Spirit of America Bookstore
American Railroads
Page Three
The Transcontinental Railroads
The First Transcontinental Railroad was ordered by President Lincoln; the Central Pacific from the west The silver spike ceremony joining the Second Transcontinental Railroad – Southern Pacific from the The third major Transcontinental Railroad, the Northern Pacific Railway, was completed Canada's transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway was completed on 7 November 1885
joined the Union Pacific from the east at a Golden Spike Ceremony
at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory on 10 May 1869.
'The First Transcontinental Railroad' entry at Wikipedia
west, AT&SF from the east – took place on 8 March 1881 in Deming, New Mexico Territory.
on 8 September 1883 with the ceremonial gold spike driven at Gold Creek, Montana Territory.
at a 'last spike' ceremony at Craigellachie, British Columbia.
Canadian Pacific Railway entry at Wikipedia
History Central pages
Golden Spike National Historic Site at Promontory Summit, Utah
May 10th is National Train Day in USA [est. 2008]
world railroad history timeline at Pacific Southwest Railway Museum
Central Pacific Railroad Across Nevada - historic comparisons, 1868 & 1997
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/promontory/
| "When I think how the railroad has been pushed through this unwatered wilderness and haunt of savage tribes; how at each stage of the construction roaring, impromptu cities, full of gold and lust and death, sprang up and then died away again, and are now but wayside stations in the desert; how in these uncouth places Chinese pirates worked side by side with border ruffians and broken men from Europe, gambling, drinking, quarreling, and murdering like wolves; and then when I go on to remember that all this epical turmoil was conducted by gentlemen in frock-coats, with a view to nothing more extraordinary than a fortune and a subsequent visit to Paris – it seems to me as if this railway were the one typical achievement of the age in which we live, as if it brought together into one plot all the ends of the world and all the degrees of social rank, and offered to some great writer the busiest, the most extended, and the most varied subject for an enduring literary work. If it be romance, if it be contrast, if it be heroism that we require, what was Troy to this?" — Robert Louis Stevenson [1850-94] — in "Across The Plains" [1892] |
 | "Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow: Railroads In The West - The Epic Story of The Transcontinetal Railroads" [1977] by Dee Brown
Kindle Edition from Open Road [10/2012] for $10.09 Henry Holt 7½x5 pb [8/2002] out of print/used Henry Holt 8¼x5½ pb [9/2001] out of print/used Scribner's 9¼x6 pb [11/94] out of print/70+ used Holt, Rhinehart & Winston hardcover [4/77] out of print/150+ used |
 | "American Experience: The Iron Road" [P.B.S./WGBH Nov 1991] The building of the railroad between Sacramento, California and Omaha, Nebraska from 1862 to 1869, a feat of engineering and backbreaking labor that opened up the riches of the West and turned America's dream of Manifest Destiny into a reality. Produced & directed by Neil Goodwin; narrated by Lief Ancker DVD/Blu-ray not available WGBH Home Video color VHS [undated] for $7.99 PBS Home Video color VHS [3/2000] out of prodn/used WGBH Home Video color VHS [1992] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb P.B.S. official movie site |
 | "Iron Horses Across America: The Transcontinental Railroad (Perspectives on History Series)" [1995] Edited by Jeanne Munn Bracken Discovery Enterprises 7¼x5 pb [1995] for $7.16 |
 | "Modern Marvels: Transcontinental Railroad" [History Channel Jan 1995] The transcontinental railroad project was unprecedented in both size and scope, from the time the first spike was driven into the ground to the modern rail transportation system as we know it today. Narrated by Harlan Saperstein A&E Home Video color DVD [12/2006] for $22.49 full credits at IMDb |
 | "Lionel Trains® Presents Trans-Con!: The Race To Connect The Country Has Begun" [1999] by Knowledge Adventure CD-ROM video game for ages 7-12, designed for Windows 95 & 98 (also works fine on Windows 7, but not Windows 10); system requirements: 50 MB of available hard drive space, 16 MB RAM, SVGA 256-color graphics, and quad-speed CD-ROM drive Lionel Trains® CD-ROM [8/2004] out of prodn/used "Lionel Trains® Presents TRANS-CON! Centennial Edition" [2010] from Vivendi Universal Interactive/Sierra Online Lionel Trains® CD-ROM in fancy 12x8½" tin box [6/2010] for $13.88 you will find more information on Spirit of America Bookstore's Lionel Trains® Page |
