Name: The Northeast Corridor
Brand: Todd DeFeo
SKU: 9781467105583
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

The Northeast Corridor

9781467105583

$24.99

The Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington is perhaps the single most significant stretch of railroad in the country, connecting dozens of cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. The line carries thousands of passengers daily on a mix of long-distance, regional, and commuter trains. Before it emerged as a vital stretch of railway, some of the earliest railroads in America created a foundation for the future corridor. They constructed a patchwork of lines that laid the groundwork for the Northeast Corridor of today, which later formed integral portions of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. The impact of this line is still felt in the many communities that developed along the tracks. While the Northeast Corridor continues to evolve, it remains as relevant as it was when the original developers conceived the rail link nearly two centuries ago.

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Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station

9781467103251

$24.99

Opened in 1913, Grand Central Terminal is a world-famous landmark building with a magnificent 48-foot-high, 1,500-ton statuary group on top of the main facade.

Designed by sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan, a 13-foot-wide Tiffany clock serves as the centerpiece.The figure above the clock is Mercury, with Hercules to the left and Minerva to the right.In the late 1990s, a historic restoration was performed on the terminal after which two cast-iron eagle statues were placed over entrances at Lexington Avenue and Forty-Second Street/Vanderbilt Avenue.These eagles were from the 1898 Grand Central Station building that was demolished in 1910 to make room for the construction of the new Grand Central Terminal structure.Penn Station, which opened in 1910, covered two full city blocks and had statuary groups, designed by sculptor Adolph Weinman, on all four sides of the building.After Penn Station was demolished in the mid-1960s, the statuary was dispersed throughout various locations, mainly in the Northeast.

Cover image for Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, isbn: 9781467103251

History of Maine Railroads, A

9781467145299

$21.99

Maine is populated with intriguing characters who set in motion a fascinating, compelling story of railroads and the unique communities they helped to build. One of the first states to build railroads and trolleys in the United States, Maine at one point had more than ninety communities with trolleys. Standard-gauge and “two-footers” crossed the state, including the St. Lawrence & Atlantic and the Bangor & Aroostook. From an international electric trolley to the attempted World War I dynamiting of a railroad bridge between the United States and Canada, the state is home to a rich rail heritage. Join Bill Kenny as he takes you on a journey from the first tracks made of wood to today’s high-speed Downeaster Amtrak train.

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Bucks County Trolleys

9781467105200

$24.99

Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was once served by 120 miles of trolley lines. During the decades spanning the 1890s to 1950s, a variety of trolley cars glided through Bucks County's towns and countryside, beginning with Langhorne's quaint open streetcars and culminating with streamlined interurbans streaking across open fields from Sellersville to Quakertown at 80 miles per hour. The trolleys were powered by electricity, with the line stretching north from Doylestown energized by renewable hydroelectric power generated by the Delaware Canal. Before automobiles and trucks were commonplace, and before roads were paved, the rapid, convenient electric trolley was the best mode of travel for both passengers and freight shipments. Although the trolleys have almost completely disappeared today, the photographs on these pages provide rare glimpses of a long-lost mode of travel and charming scenes of Bucks County's soon-to-be-altered landscapes.

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The National Road in Maryland

9781467103855

$23.99

The 200-year-old National Road is often referred to as "The Main Street of America." It was the nation's first federally funded highway and eventually passed through more than 25 cities and towns in Maryland. The 33-mile Maryland portion of the original road was linked with privately constructed turnpikes to extend it to 170 miles in the state. In its early days, the National Road thrived as it helped to open the American West to settlement and commerce. With the rise of railroad transportation in the 1850s, the turnpike became almost obsolete and deteriorated significantly. But the road was rescued in the early 1900s as the increasing popularity of automobile travel led to its revival. In recent years, some of the original structures along the road have been restored, including restaurants, inns, and other commercial establishments. Hostelries and eateries such as the Casselman Inn in Grantsville, the South Mountain Inn between Middletown and Boonsboro, and the Vintage restaurant in New Market draw on their links to the old National Road to attract travelers. Through exhibits and lectures, local civic groups and historical societies continue to memorialize and celebrate the rich history of America's main street--the National Road.

