Description: The Reading Railroad History of a Coal Empire Vol. 1 - The 19th Century by James L. Holton This is an unopened BRAND NEW BOOK (not used). We handle all books with white gloves (no fingerprints on your book). A Railroad Bookmark is included with each book. Book is wrapped and mailed in a top-quality, durable container. We try hard to be the NUMBER 1 Railroad Book Dealer on ebay with 1,900+ titles. Order before 3:00 pm (ET) for same-day postal mailing. 356 Pages Nearly 300 photos Handsome Heavy Hardcover This book is about more than just one pioneer regional railroad. In telling the story of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, which found itself transformed from a modest local enterprise into the dominant carrier of anthracite just as that mineral became the essential fuel for the Industrial Revolution, the Reading history reflects the trials and triumphs that marked the young country's phenomenal industrial growth in the middle years of the 19th century. This book covers the painful beginning of the enterprise as the impoverished company wins dominance of the powerful Schuylkill Canal, through the years of spectacular expansion and the turbulent period of the 1870s when the company's management was embroiled in successive bitter and sometimes bloody battles with the militant Molly Maguire movement, newborn labor unions, the great Pennsylvania Railroad and other anthracite railroads, English investors and stubborn coal mine operators. In the final decades of the century, the Reading suffered three disastrous failures, but escaped absorption by the great trunk lines largely because of the protection of the greatest financier of the time, J. Pierpont Morgan. There were other titans of that era who also were deeply involved in the Reading's affairs, some as allies, others as would-be suitors, and some as enemies: Andrew Carnegie, William K. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, George B. Roberts, John D. Rockefeller, John Wannamaker and Chauncy Depew. The Reading also produced its own cast of colorful corporate characters, especially Frank B. Gowen and A.A. McLeod, presidents who were responsible for some of the company's most spectacular excesses, as well as notable achievements. The author, a product of a multi-generational Reading Railroad family, has drawn on a lifetime's abiding interest in the "comp'ny", as well as a half a century of experience as a nationally respected journalist to complete the first comprehensive history of the company. It is written in a vivid prose style that captures the drama and dynamics of the days when coal was king, and the Reading was its master. Throughout the book, the author pays particular attention to the men of the Reading, the brass hats as well as the hoggers and tallow pots, to give the story of the Reading a human dimension seldom found in railroad books. At the same time, the Reading's superb motive power fleet, largely the product of its own shops in Reading, Pennsylvania receives generous attention, befitting the acclaim its innovative ideas won in the railroad world. The colorful text is supplemented with 272 illustrations, plus 12 color plates, and 40 maps. Three of the color plates are paintings by the author. Hardbound w/ dust jacket, 356 pages, 8.5x11, 272 illustrations plus 12 color plates, 40 maps. Heavy book mails @ 5 lbs. Visit our ebay store to view other books of interest. We add new books regularly so check back often. We sell books: Railroad, Aviation, and Modeling books of the Golden Age Era. WE PACKAGE OUR BOOKS EXTREMELY WELL SO THE BOOK WILL NOT BE DAMAGED IN THE MAIL. No one packages books better than we do.
Price: 79.95 USD
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
End Time: 2024-01-06T19:52:55.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6.95 USD
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