 | "Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad" [1999] by David Haward Bain Kindle Edition from Penguin Books [2000 edition] for $16.14 Penguin Books 9¼x6¼ pb [9/2000] for $21.68 Viking Adult 9½x6½ hardcover [11/99] out of print/150+ used |
 | "American Experience: Transcontinental Railroad" [P.B.S. Jan 2003] A fascinating look at one of the most spectacular engineering feats of the 19th Century, as legions of tireless workers toiled for six years to realize the vision of imaginative engineers and shady entrepreneurs. Co-pro-duced, written & co-directed by Mark Zwonitzer: co-directed by Michael Chin; narrated by Michael Murphy PBS Home Video color DVD [6/2006] for $22.49 PBS Home Video color VHS [2/2003] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb PBS official movie site |
 | "Promontory" documentary TV special [P.B.S./KUED-TV May 2002] Topics Ent. hour-long color DVD [4/2010] for $14.95 bare credits at IMDb |
 | "Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and The Making of Modern America" [2011] by Richard White Kindle Edition from W.W. Norton & Co. [5/2011] for $9.99 W.W. Norton & Co. 8¼x5½ pb [4/2012] for $13.19 W.W. Norton & Co. 9¼x6½ hardcover [5/2011] for $21.01 out of print/used |
L.M. Clement were also provided to the late Stephen Ambrose who used them extensively in his N.Y. Times best-selling book
"Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869"
The Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, orig 1963 Revised Edition by Lucius Beebe [1902-66]
U.S. & Canada Railroad Moguls & Executives
"A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education,
he may steal the whole railroad." — Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919]
 | 'I Am A Railroad Man' by Anonymous Not sure what to call this; it is not a pledge, not a manifesto, maybe just a statement. Retail source for poster not found. { Click on image to read text in larger window. } |
 | "The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901" [1934 classic] by Matthew Josephson Classic study of American capitalists who boldly seized economic power in America after the Civil War, including Carnegie, Frick, Gould, Morgan, Rockefeller & Vanderbilt Kindle Edition from Mariner Books [10/2015] for $9.99 Harcourt 8x5½ pb [6/62] for $15.35 Amereon 8¾x5¾ hardcover [6/40] out of print/used |
 | "The Railway Barons" [1979] by David Mountfield biographies of Thomas Brassey and George Hudson of Great Britain and of James J. Hill, Edward H. Harriman, Jay Gould, and Jim Fisk of the United States Osprey hardcover [1979] out of print/used W.W. Norton & Co. hardcover [2/80] out of print/used |
 |
"The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California" [2007] by Richard Rayner Four middle-class merchants in Sacramento, California rose to become the force behind the Trans-continental Railroad and became wealthy beyond any measure, and committed secret crimes to sustain their power. Their names were Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins, and they were known as 'The Big Four' or 'The Associates' Kindle Edition from W.W. Norton [1/2009] for $9.99 W.W. Norton pb [1/2009] for $12.83 W.W. Norton/Atlas 8¼x5¾ hardcover [2007] out of print/used |
 | "Railroad Barons" card game [age 12 & up; 2010] English-language version of game from German company LookOut Games; for two players LookOut Games in 7¼x5¼-inch box [2010] out of prodn/used |
 | "Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad" [2010] by Walter R. Borneman After the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in May 1869 (Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah) the pressure to complete further transcontinental routes continued: Gen. William Jackson Palmer of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad developed routes across (and under) the Rocky Mountains (the First Transcontinental Railroad skipped Colorado Territory entirely); Collis P. Huntington of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific lines developed a route across the southwestern desert; and Edward Payson Ripley of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe developed a route from Kansas to the Pacific Ocean. Random House 9½x6¼ hardcover [9/2010] for $21.70 |
 | "Harriman vs. Hill: Wall Streets Great Railroad War" [2013] by Larry Haeg In May 1901, James J. Hill (of the Great Northern RR) and E.H. Harriman (of the Union Pacific RR and the Southern Pacific RR) became rivals for the stock of the Northern Pacific RR; the ensuing contest brought trustbuster Theodore Roosevelt, Wall Street tycoon J.P. Morgan, Big Steel and Big Oil, and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. into the conflict. Kindle Edition from Univ Minnesota Press [10/2013] for $16.49 Univ Minnesota Press 9x6 hardcover [10/2013] for $22.19 |