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Chesapeake Bay Shipwrecks

9781467128827

$24.99

North America's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, is fed by more than 150 major rivers and streams from parts of six states and the District of Columbia. Two hundred miles long, with a shoreline that includes more than 11,500 miles of tributaries, the bay has been a major economic lifeline since pre-Columbian times. As such, it is not surprising that the bay has seen its share of shipwrecks over the centuries-from small and large vessels foundering in storms, like the Levin J. Marvel, to naval and merchant ships of all sizes lost to collisions, fires, and wars, such as the US Coast Guard cutter Cuyahoga. The actual number of shipwrecks will never be known, but at least 3,000 in the bay and its tributaries have been documented-either in archives or newspapers or through underwater archaeology. While some wrecks saw great loss of life, others fortunately did not.

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Central Illinois Train Depots

9781467106054

$24.99

Through historic images, discover the story of Central Illinois’ most integral place in the mid-19th to 20th century: the train depot.

These buildings, home to wooden benches, telegraph equipment, and old train schedules hanging on the wall, were the gateway to the rest of the world. One could catch a train to almost anywhere in the United States back in the day, but during the postwar years of America, the railroad depot faded into history. Decreased train ridership due to the increasing popularity of air travel and automobiles led to thousands of these once-important buildings closing and later being burned or torn down. From larger union depots in cities like Bloomington and Peoria to smaller isolated stops, Central Illinois Train Depots tells the story of buildings that once played vital roles in the development of communities throughout Central Illinois.

Thomas Dyrek, a resident of Central Illinois, is a railroad and history buff who has spent years researching and documenting the area’s railroad history. Historic photographs from his collection as well as several other local railroad fans and historians were selected for this book to tell the story of the area’s railroad depots and their interesting history. Jack Keefe is a noted Central Illinois historian who has written many articles on the area’s railroad history and photographed many local railroad depots in the 1960s and 1970s.

Cover image for Central Illinois Train Depots, isbn: 9781467106054

New York City Subways

9780738510866

$24.99

New York City Subways traces the history of mass transportation in Manhattan and New York City's outer boroughs. Public transportation has long been vital to the city, with horse-drawn surface lines established by 1831 and elevated railroad lines constructed during the 1870s and 1880s. The concept of subways, railroads operating underground, originated in London in 1863 and was applied to New York City by 1904. This collection of vintage postcards brings you through the tunnels of the subway, onto the platforms of the long-gone els, and examines New York's renowned terminals, especially Grand Central and Penn Station.

New York City Subways book cover from the Postcard History Series showing a sepia toned interior of a subway station

Spokane International Railway

9781467102995

$24.99

The last half of the 19th century was typified by tycoons and shrewd railroad barons. A key figure in the development of the Spokane International Railway was James Jerome Hill, or simply Jim Hill. Spokane businessmen regarded Hill as a tyrant and considered his Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads unwelcome monopolies in Northeast Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. In 1905, Daniel Chase D.C. Corbin broke the Hill lines' stronghold by forming the Spokane International Railway as a 140-mile rail line from Spokane, Washington, to Eastport, Idaho, to interchange traffic from the Canadian border to the Pacific. Today, the route continues to be profitable under Union Pacific Railroad ownership with commodities shipped to Western markets via the Canadian Pacific Railway. This book shares the story of the Spokane International Railway and traces its international and local connections with every major railroad in the Pacific Northwest.

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Denver Airports

9781467102407

$23.99

On the cusp of the Great Depression, Denver mayor Benjamin Stapleton pushed for the development of the first city-operated airport. Denver Municipal Airport opened in 1929 with three hub airlines. While Stapleton would be honored to later have the airport named after him, by the mid-1980s, the name Stapleton had become synonymous with congestion, flight delays, and frequent closures when the snow moved in. To solve the problem, Denver mayor Federico Peña envisioned a massive new airport, but when Denver International Airport (DIA) opened in 1995, its three hub airlines had whittled away to just one, and critics warned of dire consequences. Yet the airport persevered, and today, with its iconic tent roof, six runways, and 53 square miles of land, it stands amongst the most beautiful and busiest airports in the world. This is the story of three airports and how they brought the city from cow town to boomtown.

