colorful characters and outrageous confrontations back when the west was still wild.” —George R.R. Martin A propulsive and panoramic history of one of the most dramatic stories never told—the greatest railroad war of all time, fought by the daring leaders of the Santa Fe and the Rio Grande to seize, control, and create the American West. It is difficult to imagine now, but for all its gorgeous scenery, the American West might have been barren tundra as far as most Americans knew well into the 19th century. While the West was advertised as a paradise on earth to citizens in the East and Midwest, many believed the journey too hazardous to be worthwhile—until 1869, when the first transcontinental railroad changed the face of transportation. Railroad companies soon became the rulers of western expansion, choosing routes, creating brand-new railroad towns, and building up remote settlements like Santa Fe, Albuquerque, San Diego, and El Paso into proper cities. But thinning federal grants left the routes incomplete, an opportunity that two brash new railroad men, armed with private investments and determination to build an empire across the Southwest clear to the Pacific, soon seized, leading to the greatest railroad war in American history. In From the River to the Sea, bestselling author John Sedgwick recounts, in vivid and thrilling detail, the decade-long fight between General William J. Palmer, the Civil War hero leading the “little family” of his Rio Grande, and William Barstow Strong, the hard-nosed manager of the corporate-minded Santa Fe. What begins as an accidental rivalry when the two lines cross in Colorado soon evolves into an all-out battle as each man tries to outdo the other—claiming exclusive routes through mountains, narrow passes, and the richest silver mines in the world; enlisting private armies to protect their land and lawyers to find loopholes; dispatching spies to gain information; and even using the power of the press and incurring the wrath of the God-like Robber Baron Jay Gould—to emerge victorious. By the end of the century, one man will fade into anonymity and disgrace. The other will achieve unparalleled success—and in the process, transform a sleepy backwater of thirty thousand called “Los Angeles” into a booming metropolis that will forever change the United States. Filled with colorful characters and high drama, told at the speed of a locomotive, From the River to the Sea is an unforgettable piece of American history “that seems to demand a big-screen treatment” (The New Yorker).
Author : Stephen E. Ambrose
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 468 pages
File Size : 10,23 MB
Release : 2001-11-06
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780743203173
The story of the men who build the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's.
Author : Richard White
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 1000 pages
File Size : 47,29 MB
Release : 2011-05-31
Category : History
ISBN : 0393082601
A Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize "A powerful book, crowded with telling details and shrewd observations." —Michael Kazin, New York Times Book Review The transcontinental railroads were the first corporate behemoths. Their attempts to generate profits from proliferating debt sparked devastating economic panics. Their dependence on public largesse drew them into the corridors of power, initiating new forms of corruption. Their operations rearranged space and time, remade the landscape of the West, and opened new ways of life and work. Their discriminatory rates sparked a new antimonopoly politics. The transcontinentals were pivotal actors in the making of modern America, but the triumphal myths of the golden spike, Robber Barons larger than life, and an innovative capitalism all die here. Instead we have a new vision of the Gilded Age, often darkly funny, that shows history to be rooted in failure as well as success.
Author :
Publisher : Chartwell Books
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 46,28 MB
Release : 2010-02-01
Category : Transportation
ISBN : 9780785825739
In 1869 the east and west coasts of the USA were at last linked by rail, launching what is now known as the “golden age of the railroad.” Within twenty years several other major transcontinental routes had been opened, and the railroad companies who had invested millions of dollars need to attract both freight and passengers. To celebrate these pioneering routes, the railroad companies, enterprising publishers and even the United States Geological Service, produced a large quantity of colorful literature, including souvenir books, foldout postcards and illustrated maps. This exciting volume, packed with rare railroadiana and expertly-written text, brings those wonderful days back to life!
Author : Dale Martin
Publisher :
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 15,89 MB
Release : 2018-06-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781940527925
Ties, Rails, and Telegraph Wires combines literary memories, historic research, and knowledge of railroad operations with historic photographs to celebrate railroads in Montana and the West. It describes the lives and tasks of railroad workers and the services provided by the railroad to communities and the region.
Author : Gordon H. Chang
Publisher : Mariner Books
Page : 325 pages
File Size : 40,75 MB
Release : 2019
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1328618579
Guangdong -- Gold Mountain -- Central Pacific -- Foothills -- The High Sierra -- The Summit -- The Strike -- Truckee -- The Golden Spike -- Beyond Promontory.
Author : Christine Zuchora-Walske
Publisher : Core Library
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 36,6 MB
Release : 2016-08-15
Category : Frontier and pioneer life
ISBN : 9781680782615
In the 1800s, traveling to the West could be dangerous. Horse-drawn wagons were slow, and Native Americans were not always friendly. In the 1840s, plans for a transcontinental railroad were proposed. When gold was discovered in California in the 1850s, the dream started to gain backers. Discover the story of this stage of our country's history.
Author : Robert Joseph Casey
Publisher : Robert Joseph Casey
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 35,70 MB
Release : 1948
Category : Transportation
ISBN :
Pioneer railroad the story of the Chicago and North Western System.
Author : Donald B. Robertson
Publisher : Caxton Press
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 22,56 MB
Release : 1986
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :