Nickel Plate Road. See New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad
Nitroglycerine, 142, 167
Nixon, Richard, 341–342, 348
Norfolk Southern Railroad, 349
Norfolk Western Railroad, 347
Norris, Frank, 253
North by Northwest (film), 266
North Coast Limited, 302
North Platte, Nebraska, 143
North River Steamboat, 6–7
North Shore Railroad, 286
Northern Central Railroad, 98, 249
Northern Pacific Railroad, 169, 176–177, 178, 233, 235, 250, 269, 302
Northwestern Pacific Railroad, 175
Obama, Barack, 20, 352, 353
Office blocks, xxvi, 218
Ogden, William, 69, 70
Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad, 248
Ogdensburg Republican, 193
Ohio Central Traction Company, 283–284
Oil crises, 343–344, 347
Old Ironsides, 43
Olmsted, Frederick Law, 93–94
Olney, Richard, 236–237
Opening ceremonies, 57–58
Orange & Alexandria Railroad, 101–102, 113
Oregon Central Railroad, 177
Oregon Trail, 129
Orient Express, 313
Oriental Limited, 301–302
Pacific City Lines, 330–331
Pacific Electric Network, 282
Pacific Railroad Acts, 128–129, 136–137, 148
Palmyra & Jacksonburgh Railroad, 49
Panic of 1837, 31, 48, 51–52
Panic of 1857, 68
Panic of 1873, 124, 163, 165, 233, 253
Panic of 1893, 178, 235, 246, 249, 255, 259
Panic of 1903, 273
Papin, Denis, 5
Parmalee, Franklin, 72
Passenger services, 262–268, 306, 307, 323
competition with freight, 350
decline of, 229–239, 300, 324, 345
See also under Railway travel
Passengers
behavior, 79
black, 45, 73, 208, 212–213, 302
Chinese, 208
rich, 36, 84
Patrons of Husbandry, 253
Peale, Franklin, 42
Pearl Harbor, 306
Pearson & Hudson River Railroad, 52
Peninsula Campaign, 106, 116
Penn Central Railroad, 329–330, 337–338, 341, 347, 348
Pennsylvania Limited, 264–265, 266–267, 269
Pennsylvania Railroad, xiv (map), 8–10, 65–66, 68–70, 70–71, 168, 189, 333
and aviation, 302–303
and Civil War, 90, 97–98, 105, 117, 121
commuter services, 277–278
electrification, 286, 297, 299, 309
financial difficulties and merger, 286, 308, 335–338
and First World War, 290, 292
Frankford Junction accident, 323–324
freight services, 213–214
and Hudson tunnels, 285–286, 287
and interurban railways, 283–284
labor relations, 233–234, 238, 261
and Narragansett Pier Railroad, 210
prestige services, 264, 265, 266–267, 301, 302–303, 315
and Ripley plan, 296–297
workforce, 229–230
Pen-y-Darren ironworks, 14
Pere Marquette Railway, 299
Perelman, Alfred, 337
Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railroad, 283
Peto, Samuel, 39
Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad, 43, 52
Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, 97–98, 189
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, 235–236, 248, 299–300
Picnic Train disaster, 195–196
Pierce, Franklin, 193
Pinkerton’s, 203–204, 235
Pioneer, The, 183–184
Pioneer Zephyr, 311
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, 168
Platelayers’ carts, 110
Plum Creek ambush, 149–150
Plumb, Glenn, 295
Plumbe, John, 125–128
Pony Express, 154
Poor, Henry, 89, 191
Populist movement, 236, 257, 273
Porters, 186–187, 229, 265, 301
Postal services, 161, 302–303, 332–333
Powder River Basin, 358
Powderly, Terence, 234
Powell, J. C., 165
Power, Tyrone, 81
Prestige services. See under Railway Travel
Progressives, 273
Promontory Point, xxiii, 151, 154, 155, 156
Prospect & Coney Island Railroad, 223
Prostitutes, 155, 172
Public relations, 50, 169–170
Pullman, George, xxiv, 83, 181–190, 237