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The Original Hell's Angels: 303rd Bombardment Group of WWII

9780738509105

$24.99

During World War II, there was a famed B-17 aircraft named Hell's Angels. The men who worked together to keep the plane flying over Hitler's occupied Europe, those of the U.S. Army Air Force's 303rd Bombardment Group, were the first in the 8th Air Force to complete twenty-five missions from their base in Molesworth, England. These men, or "Hell's Angels" as they became known, went on to complete forty missions without ever turning back to base for mechanical failure of the plane. In The Original Hell's Angels: 303rd Bombardment Group of World War II, you will take an exciting historical journey to meet these men and to experience the total forty-eight missions they flew without having a member wounded or killed before the plane and members of its crew were commissioned to return to America for a war-bond tour. Also, you will learn how the entire 303rd became known as Hell's Angels, the first heavy bombardment group to complete three hundred missions from American air force bases in England.

Cover image for The Original Hell's Angels: 303rd Bombardment Group of WWII, isbn: 9780738509105

Rhode Island Trolleys

9781467129749

$24.99

The history of the trolley in Rhode Island is a fascinating and intriguing subject. Rhode Island had one of the richest and most modern trolley systems in all of New England, with historic Providence as its nucleus. In 1865, a horsecar line began providing service from Market Square in Providence to Olneyville. The evolution from horse-drawn cars pulled along a track to the electrification of the system took many years. By 1895, almost all horse-drawn cars were replaced by a robust electric trolley network of routes reaching all parts of the state. By 1954, electrified trolleys were in decline and were being replaced with gasoline-powered buses. Little remains but some images of the once beloved trolley system and its importance to those who depended on it. Through these images, one can take the trolley from Westerly to Watch Hill or ride from Providence to Rocky Point on the Buttonwoods line and be brought back to a time full of wonderment worth remembering.

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Hidden Images of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk

9781467142434

$21.99

When the world learned that Wilbur and Orville Wright had performed man’s first powered, controlled flights at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903, that sleepy village became an international landmark. In addition to recording their first flight in one of the twentieth century’s most famous photographs, the Wrights took hundreds of other images of the windswept clime and the people they met on North Carolina’s coast. Historian Larry Tise uses their photographs to reveal people, places and events nowhere else recorded. Join Tise for a guided tour of the Wright brothers’ Outer Banks encampment between 1900 and 1911.

Cover image for Hidden Images of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, isbn: 9781467142434

Chesapeake Bay Deck Boats

9781467105194

$24.99

During the 1880s, Chesapeake Bay boatbuilders began constructing small wooden open boats, referred to as deadrise boats, out of planks with V-shaped bows. As boatbuilders created larger deadrise boats, decks were installed to provide more work and payload space; these deck boats also had a house/pilothouse near the stern and a mast closer to the bow of the boat. Deck boats were powered by gasoline engines but also utilized sails and wind. From the 1910s to the 1940s, auxiliary “steadying” sails were raised to help steady the boat when encountering adverse seas. More deck boats were built in the 1920s than in any other decade. Over the history of the boats, several thousand worked the bay in the freight business, were used to buy and plant oysters, worked in the bay’s pound net fishery, and dredged for crabs and oysters. Approximately 40 boats are left on the bay. A few still work the water. Some have found new life as recreational yachts, and others are education boats owned by museums and nonprofits. In 2004, boat owners formed the Chesapeake Bay Buyboat Association, which holds an annual rendezvous at different ports as a way to educate the public about this unique aspect of Chesapeake Bay maritime history.

Cover image for Chesapeake Bay Deck Boats, isbn: 9781467105194

Bull Trains to Deadwood

9781467144223

$23.99

Pandemonium wafted up out of Deadwood Gulch whenever bellowing, muddy oxen teams led wagons rattling into town. For a decade, thousands of bull trains hauled all that miners, settlers and ne'er-do-wells needed to survive in that isolated prairie oasis. The bulls, thousands of them in mile-long, meandering trains, had last known civilization in Fort Pierre, two hundred miles to the east. After weeks on the harsh prairie of the Sioux, the exhausted convoys appeared out of the prairie dust, each team of twenty or more oxen pulling sturdy, white-bonneted wagons filled with provisions. Author Chuck Cecil restores the glory of the near-forgotten yet indispensable symbols of the West that made life possible on the frontier's western fringe.