 | "The Big Four Railroad Barons and Other Railroad Stories" [2014] by Alton Pryor Kindle Edition from Stagecoach Publng [3/2016] for $3.99 Stagecoach Publng 8½x5½ pb [1/2014] for $11.95 |
 | "The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, The Gilded Age, and The Greatest Labor Uprising In America" [2019] by Jack Kelly Eugene V. Debs and his new railway labor union protested wage cuts and increased prices at the mandatory company store at George Pullman's factory in Chicago; the Pullman Strike nearly shut down interstate commerce and brought out the U.S. Army to force striking workers to go back to work Kindle Edition from St. Martin's Press [1/2019] for $14.99 St. Martin's Press 9¾x6½ hardcover [1/2019] for $15.99 |
 | "Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and The Making of Modern America" [2020] by Michael Hiltzik Kindle Edition from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt [8/2020] for $16.99 Mariner Books pb [DUE August 2021] for $17.99 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 9x6 hardcover [8/2020] for $20.49 |
Charles Crocker [1822-88]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Crocker
James Fisk, Jr. [1835-72]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fisk_(financier)
M.N. (Mathias Nace) Forney [1835-1908]
Jay Gould [1836-92]
owned or controlled the Erie Railway, the Missouri Pacific, the Union Pacific, and Western Union telegraph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Gould
E.H. {Edward Henry} Harriman [1848-1909]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Harriman
"E.H. Harriman: Railroad Czar" [] by George Frost Kennan /1893122719/
"The Life and Legend of E. H. Harriman" [] by Maury Klein /0807825174/
restaurant tycoon Fred Harvey [1835-1901]
at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Western Bookstore
James Jerome Hill [1838-1916]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Hill
James J. Hill House
 | "James J. Hill (Little Journeys To The Homes of Great Business Men Series)" [1909] by Elbert Hubbard [1856-1915]
Kessinger Publng 9x7½ pb [9/2010] for $11.48 Roycrofters pb [1909] out of print/scarce Kessinger Publng 9¾x7 hardcover [9/2010] for $22.28 |
"The Life of James J. Hill (Authorized)" [] by Joseph Gilpin Pyle
Mark Hopkins, Jr. [1813-78]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hopkins_Jr.
Collis P. Huntington [1821-1900]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collis_Potter_Huntington
 | "Man of Destiny" aka "Rail Road" [1981 novel] by Graham Masterton
Fictionalized account of the life of California railroad baron Collis P. Huntington Kindle Edition from Agora Books [11/2017] for $11.99 Time Warner Books UK mass pb [6/1987] out of print/used Simon & Schuster 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/81] out of print/used |
A major biography of the greatest of all the railroad moguls
http://www.amazon.com/PURSUADER-biography-greatest-railroad-Huntington/dp/B000J0WQYE/
Spirit of America Bookstore's
Colorado railroad tycoon David H. Moffat [1839-1911] Page
Spirit of America Bookstore's
Wall Street banker John Pierpont 'J.P.' Morgan [1837-1913] Page
Banker Morgan was involved in two dozen railroads, and directly owned or controlled the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad; Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad;
New York Central Railroad; New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad; Northern Pacific Railway; and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad.
railroad tycoon Gen. William Jackson Palmer [1836-1909]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jackson_Palmer
railroad tycoon George M. Pullman [1831-97]
George Pullman is credited with the creation of the first modern, comfortable, sleeping car for railroad travel in 1858. His Pullman Company became an empire that during its peak in the 1930s was responsible for the construction, ownership, & operation of a fleet of over eight-thousand sleeper, parlor, club, and cafe railroad cars. The Pullman Company was said to have operated the largest hotel in the world, with upwards of 100,000 beds occupied on a given night. Pullman's well-deserved slogan was "Travel and Sleep in Pullman Safety and Comfort." Due to a Supreme Court consent decree in 1948, Pullman transferred ownership of the railcars to the operating railroads, while keeping the manufacturing and service divisions. The Pullman Company itself ceased operating sleeping cars on December 31, 1968; successor company Pullman, Inc. continued to construct freight and passenger cars until it was sold to Bombardier Corporation of Canada in 2001.