Pullman attendants, 186–187
Pullman cars, 181–190, 206, 263–264, 267, 271, 312–313. See also Carriages
Pullman News, 185–186
Pullman strike, 186, 235–238, 262
Rail network, US (2010), xvi–xvii (map)
Rail World, 354
Railroad Bureau, 100, 103
Railroad Safety Appliance Act, 199–200
Railroad Temperance Society, 206
“Railroad wars,” xxii, 94, 107, 173–174
Railroads
1850, xv (map)
1880, x–xi (map)
1916, xii–xiii (map)
Rails
iron-covered, 3, 45–46
L-shaped, 3–4
steel, 196
toothed, 15
T-shaped, 45–46
Railway barons, 238–252, 255–256, 290, 298, 355
Railway charters, 11, 12, 17, 19–20, 23, 26, 29, 48
Railway companies
and antitrust legislation, 274, 290–291
consolidation, 68, 123–124, 165, 167, 200–201, 238, 248, 256, 259–262, 293–299, 347, 358
labor relations, 231–238 (see also Labor unions)
management structures, 229–232
monopoly powers, 30, 65, 205, 216, 238, 255, 259, 271, 273, 294, 316
public hostility, 119, 204–206, 216, 238–239, 243, 245, 250–257, 271, 290, 295, 355–356
and regulation, 256–257, 272–274
Railway company agents, 169, 172
Railway construction, 25–50
costs, 46–48
labor, 38–40
promotion, 33–36, 37, 38
See also Transcontinental railroads
Railway manias, 23, 85, 124, 163
Railway travel
collective travel, 222–223
connections, 84
experiences, 73–85, 161–162, 167–168, 208–213
luxury and prestige services, 181–190, 263–268, 300–303, 308, 309–315, 324, 325, 327–328, 329 (see also Passenger services)
nighttime, 81, 83
and segregation, 208, 212–213
Sunday travel, 83
Railways
achievements and impact, 216–230
British investment, 124
deregulation, 347–350
early opposition, 27, 63, 86–87, 92
government support, 28–34, 51, 52, 85, 129, 153, 166, 173, 233, 341–345, 356
and immigration, 169–173
interwar boom, 307–308
nationalization, 291–292
postwar expansion, 121–124, 159–165
regulation, 192–193, 256–257, 295–296, 297–298, 311, 347
route mileages, 68, 72, 85, 90, 123–124, 159, 174–175, 215, 259, 261, 288–289, 306, 307, 308, 318–319, 349–350
vertical integration, 48
Western expansion, 168–180
Rainhill Trials, 16, 17
Ramsey, Joseph, 247
Raquette Lake Railroad, 224
Raton Pass, 173
Rea, Samuel, 290
Redfield, William,
53, 125
Refrigerated wagons, 179, 255, 333
Reno brothers’ gang, 202, 203
Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad, 23
Reutter, Mark, 62
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, 106
Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, 103
Rifkind, Simon, 325
Ripley, William Z., 296
River transportation, 6
Roads, 10–14
“corduroy roads,” 10
and government funding, 12, 332, 343, 356
interstate highways, 304–306, 308, 321, 332
plank roads, 69, 70
safety, 318
“shunpikes,” 12
turnpikes, 8, 11–13, 26–28, 29, 31, 48, 217, 303–304
Robber gangs, 202–206
Robinson, John and Lester, 132
Rockefeller, John D., 225
Rocket, 16
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 308, 322
Roosevelt, Theodore, 272
Rosecrans, William, 113
Roulette, 4
Royal Blue, 264–265
Royal Gorge, 173–174
“Runners,” 84
Russia, 171–172, 294, 357
Russian Revolution, 294
Ruth, Babe, 227
Sacramento Valley Railroad, 128, 129, 132
Safety, 48, 80, 190–200, 251, 256, 318, 323, 351, 354
Saint, Eva Marie, 266
Salamanca, 15
San Francisco Examiner, 237
Sand Creek massacre, 148
Sandboxes, 45
Santa Fe Railroad. See Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Saudi Arabia, 357
Saunders, Richard, Jr., 253, 290, 294–295, 324, 325, 329, 345–346
