Description
Book SynopsisThe author looks at how a combination of creatively structured aid from the public sector and talented private management brought new life to railroads. By 2002, American railroads carried five times the tonnage they hauled in their former heyday, with one-tenth of the number of employees.
Trade Review"Magisterial in scope and precise in detail, Main Lines makes a significant contribution to modern railroad history and to the history of American business."
-Mark Reutter, Editor, Railroad History
"A superb source of recent US railroad history and a must read for anyone with an interest in the re-birth of the North American railroad industry."—Michigan Railfan
"An extraordinarily detailed and insightful look at the complex and profound reconfiguration of American railroads... this work is likely to remain the standard account of how the modern rail system came into being for some time to come."—Indiana Magazine of History
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. Journey to the Point of No Return
2. The Northeastern Railroad Crisis, 1970–1973
3. The Coming of Conrail, 1973–1976
4. The Revolution Begins, 1976–1980
5. Death, Life, and the Staggers Act, 1975–1981
6. The Revolution is Consolidated, 1981–1991
7. The Era of the Super Seven, 1980–1995: East
8. The Era of the Super Seven, 1980–1995: West
9. The Era of the Super Seven, 1980–1995: Midcontinent
10. New Colossi of the West, 1990–1997
11. North America's Final Six, 1996–2000
12. Into the Twenty-First Century
Notes
Works Cited
Index
