Description
Book SynopsisThe Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company was a powerful Midwestern railroad that once traversed thirteen states but eventually succumbed to government regulation and a changing economy. Gregory Schneider chronicles the Rock Island's painful decline and reveals some of the problems within the American railroad industry.
Trade ReviewAn exciting story that is well researched and pleasingly written and that makes a major contribution to recent railroad history." - H. Roger Grant, author of
The Railroads: The Life Story of a Technology"Schneider's careful research shows that misguided regulation forced a troubled railroad out of business and made bankruptcy lawyers rich.
Rock Island Requiem reminds us how the all-powerful Interstate Commerce Commission turned the railroad industry into a basket case, much to the nation's loss." - Marc Levinson, author of
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger"In Schneider's tightly-organized, clear, and illuminating history, the Rock Island becomes a key ingredient in the reshaping of the economic partnership between government, industry, and finance at a crucial period in American history." - Edward Brunner, author of
Splendid Failure and former employee of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of Illustrations
- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Act One: Merger
- 1. A Mighty Fine Line
- 2. Merge or Die
- 3. Bleak House
- 4. The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
- 5. Too Big to Fail
- Act Two: Bankruptcy
- 6. Bankruptcy Blue(s)
- 7. Stayin' Alive
- 8. The Omen
- 9. Walking Dead Men
- 10. The Rock Is Dead
- Act Three: Liquidation
- 11. Too Late the Hero
- 12. Long Live the Rock
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