George Pullman entry at Wikipedia
Pullman Company entry at Wikipedia
Spirit of America Bookstore's
railroad tycoon George Pullman [1831-97] Page
Edward Payson 'E.P.' Ripley [1845-1920] of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Payson_Ripley
Sen. William Sharon [1821-86]
co-founder of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad
 | "The Infamous King of The Comstock: William Sharon and The Gilded Age In The West" biography [2006] by Michael J. Makley Univ Nevada Press 9x6 pb [3/2009] for $18.27 Univ Nevada Press 9x6 hardcover [1/2006] for $32.18 |
Leland Stanford [1824-93]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Stanford
'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt [1794-1877]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Vanderbilt
The railway safety air brake was invented in 1869 by George Westinghouse, Jr. [1846-1914]
Railroad Recordings
"Life's Railway To Heaven (Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad)" gospel song [©1890] by Charles D. Tillman & M.E. Abbey
song entry at Wikipedia
text & music audio
1959 Patsy Cline solo version with footage of squeaky-whistle 4-8-2 French steam locomotive 241P17
watch video [2:59] at YouTube
1959 Patsy Cline duet with Willie Nelson, with video from the back of an Amtrak train near Chicago
watch video [3:00] at YouTube
1959 Patsy Cline duet with Willie Nelson, with slideshow of American, British & other trains
watch video [3:14] at YouTube
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 | "Ghost Train: A Sound Panorama of The Last Days of Steam" [1962] seven tracks recorded on the Grand Trunk Railroad (2), Norfolk & Western (2), and one each on the Nickel Plate Road, Union Pacific, and the Reading Railroad Mobile Fidelity Records vinyl LP album [4/2010] out of prodn/used MP-3 album [4/2014] download for $6.23 | |
 | "Great American Train Songs" [1993]
C.M.H. Records audio CD [3/95] 20 tracks - out of prodn/used artists include: Merle Travis & Mac Weisman; Mac Weisman (4); Merle Travis (2); Grandpa Jones (2); Benny Martin (2); Osborne Bros. & Mac Weisman; Donna Stoneman; Lester Flatt & The Nashville Grass; Tommy Faile; Dick & Jaquie Schuyler; Joe Maphis; Carl Story - and others | |
 | "Thunder On The Steel" [1995] Recorded by Edward Hollcraft
Con Brio Recordings audio CD [6/2001] 21 tracks for $12.48 Trackside recordings, as well as in-cab recordings of diesel & steam locomotives (including Shay #14) | |
 | "Between The Rails: America's Train Songs" [1996]
G.N.P./Crescendo audio CD [2/96] 18 tracks - out of prodn/used artists include: Steven Beasley; Johnny Cash ('Blue Train'); Don Edwards; Merle Haggard; Johnny Horton; Howlin' Wolf; Waylon Jennings; Little Milton; Blind Willie McTell; Roger Miller ('Engine Engine #9'); Junior Parker; Jimmie Rodgers ('Train Whistle Blues'); Billy Strange (2); Hank Williams ('Lonesome Whistle'); Glenn Yarbrough & The Limeliters ('City Of New Orleans') — and others | |
 |
"The Great Machines: Poems and Songs of The American Railroad" [1996] Edited by Robert Hedin Univ Iowa Press 9x5½ pb [5/96] for $24.00 contributors include Raymond Carver, E.E. Cummings, James Dickey, Emily Dickinson, Allen Ginsberg, editor Hedin, Langston Hughes (4), Blind Lemon Jefferson, folksinger Leadbelly (2), Denise Levertov, Vachel Lindsay, Archibald MacLeish (3), Bill Monroe, Sylvia Plath, Ishmael Reed, Carl Sandburg (3), Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, David Wojahn (3) — and many others | |
 | "All Aboard!" [8/1997] by John Denver
Sony Wonder music CD [8/97] 15 tracks - for $25.86 Sony Wonder MP-3 download [8/97] 15 tracks - for $9.99 24th & last album by John Denver [1943-97], produced by longtime friend Roger Nichols; won a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children - Denver's only Grammy; songs include "City of New Orleans"; "Daddy, What's A Train?"; "Freight Train Boogie"; "I've Been Working On The Railroad"; "Jenny Dreamed of Trains"; "Jessie Dreamed of Trains"; "The Last Hobo"; "Last Train Done Gone Down"; "Lining Track"; "The Little Engine That Could"; "Old Train"; "On The Atchison, Topeka and The Santa Fe"; "People Get Ready"; "Steel Rails"; and "Waiting For A Train" album entry at Wikipedia | |
 | "Classic Railroad Songs" (Rounder Series)
Volume 1 Steel Rails: Rounder audio CD [3/97] for $15.28 Volume 2 Mystery Train: Rounder audio CD [3/97] for $14.99 Volume 3 Night Train: Rounder audio CD [10/98] for $15.28 Volume 4 Freight Train Blues: Rounder audio CD [6/2000] for $14.99 Train 45, Early 1900s: Rounder audio CD [10/98] for $14.99 | |
 | "25 Classic Train Songs" [2003]
