Few scenes capture the American experience so eloquently as that of a lonely train chugging across the vastness of the Great Plains, or snaking through tortuous high mountain passes. Although this vision was eclipsed for a time by the rise of air travel and trucking, railroads have enjoyed a rebirth in recent years as profitable freight carriers.
A fascinating account of the rise, decline, and rebirth of railroads in the United States, John F. Stover's American Railroads traces their history from the first lines that helped eastern seaports capture western markets to today's newly...

Author of six earlier books about United States railroads, John F. Stover packs this narrative history with careful scholarship and colorful description which will appeal to the railroad buff and the professional historian, as well as to any reader who wishes to travel with the Mother of Railroads through an exciting period in United States history.

In the struggle for power from which emerged the modern railroad network, the southern railroads came largely under the influence or control of northern financiers and institutions. The focus of this book is on that aspect of southern railroad development, but in a larger sense it is the story of the creation of one of the most important components of the New South. Originally published in 1955.