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Lost Towns of Mason County, Michigan

9781467142656

$21.99

More than a century ago, Mason County was a much different, harsher place. Arriving by foot and boat to find a dense wilderness, hardy pioneers carved out tiny settlements stretching right to the coast of Lake Michigan. When the lumber industry arrived in Michigan, the settlements grew to boomtowns and new towns formed. To serve the lumber industry, the railroad spread across the county, and immigrants and settlers flooded in to have their chance at the American Dream. But when the lumber ran out, the mills closed down. Jobs disappeared, and so did these towns. Out of the thirty-nine settlements, only two cities and six fading villages remain today. Join local author Sandi Lewis-Malburg as she uncovers the towns that time forgot.

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The Cheyenne Depot

9781467105316

$24.99

Twenty years after Cheyenne was founded by Union Pacific, the city had outgrown its three-room board-and-batten depot and began to lobby for a new, grander building that better represented the lustrous community.

Union Pacific agreed, and in 1886, construction began on the lavish three-story passenger depot and headquarters for the division.The Cheyenne Union Pacific Depot, designated a national historic landmark in 2006, endures proudly as a symbol of the Magic City and the lasting partnership between the city and the railroad that build it.It continues to serve as Cheyenne’s gathering place, a center of activism, and an enduring symbol of the city itself.While the state capitol just down the street stands as a symbol for the state of Wyoming, the Union Pacific Depot belongs to Cheyenne alone.

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Down East Schooners and Shipmasters

9781609495145

$21.99

Nothing is more iconic of Maine than the image of a majestic vessel, masts raised, gliding through the fog on the dark North Atlantic. From the early days of the search for a Northwest Passage to the quest for the mysterious and illusive Norumbega, the history of Mount Desert Island, Hancock, Bar Harbor and the rest of the Down East area has always traveled on schooners. Now, in the twenty-first century, these ships and their heritage are being preserved, and Mainers are sailing aboard them once again. In this collection, author Ingrid Grenon presents the most important and incredible stories from the decks of Down East's schooners, revealing how these remarkable vessels and Down East Maine are tied together.

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Rails around Westchester County

9781467102896

$24.99

Developed by a stagecoach maker in lower Manhattan, Westchester County's first railroad, the New York & Harlem Railroad, arrived in the 1840s. Since commuting by train allowed convenient short travel, its arrival accelerated growth and commerce throughout the county due to New York City's proximity. Within the same decade, the New Haven Railroad arrived in Westchester from New England, followed by the upstate-backed Hudson River Railroad in 1849. At its peak in 1930 and on the eve of the Great Depression, Westchester County maintained as many as eight rail lines and branches. Today, three of the county's original rail lines, the Harlem line, the New Haven line, and the Hudson line, are still in use and as busy as ever.

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The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad

9781467143462

$21.99

The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad is a perfect example of rail lines in the mid-nineteenth century. Chartered in 1852, the line ran from Paris, Tennessee, to the Kentucky state line and connected with two other routes to create a seamless link between Memphis and Louisville. It shortened the travel time between major economic cities, but its ability to make money didn’t match its founders’ aspirations. Its detractors ridiculed the route as “beginning in the woods and ending in a hollow tree.” Following the Civil War, the railroad revitalized the line, only to run out of money and largely fade away. Author Todd DeFeo recounts the fascinating story of a historic line.

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Wright Brothers National Memorial

9781467104265

$23.99

Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world’s first successful controlled, heavier-than-air powered flight on December 17, 1903, after four years of glider experiments and scientific study.

At what is now the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the brothers discovered and developed the fundamental principles of mechanical flight, setting in motion a series of events that allowed the first generation of flight to travel from Kitty Hawk to the moon in the lifetime of a human being. Located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and administered by the National Park Service, the Wright Brothers National Memorial features a full-scale reproduction of the 1903 flying machine, an engine block from the original 1903 flyer, and a precise reproduction of the wind tunnel that the Wrights used to conduct their early experiments. Today, the park’s mission is to commemorate the Wrights’ success and to interpret the continuing worldwide significance of their dream, vision, and achievement.

Douglas Stover served as cultural resource manager and historian at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial, and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and is now retired from the National Park Service. Darrell Collins worked with the National Park Service for almost 39 years, spending most of his time at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Collins is ranked as one of the top five historians in the world on early aviation and the Wright brothers.