Saunders, Stuart, 336–337
Savage, Charles, 143
Savannah, Albany & Gulf Railroad, 92–93
Schenectady & Troy Railroad, 67
Schmidt, Carl, 171
Scott, Thomas, 98, 234
Seashore, 263
Sebastopol Avenue, Battle of, 283
Second World War, 306, 317–318, 321–324
Seven Days’ Battle, 116
Seymour, Silas, 137–138, 140
Sherman, William, 114–115, 116, 118, 138, 147, 149, 150, 176–177
“Sherman hairpin,” 115
Sherman Summit, 147
Sherwood, Lorenzo, 31
Shin Hollow, 56
Signaling, 47–48, 49, 270, 354
Skyscrapers, xxvi, 217
Slave labor. See under Labor
Sleeping cars, 4, 46, 181–188, 242. See also Carriages
Snow sheds, 144
Sodus Bay & Southern Railroad, 248–249
Some Like It Hot (film), 184
Sorrel, Gilbert Moxley, 113
South America, 155, 226
South Carolina Railroad, 22
Southern Pacific Railroad, 175–176, 205, 250, 253, 323, 348
Southern Railroad, 248, 346
Southern railways
and Civil War, 90–94, 99–105, 111–113, 115, 122–123
and convict labor, 164–165
fares, 93, 161
gauge change, 201
postwar reconstruction, 160–165
and segregation, 208, 212–213
Sparkcatchers, 43
Spielberg, Steven, 331
Sports, 226–227
St. Lawrence Seaway, 333
St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, 177
Stagecoaches, 15–16, 27, 44, 62, 73, 84, 154
Staggers Act, 348, 349–350
Stanford, Leland, 131–133, 141, 146, 152–153, 155, 156
Starrucca Viaduct, 57
Station agents, 78
Station clocks, xxv, 218–219
Station restaurants, 209
Station wagons, 211
Stations, 218–219, 220–221
depots, 76–78
Grand Central Station, 245, 286–287, 358
Penn Station, 260, 285, 358
Union Station, 219, 260, 344
union stations, xxiv, 200–201, 260–261, 344
Steam road carriages, 13
Steam shovels, 38
Steamboats and steamships, 5–7, 10, 13, 240
Stephenson, George, 15–16, 59, 74
Stephenson, Robert, 41
Stevens, John, 17, 45
Stevens, Robert, 45–46
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 207–209
“Stock watering,” 239, 246, 257
Stockton & Darlington Railway, 15–16, 18, 48–49
Stourbridge Lion, 17–18, 21
Stover, John, 103, 117, 133, 178, 237–238, 251–252, 255, 259, 319
Streamlining, 313, 314
Streetcars. See Tramways
Strickland, William, 18
Strikes, xxv, 231–238, 251, 262. See also Labor unions
Strobridge, James Harvey, 141, 144–146, 151–152
Strobridge, Mrs. James Harvey, 145
Subways, 278–279, 285
Summit Tunnel, 142, 144, 147
Sunset Limited, 345
Super Chief, 313, 328
Surrey Iron Railway, 4
Sweden, 171
Switzerland, 286
Sylphorama of America, 169
Taft, William Howard, 272
Tallahassee Railroad, 33
Tanfield Way, 3
Taylor, George Rogers, 6, 9–10, 11, 47
Telegraph, 49, 63–65, 78, 80, 145–146, 195–196, 217
Texas, US annexation of, 89–90
Texas & Pacific Railroad, 234
Thomas, Philip E., 18
Thompson, William, 149–150
Thomson, John Edgar, 65–66
Ticketing, 78–79, 267–268
Time, standardization of, xxiv, 219–220
Timetables, 78, 181, 255
Todd, W. Parsons, 277
Tom Thumb, 21–22, 41
Tourism, 223–226
Track bed, 45–46
Track gauge, 14, 59–62, 85, 92, 201, 256. See also Loading gauges
Train, George, 136
Train speeds, 80, 84, 264–265, 311
Trains magazine, 320, 344
Tramways (streetcars), 274–275, 278–279, 286, 330–332, 353–354
Transcontinental Air Transport, 302–303
Transcontinental railroads, 38, 54, 57, 86, 117, 175–180, 201, 215
and Central Pacific Railroad, 128, 130, 131–158
construction of first Transcontinental, xxiii, 124–158 (see also Railway construction)
and corruption, 128, 132–138, 144, 147–148, 150, 155–158
government funding, 129, 153
