Lot of 2 books Early Railways Train Wrecks

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The railway was the first transport system capable of sustaining a modern urban civilization. The invention of the steam locomotive in the early nineteenth century, followed by the rapid expansion of railway networks to cover large areas of the globe, form an essential and fascinating part of the history of modern man.

In this book J. B. Snell has traced the story from its earliest beginnings until World War I. He describes the technical development of steampower and the permanent way that made possible the construction of fast lines through even the most difficult and mountainous country in many parts of the world. He writes of engine-design, signalling systems, tunnelling, railway economics and politics, conditions of early rail-travel, and the great engineers of several countries from whose energy and inventiveness we still benefit.

Contents

THE ORIGINS OF THE RAILWAY

Railway prehistory - coalmines and waggonways - iron and water - strong steam - Trevithick and others - Hedley, Stephenson and Newcastle-Stockton and Darlington Railway-steam power on trial in England and elsewhere - the Baltimore and Ohio - the railway as a public nuisance - Rainhill - the railway as a public benefactor

THE FIRST MAIN LINES (1830-70)

The great national networks conceived - British, American and Continental first principles - how railway economics, politics and technology depend on each other - better tracks or better trains?- pilots and bogies - impermanent ways - broad gauges -simple mountaineering - comfort and safely - collisions - corrupting influences - railways and revolution

COMPLETING THE NETWORKS

(1870-1900)

Narrow gauges - advanced mountaineering - tunnels - racks and gearing - the genesis of the branch-line problem - railway empire-building - villains, capped and hatted - stronger and speedier locomotives - wheels and valves - compounds -Mr Webb's compounds - Britain rests on her laurels - brakes and breakages - the commuter - paint and polish

THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY (1900-14)

Atlantics and Pacifies - Anatole Mallet - the first electrics -Dr Diesel - the beginnings of modern signalling - state ownership - when the going was good

Train Wrecks by Robert C. Reed -- A pictorial history of accidents on the main line. Dust Jacket 183 pages

Hard Cover with Dust Jacket, publisher Bonanza books Spine label Item #572 $15

In 1853 forty-six people were killed in a head-on collision between two trains of different lines running on the same track at Secaucus, N. J. and the early safety record of railroads came to a sickening halt . . . only to suffer another crash three months later involving a Rhode Island excursion train. American railroading was expanding with tentative fingers and having them run over.

Here is the absorbing story of wrecks on the right-of-way-wrecks which brought on "horror" articles, songs, and scare-sketches frightening travelers and even making for more accidents. One man, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who "hated railroads," after almost dying in a wreck, lived to dominate the scene and control the New York Central.

The railroads survived but grim echoes followed the first multiple casualties in the early railroad era and alarm bells were set off with dire warnings, which both curtailed and stimulated travel. In this definitive chronicle Robert Reed present~ a major historical work in the field of railroad accidents with a wealth of photographs and public prints of the day.

PREFACE

I feel particularly close to the subject of this book, having survived a frightening rail derailment in the wilds of West Virginia, in which my coach toppled off the rails, turned over, and slid on its side for several hundred feet. But personal experience is no prerequisite for reading this book. Mr. Reed has prepared a concise history of American railroad accidents, which is embellished with enough contemporary accounts to give the reader a feeling of the times. He has also assembled a remarkable collection of photographs and engravings to illustrate the more important types

of accidents.

The railway as the first means of mechanical transportation ushered in an era of fast and comparatively comfortable travel. At first the public seemed ready to accept the dangers inherent in this new technology, but eventually many of the difficulties and dangers were corrected by experience gained from a decade or two of trial and error. Some problems were never completely solved, of course, and train wrecks continued to plague the traveller despite the great engineering advancements made during the last half of the nineteenth century.

Although accidents began with the first railroad operations in this country, the early years were generally free from serious disasters. Light traffic and slow speeds account for this good early safety record. By mid-century, however, the enormous growth of the rail network and the corresponding growth in traffic together with the introduction of nighttime travel reduced the margin of safety considerably. Primitive signaling systems, laminated iron rails, and brittle cast iron wheels contributed their hazards to railroading in this country. But as always human error was the main cause of accidents. It might be suggested here that the public outcry against the dangers of rail travel took a vengeful personal note compared to the fatalistic acceptance of road and sea disasters that were somehow considered as natural calamities.

Late in the nineteenth century a number of important technical inventions combined to improve the safety of rail travel. Cheap steel brought sound rails, axles, and bridges. Automatic electric signals, double track, and the Westinghouse brake made their contributions. The fire hazard was banished by the adoption of electric lighting and steam heating about the turn of the century. All of these efforts were culminated by the adoption of the all steel passenger car in 1907. Today railroads are the safest mode of travel available to Americans.

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