Cover image for Wright Brothers National Memorial, isbn: 9781467104265

Tugboats on Puget Sound

9780738559728

$24.99

While square-rigged sailing ships, steamboats and ferries, and ever-larger cruise and cargo-carrying vessels have made their mark on Puget Sound's maritime history, no other vessels have captured the imagination of shore-bound seafarers like tugboats. Beginning in the 1850s when the first steam-powered tugboats arrived in the Sound from the East Coast via San Francisco, company owners and their crews competed fiercely for business, towing ships, log rafts, and barges. The magnetic attraction of powerful, tough tugs both large and small is unexplainable but enduring. This book, featuring about 200 rare historic images and carefully researched text, tells the colorful story of tug boating on Puget Sound.

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The New England Mariner Tradition

9781626192287

$19.99

For over three centuries, New Englanders have set sail in search of fortune and adventure--yet death lurked on every voyage in the form of storms, privateers, disease and human error. In hope of being spared by the sea, superstitious mariners practiced cautionary rituals. During the winter of 1779, the crew aboard the Family Trader offered up gin to appease the squalling storms of Neptune. In the 1800s, after nearly fifty shipwrecks on Georges Bank between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Nova Scotia, a wizard paced the coast of Marblehead, shouting orders out to sea to guide passing ships to safety. As early as 1705, courageous settlers erected watch houses and lighted beacons at Beavertail Point outside Jamestown, Rhode Island, to aid mariners caught in the swells of Narragansett Bay. Join Robert A. Geake as he explores the forgotten traditions among New England mariners and their lives on land and sea.

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Forgotten Chicago Airfields

9781626195547

$21.99

Nick Selig excavates the highways to the sky that have been covered up by urban sprawl or dissolved by neglect. More than a guide to landing strips that have had startling second lives as shopping malls or retirement homes, he uncovers the excitement of the early days of air travel, when a man might cling to his job as a lavatory truck driver for a closer peek at aviation. In this follow-up to Lost Airports of Chicago, discover how a tractor swap gave birth to Clow International Airport and revel in the daredevil exploits of puddle-jumper pilots over the wide-open spaces of Harlem Avenue.

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Connecticut River Shipbuilding

9781467144476

$21.99

Shipbuilding and shipping have always been key elements in the life of Essex. Since the seventeenth century, the men and women of the lower Connecticut River Valley sustained maritime traditions that spanned the globe in splendid wooden sailing vessels. Their accomplishments include building the first warship of the Connecticut navy and the world's first submarine. They also served as packet ship captains, navigators and skilled crew members who crossed the Atlantic. The Essex area was also home to dedicated craftsmen who produced some of the finest yachts ever built. Noted historians Wick Griswold and Ruth Major detail one village's important role in American maritime history.

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Plymouth Railroads

9781467104692

$24.99

According to a Detroit Free Press article of March 14, 1872, “The advent of the railroad has completely changed the course of life of the inhabitants of this village, which is the first of importance going west from Detroit.” The two railroads that came to Plymouth in the early 1870s changed the course of history for the once-sleepy town. Within 20 years, the railroads would be used to transport repeat orders for the booming air rifle industry to all corners of the United States. The rail lines made industry possible for a small burg outside of the metropolitan area of Detroit. Because of the distance to other cities, passenger transportation was always an important mission of railroads. These needs were met between 1899 and 1928 by the Detroit, Plymouth & Northville Railroad (Interurban). Later, enhanced passenger service ran on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) line between Detroit and Grand Rapids, stopping in Plymouth (1946–1971).

Cover image for Plymouth Railroads, isbn: 9781467104692

Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes

9781626191471

$21.99

Beginning in the mid-1800s, steamboats carried people between New York City and the Albany area on the Hudson River. Romantic images lull us into believing it was a quiet means of travel, but a crowded river, faulty equipment and the bravado of the captains resulted in at least one major catastrophe every year. Night boats collided and sank, carelessness caused boiler explosions, races put passengers at risk and fires would quickly swallow the wooden vessels. The grand Empire of Troy suffered many collisions. The Swallow broke in two on a rock, Reindeer's explosion took forty lives at once and the Oregon and C. Vanderbilt entered into an epic and dangerous race. Collected from eyewitness accounts, these are some of the most exciting and frightening stories of peril aboard steamboats on the Hudson River.