meeting of railways, 150–152
and Native Americans, 127, 128–129, 147–150
opposition to, 95, 96
purpose of, 154–155
and Union Pacific Railroad, 124, 128, 133–158, 175
workforce, 139–149, 150, 151–152
See also Railway construction
Trans-Siberian Railway, xxiii, 176
Travel passes, 254, 272
Trespassers, 191–192, 317
Trevithick, Richard, 14–15
Trollope, Anthony, 96
Trucking industry, 296, 303, 304–305, 317
Tunnels, 47, 79, 139, 142, 144, 165–167
and electrification, 286–287, 310
Hudson River, 285–286, 287
Turner, George Edgar, 107
Turner’s Station, 64, 65
Tuscarora & Cold Run Tunnel & Railroad, 49
Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur Railroad, 23
Twain, Mark, 159
Tweed, “Boss,” 243
Twentieth Century Limited, 265–266, 301, 302, 309
Twin Cities Hiawatha, 312, 328
Twin Cities Zephyr, 312
Union News Company, 74
Union Pacific Railroad, 207, 224, 234, 244, 288, 348, 349–350
construction methods, 139
coop
eration with Burlington Northern, 353, 358
and corruption, 128, 135–138, 156–158, 178
death toll, 142–143
diesel services, 312
financial difficulties and consolidation, 235, 250, 259
gas-engine trials, 310
and Hell on Wheels towns, 143
and meeting of railways, 57, 150–152
and Native Americans, 147
and Transcontinental railroad, 124, 128, 133–158, 175
workforce, 139–141, 150–152
United States Military Railroads, 98, 100, 114, 118, 122
United States Railroad Administration, 291
USS Michigan, 57
Utica & Schenectady Railroad, 67
Uys, Errol Lincoln, 317
Van Sweringen brothers, 298–299
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, xxv, 68, 81, 182, 224, 233, 238, 240–245
Vanderbilt, William Henry, 245, 248
Verne, Jules, 136
Villard, Henry, 177
Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, 162
Virginia Central Railroad, 32, 115
Virginian Railroad, 347
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, 257, 289, 308
Wagner, Webster, 182
Wagon trains, 146, 154
Wagonways, 2–3, 4, 15, 18
Wall Street Crash, 298–299, 300, 307, 308
Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad, 210
Walters, Mrs., 191
Ward, James A., 36, 44
Washington, DC
and Civil War, 97–99
Union Station, 219, 260, 344
Washington, George, 220
Watlington, Charles, 174
Watt, James, 5–6, 14
Wayne, John, 111
Webb, Walter Seward, 224
Weld, Charles, 193
West River Railroad, 210
West Side and Yonkers Patent
Railway, 278
Western & Atlantic Railroad, xxii, 32, 103, 109, 114, 115, 195
Western Emigrant, 125
Western Maryland Railroad, 108, 347
Western Pacific Railroad, 288, 335
Western Railroad, 30, 34, 49, 73
Western Union, 65, 218
Westinghouse, George, 198, 199, 200
Westinghouse company, 286
Wheels, flanged, 3–4
White, Richard, 155, 215
White Train, 265
Whitney, Asa, 126–128, 153–154
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (film), 331
Wilder, Billy, 184
Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad, 49
Wilson, Harold, 326
Wilson, Woodrow, 289, 291, 304
Windsor, Duke of, 187
Work trains, 139, 145–146
World’s fairs, 221
Yellowstone Park, 269
Yonah, The, 110
Young, Brigham, 148, 152
Yulee, David L., 103
Yutang, Lin, 324
“Zulu trains,” 208
Christian Wolmar is a writer, broadcaster, and railway and transport expert. He has written for major British newspapers for many years and has contributed to many other publications, including the New York Times and Newsday. His most recent books are Blood, Iron, and Gold and Engines of War.