Rural Rhythm audio CD [5/2003] 25 tracks - out of prodn/used songs include: Blue Railroad Train; Bringing In The Georgia Mail; Bye Bye Black Smoke Choo Choo; Casey Jones; East Bound Train; Engine No. 9; Freight Train Blues; Ghost Train; In The Pines; Jesse James; K.C. Whistle; Kansas City Railroad Blues; Lightning Express; New River Train; 900 Miles; Nine Pound Hammer; Streamlined Cannonball; Train 45; Wabash Cannonball; Waiting For A Train; Wreck of The Old '97 - and others | |
 | "Tales of The Rails, Volume 1" [2006] Read by Charles Minx
five stories from the November 1909 issue of Railroad Man's Magazine CD Baby spoken word CD [1/2006] for $19.57 "Tales of The Rails, Volume 2" [2006] Read by Charles Minx five stories from the February 1911 issue of Railroad Man's Magazine spoken word CD [1/2006] not found on Amazon {2016} | |
 | "Classic Railroad Songs From Smithsonian Folkways" [2006]
Smithsonian Folkways audio CD [1/2006] 29 tracks for $17.97 artists include: Lead Belly (3); Elizabeth Cotten; Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston (2); Haywire Mac; L.M. Hilton; Cisco Houston; Iron Mountain String Band; Furry Lewis; Brownie McGhee; John D. Mounce; The New Lost City Ramblers (2); Walt Robertson; Mike Seeger; Pete Seeger; Rosalie Sorrels (2); Pop Stoneman; Vernon Sutphin; Henry Grady Terrell; The Virginia Mountain Boys; Annie Watson; Doc Watson (2) – and others | |
 | "Train Sounds of The 40s & 50s: Steam Locomotives Original Recordings" [2009] Recorded by Harold Spicer SpicerPro audio CD [2009] for $14.99 + s/h via third party 72-minutes of recordings made around the Baltimore area, featuring Baltimore & Ohio, New York Central, Pennsylvania, and Western Maryland locomotives speeding past SpicerPro sound & photo website, based in Maryland | |
 | "Steam Locomotive Rail Sounds" on audio CD & MP-3 [2009]
Essential Media Group audio CD [10/2009] for $12.98 Essential Media Group MP-3 recordings download [8/2009] for $8.99 35 minutes of digitally-remastered recordings of steam locomotives of the Southern Pacific RR and the Santa Fe RR in Southern California | |
 | "Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Sherlock Holmes' Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories" [2010] Written by John Taylor, 'inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'
B.B.C. Books UNABR audio CD [8/2015] for $15.01 AudioGO audio CD [1/2011] 2 disks - out of prodn/used AudioGO audio CD [1/2011] 2 disks - out of prodn/used AudioGO audio CD [2010] out of prodn/used Four original short stories read by actor Cumberbatch on B.B.C. Radio: "An Inscrutable Masquerade", "The Conundrum of Coach 13", "The Trinity Vicarage Larceny", and "The 10:59 Assassin"; not sure which is which, but detective Sherlock Holmes experiments with the science of ballistics, locates some missing gold bullion, investigates the theft of a large amount of money, and solves the baffling mystery of the Stovey murder |
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![official logo for the Confederate Railroad band [est. 1987]](covers2/ConfederateRailroadBand.jpg "official logo for the Confederate Railroad band [est. 1987]") | The Confederate Railroad band was founded in 1987 in Georgia and is still touring (thru 2022) despite controversy over the band's name and prominence given to the racist Confederate battle flag; the Southern country rock group does not play railroad-specific songs, but the name and nifty logo qualify them for inclusion here
shop Confederate Railroad band albums at Amazon official company website company entry at Wikipedia |
Spirit of America Bookstore's American Railroads Pages
on page one: top of page links museums Class I railroads Class II railroads shortline railroads
on page two: top of page games Railroad History Narrow Gauge Historic Rail Lines
here on page three: top of page Transcontinental Railroads Railroad Moguls Railroad Recordings
Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Railroads in Fiction' Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroads in Fiction - Books For Young Railfans Page
Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Non-Fiction Books About Railroads' Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Film Festival Pages
America's Shortline Railroads Page
Spirit of America Bookstore's Scale Model & Toy Trains Page
G.E. Nordell's Arizona Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's California Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's Colorado Travel / Railroads Links Pages
G.E. Nordell's Nevada Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's New Mexico Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's Utah Travel / Railroads Links Page
G.E. Nordell's Travel U.S.A. / Railroad Museums Page
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