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Stories from the Maine Coast

9781609492496

$21.99

The history of Maine has always been inextricably tied to its coastline. The sea first brought settlers, and the rich fishing and shipbuilding industries sustained growth. The Atlantic also connected Mainers to the rest of the world. Goods and ideas traveled the maritime routes that originated in populous Portland and more isolated places like Carver's Harbor and Deer Isle. From Searsport's sailing masters to the burning of Royal Tar, author Harry Gratwick relates the adventures of the skippers and their crews. Read about the search for the Smithy Boat and other tales from Maine's shipping lanes.

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Train Crash at Crush, Texas

9781467139342

$24.99

On September 15, 1896, Crush boasted the highest population in Texas. Built near Waco, the town provided the staging ground for a publicity stunt ramming two trains together at top speed. Showrunner and Katy Railroad official William Crush thought he had planned for every contingency. But when elephant-sized chunks of steam locomotive began raining down into the packed stands, the extravaganza quickly unraveled into one of the Lone Star State’s most confounding tragedies. The soon-to-be famous Scott Joplin commemorated the debacle in “The Great Crush Collision March,” and entrepreneurs like “Head-On Joe” Connolly of Iowa continued the tradition of the staged locomotive duel for decades. But the stupefying incident still slipped into the back pages of Texas lore. In the first-ever book on the subject, writer-historian Mike Cox finally tells the full story of the Crash at Crush.

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Streetcars of Florida's First Coast

9781626197077

$23.99

In the late 1800s, a new method to power streetcars ushered Florida's First Coast cities into the modern era. Earlier travelers moved around town on hay burners, but after the very first electric-powered trolley cruised up Jacksonville's Main Street in 1893, railways cropped up throughout the region. When the new railroad terminal opened in 1919, it handled millions of passengers, becoming the hub of the streetcar system and the largest railroad station in the South. With almost sixty miles of track, the Jacksonville Traction Company was the largest streetcar system in Florida. Award-winning author and historian Robert W. Mann chronicles the story behind Florida's bygone streetcar epoch and the dramatic history of city builders, financiers, organized labor, civil rights, fire, fever, nabobs and railway men.

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Albuquerque International Sunport

9781467103510

$24.99

In 1928, two Santa Fe Railway employees became so intrigued with aviation that they took it upon themselves to lease a parcel of land and build an airport for Albuquerque.

Within one year, Charles Lindbergh chose Albuquerque to be a stop on the nation’s first commercial transcontinental air route between Los Angeles and New York.A north–south air route between Denver and El Paso with a stop in Albuquerque was soon established, making the city a crossroads for air service in the Southwest.Using funds from a Works Progress Administration grant, the city then constructed its own airfield, and the Albuquerque Municipal Airport opened in 1939.Since then, this airport—now the Albuquerque International Sunport—has been an air transportation hub for the state of New Mexico and for the Southwest United States, now handling more than five million passengers per year.The development of the Sunport as well as the route structure and aircraft of each and every commercial airline that has served Albuquerque is featured.

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Slave Labor on Virginia's Blue Ridge Railroad

9781467144902

$21.99

Between 1849 and 1859, Virginia raced to pierce the Blue Ridge Mountains by rail and reach the Ohio River. At least 300 enslaved people labored involuntarily toward that goal, along with 1,500 Irish immigrants. The state leased the labor of enslaved Virginians from local slaveholders, including four connected with nearby University of Virginia. Blue Ridge Tunnel and Blue Ridge Railroad historian Mary E. Lyons explored hundreds of primary documents to write the first nonfiction book about slave labor on a specific antebellum railroad. She shares hundreds of enslaved people's names, traces where they toiled along the line and describes their backbreaking--and sometimes fatal--tasks.

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Hand-Crafted Boats of Old Currituck

9781626196483

$21.99

Before sleek factory boats dominated Currituck Sound, locals piloted these waters in hulls made by hand. Some still can be seen today--beautiful works of art designed for the utility of travel, fishing, hunting, scouting and touring. They figure prominently in recollections of a bygone sportsman's paradise, and native storyteller Travis Morris offers this engaging collection based on anecdotes, interviews and detailed craft descriptions. It's an insider's history of Currituck's boating heritage featuring the famed Whalehead Club, an accidental run-in with the Environmental Protection Agency and a harrowing U.S. Coast Guard rescue.

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The Lumber Boom of Coastal South Carolina

9781626192782

$21.99

The virgin forests of longleaf pine, bald cypress and oak that covered much of the South Carolina Lowcountry presented seemingly limitless opportunity for lumbermen. Henry Buck of Maine moved to the South Carolina coast and began shipping lumber back to the Northeast for shipbuilding. He and his family are responsible for building the Henrietta, the largest wooden ship ever built in the Palmetto State. Buck was followed by lumber barons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who forever changed the landscape, clearing vast tracts to supply lumber to the Northeast. The devastating environmental legacy of this shipbuilding boom wasn't addressed until 1937, when the International Paper Company opened the largest single paper mill in the world in Georgetown and began replanting hundreds of thousands of acres of trees. Local historian Robert McAlister presents this epic story of the ebb and flow of coastal South Carolina's lumber industry.

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Tragedy at Southern Oregon Tunnel 13

9781626193468

$24.99

The DeAutremont brothers were looking for a big score. They brought dynamite, guns and a getaway car. On October 11, 1923, at the summit of the Siskiyou Mountains in southern Oregon, the three young men held up a passenger train, with disastrous consequences. Their rash actions resulted in the tragic deaths of three Southern Pacific trainmen and one U.S. Mail clerk, unleashing a public outcry that still rings through Oregon's history. In this riveting account, rail historian Scott Mangold draws on interviews, in-depth research and previously unpublished maps and photographs to document the events at Tunnel 13. Join Mangold as he chronicles the resulting four-year manhunt and eventual conviction of the DeAutremonts and provides insight into the lives derailed by the robbery's bitter legacy.

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Plano and the Interurban Railway

9780738571362

$24.99

Over a century ago, an industrial America was awakening, and a new transportation technology arrived on the north Texas prairie: electric interurbans. Plano's Interurban Railway depot was dedicated in July 1908, and electric interurban rail travel began with the creation of the Texas Traction Company. In 1917, three separate systems were connected by a single entrepreneur, J. F. Strickland. Throughout the 1920s, the Texas Electric Railway traveled in and out of Plano carrying riders, mail, and freight. The system was built to travel on existing streetcar tracks and often ran over private rights-of-way between cities. To promote interurban travel, the company created unique cars and special classes of service to appeal to every need. In the post-World War II era, however, the popularity of automobiles ended the important era of electric interurban travel.

Cover image for Plano and the Interurban Railway, isbn: 9780738571362

The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900

9781596298262

$19.99

Georgia historian and professor Jeffery C. Wells recounts the tragic tale of the Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900.

On June 23, 1900, the Southern Railroad Company's Engine ,7 and its passengers were greeted by a tremendous storm en route to Atlanta, Georgia. Stalled for some time in nearby McDonough, travelers grew impatient as rain pelted the roof and wind buffeted the cars. When finally given the go-ahead, their resulting joy was short-lived: the locomotive soon reached Camp Creek--and disaster.

After weeks of constant showers, the swollen creek had eroded the bridge supports. Under the train's weight, the bridge collapsed, and all but nine perished in either the fiery fall or watery depths.

Cover image for The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900, isbn: 9781596298262

Au Sable Point Lighthouse

9781626194830

$21.99

Skeleton ship frames surround Au Sable Point, marking a mile-long sandstone reef that reached out into Lake Superior waiting to grab any and all ships that passed by. In an effort to end this tragic loss of lives, the Au Sable Point Lighthouse was constructed to warn mariners of its hidden reef. At the heart of the famed Shipwreck Coast, Au Sable Point was a beacon of hope and safety. Mikel B. Classen charts the history of the lighthouse and the dangerous reef that waits six feet under the lake's surface and serves as the final resting place for so many sailors.

Cover image for Au Sable Point Lighthouse, isbn: 9781626194830

Along Manhasset Bay

9781467105026

$24.99

The waters of Manhasset Bay have long been an incubator for innovation and prosperity. While early baymen sought their livelihood through clam digging and fishing, a new industry by way of sand mining forever changed the bucolic hilltops that overlooked the bay. While the sand mining industry brought prosperity and notoriety, the industry's use of heavy machinery and hydraulic pumps leveled the peninsula, once known for its lush grazing pastures. During the early 1900s, areas such as Port Washington, Manhasset, and Great Neck flourished into commuter, suburban towns. Shifting from a farming to a suburban community, homes began to develop along Manhasset Bay. Urbanization brought new housing and businesses such as hotels and lavish restaurants. As an epicenter for aviation, the bay launched historic flights through a then-fledgling Pan American Airway Corporation on Manhasset Isle. Elite yacht clubs and grand estates dotted the shoreline, all catering to a growing population looking to the bay for its leisure and livelihood. The once-tranquil waters are now a hub for city vacationers, bustling commuters, and entrepreneurs.

Cover image for Along Manhasset Bay, isbn: 9781467105026

Rhode Island Disasters:

9781609491000

$21.99

How could a perfectly sound U.S. military fighter plane simply vanish from formation on a training flight? Why did the crew of a speeding train choose death over salvation? What really happened one foggy night in 1929 when the Coast Guard fired on a rumrunner in Narragansett Bay? Do guardian angels really exist? Can an airplane be jinxed? In his latest book, Jim Ignasher chronicles twenty-three long-forgotten tales of disaster in the Ocean State. His research includes declassified government reports, which allow for some stories to be told in their entirety for the first time. Collectively, these tales present heroes and villains, adventure and the human condition, strange happenings and unsolved mysteries.

Cover image for Rhode Island Disasters:, isbn: 9781609491000

North Beach Peninsula's IR&N

9780738570204

$24.99

For nearly 40 years, the quirky little narrow-gauge railroad, begun in 1889 by the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company, ran along the North Beach Peninsula in southwestern Washington. The train provided the primary transportation link from Ilwaco in the south to Nahcotta in the north, making peninsula communities accessible to one another and supplying a reliable route to outside markets for the area's major industries--oystering, logging, and cranberry farming. A tide table, not a timetable, governed the railroad's schedule, allowing coordination with the steamers that met the train at either end of its daily journeys. Old-timers of the area still speak affectionately of the train's unorthodox schedule and its informal and accommodating service. And they remember with fondness that the IR &N was widely known as the "Irregular, Ramblin' and Never-get-there Railroad."

Cover image for North Beach Peninsula's IR&N, isbn: 9780738570204

The Clinchfield No. 1

9781626195967

$21.99

As general manager for Erwin, Tennessee-based Clinchfield Railroad, Thomas D. Moore found an eighty-six-year-old vintage 4-6-0 ten-wheeler steam engine--the Clinchfield No. 1. Miraculously, the engine had escaped the cutter's torch when, in the mid-1950s, the railroad retired its steam fleet, shuttered passenger service and embraced the diesel era. Moore wanted the No. 1 fully restored and its long life on the rails--which had included being the first train to reach the victims of the 1889 Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood--celebrated as a goodwill ambassador for the railroad. The revived Clinchfield No. 1 led beloved excursion trains that visited seven state capitals, bringing joy to passengers from the Appalachian Mountains to Tampa, Florida. Join authors Mark A. Stevens and A.J. Alf Peoples on the journey of the real-life little engine that could.

Cover image for The Clinchfield No. 1, isbn: 9781626195967

Virginia by Stagecoach

9781467141017

$21.99

Travel in old Virginia was many things, but it was never dull. Stagecoaches were the primary means of transport, carrying mail as well as passengers. Trips that now take hours lasted for days. Coach trips could be dangerous, and all-hands situations arose quickly. A traveler might need to apply horsemanship, carpentry, leather-mending or the sheer brawny effort of shoving the coach out of a muddy ditch. Inns across the state catered to stagecoach riders and acted as community gathering places. Some still stand, like the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg and Michie Tavern in Charlottesville. Author Virginia Johnson relates tales of those wild early days on the road.

Cover image for Virginia by Stagecoach, isbn: 9781467141017

The Last of the Fairhaven Coasters

9781609499457

$21.99

From the early years of our nation, the coasting schooner served as the primary means of hauling the cargoes that fueled the country's growth. Several thousand of these coasters once existed, but by the late 1930s, relatively few remained. Among those still in operation was the coasting schooner Coral. Hailing from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, the Coral and her owner, Captain Claude S. Tucker, carried goods to ports throughout southern New England. The Coral hauled cargo into the twilight years of the coasting trade, long after new technologies began to replace it. Authors Robert Demanche, Donald F. Tucker and Caroline B. Tucker use first-person accounts of crew members and captains to trace the life of the Coral and Captain Tucker. Set sail to discover the story of the Coral through her glory days until the 1938 hurricane left her beyond repair, hastening the end of an era.