The paths of the great American robber barons were paved with riches, and though ordinary citizens paid for them, they also profited. Les Standiford, author of the John Deal thrillers, tells how the man who turned Florida's swamps into the playgrounds of the rich performed the almost superhuman feat of building a railroad from the mainland to Key West at the turn of the century. An extraordinary man and partner of John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company, Flagler had the vision to build railroads to link this backward territory with the rest of America. Last Train to Paradise shows how he masterminded the nearly impossible engineering feat of spanning more than 100 miles of ocean and islands to reach the southernmost tip of the Eastern seaboard. Read more

In this account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage, Stephen E. Ambrose offers an historical successor to his universally acclaimed Undaunted Courage.Nothing Like It in the World is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies -- the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads -- against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. At its peak, the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, living off buffalo, deer, and antelope. In building a railroad, there is only one decisive spot -- the end of the track. Nothing like this great work had ever been seen in the world when the last spike, a golden one, was driven in Promontory Peak, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. Ambrose writes with power and eloquence about the brave men -- the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation. Read more

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Railways are one of the most important inventions in modern history. From the 1825 opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England, trains revolutionized both travel and trade and radically changed the way we experience the world.In the 24 richly illustrated lectures of How Railways Transformed the World, you’ll experience the amazing world and impact of railways, from the early 19th century to today’s futuristic trains, including extensive material on the pleasure and appeal of rail travel today. Professor Patrick N. Allitt of Emory University takes you through key developments of railways, such as:· The Beginnings: Steam and Iron. Encounter the inventers who first mounted steam engines on wheels; track evolving rail technology and the engineering marvels that drove the railway revolution.· A Radically Changing World. Observe how railways galvanized the Industrial Revolution, hugely increased mobility, made nationwide commerce possible, sparked organized labor, and pioneered tourism.· Railways in Politics, Empire, and War. Note 19th-century politicians’ strategic promotion of railways; the use of railroads in European colonial empires; and delve into the integral wartime use of railways.· Great Train Journeys of the World. Learn where you can enjoy the best of rail travel today: Visualize the dramatic terrain on South Africa’s Rovos Rail; glimpse superlative trains and scenery on Switzerland’s Jungfrau and Bernina railways, India’s Darjeeling railway, Colorado’s Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway, and many others.· Rail Travel in Culture and Art. Examine the use of railway settings in great novels; in art; in great films; and explore some of the most magnificent architecture of the modern world: great train stations.· Railways and the Future. Learn about advancing rail technology, today’s high-speed trains, and cutting-edge rail systems which envision trains traveling at up to 700 mph.In How Railways Transformed the World, you’ll enjoy the fascinating history and lore of an invention that forever changed human life.PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. Read more

The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean—an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. Many considered the project impossible, but build it they did. The railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for more than twenty-two years, heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” until its total destruction in 1935's deadly storm of the century. In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath. Read more

Is there someone in your life who is captivated by the world of trains?Whether they are an emerging railway enthusiast, a history buff, or a dedicated fan of locomotive marvels, this book is the ideal gift to satisfy their hunger for train insights.Within our comprehensive book of facts, your railway aficionado is poised to discover:400+ mind-bending, entertaining, and remarkable train facts & triviaUnbelievable facts covering legendary engineers, tales of extraordinary railroad feats, the most advanced technology in locomotion, and the quirkiest anecdotes from the world of trains.Featuring an immersive interior layout crafted to engage the reader's imagination.Authored by a passionate railway enthusiast with insights into the thrilling world of trains.20 diverse chapters spanning iconic locomotive models, historic railway journeys, technological advancements, famous engineers, and much more.Here are a few examples of facts from within our book...Did you know that the iconic steam locomotive, the Flying Scotsman, set a world record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive, covering 422 miles?Have you heard about the daring railway races and record-breaking speed runs that defined the golden age of steam locomotion?Can you identify the engineer who pioneered the concept of high-speed rail travel with the introduction of the Shinkansen bullet train in Japan?Regardless of whether the railway enthusiast in your life is a seasoned railroader or an aspiring enthusiast - anyone who delves into the pages of this book is sure to unearth intriguing new facts & obscure train trivia.So, if you've got a train-obsessed individual in your life...Scroll up and click "Add to Cart" now! Read more

This stunning book is a glorious celebration of all things train and track.Packed with stunning photography, Train catalogues the development of trains from early steam to diesel engines and electric locomotives, explores in detail iconic trains such as the Palace on Wheels and the Orient Express, and chronicles the social, political, and cultural backdrop against which railways were built the world over.Profiling the best loved railways and rail journeys of all time – from the Union-Pacific Railroad to the Trans-Siberian Railway –  and the pioneers of train and track – from "Father of the Railways" George Stephenson to engineering legend Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Métro-maestro Fulgence Bienvenüe – Train is perfect for anyone with an interest in trains, locomotives, and the history of the railway. Read more

In this New York Times bestseller, Stephen Ambrose brings to life the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad, from the men who financed it to the engineers and surveyors who risked their lives to the workers who signed on for the dangerous job. Nothing Like It in the World gives the account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad—the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The U.S. government pitted two companies—the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads—against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails, and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West or lugged across the country to the Plains. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle, and sweat, comes vibrantly to life. Read more

Looking for a sustainable and stress-free way to explore Europe? Hop on board the continent's railway network with this ultimate guide to train travel. Whether you want to take it slow on the scenic route or make the most of the newest high-speed services to get straight to your destination, Lonely Planet's experts show you how to plan your journey.Packed with detailed gatefold route maps and insider tips, we cover everything from how to piece together a long-distance trip to the must-see stops and best ways to book value-for-money tickets. As airlines cut back flights and airfares rise, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the increasing overnight services and flexible fares being offered. We also reveal the quirks of different operators and countries, such as luggage allowances, rules and regulations, and what facilities are on board. If you're looking for a more eco-friendly, convenient - and sometimes quicker - way to get from A to B as you travel throughout the continent, Lonely Planet's Guide to Train Travel in Europe will equip you to make the most of your time and budget.high-speed services in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Spainscenic local routes in key countries including the UK and Scandinavia sleeper and long-distance services across the continentAbout Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, eBooks, and more. Read more

"These trains are so much more than a way to get from A to B" - Australian TravellerThe definitive guide to the world's most remarkable train journeys presenting 60 memorable travel experiences by rail.Each of the featured itineraries provides an illustrated route map, breathtaking images, and a handy infographic showing key stops and moments. This is the ultimate book of train travel inspiration for anyone wishing to embark on a sustainable expedition and delight in the people and places encountered along the way.Inside Amazing Train Journeys:Fully revised and updated 2nd edition featuring60 of the best train journeys on the planet from classic long-haul trips, to little-known gems, and those which have achieved Unesco World Heritage status10 incredible NEW adventures by rail including: Ferrocarril de Sóller (Spain); Linha do Douro (Portugal); The Flåmsbana (Norway); The Kusttram (Belgium); Havana to Santiago de Cuba (Cuba); Mombasa to Nairobi (Kenya); Kalka to Shimla (India); Tokaido & Sanyo Shinkansen (Japan); Mr Henderson’s Railway (Spain); Tangier to Marrkesh (Morocco)Stunning photography, route map, and journey tracker infographics so you know where to sit for the best views; when to spot iconic landmarks; and train stops to disembark at to extend the funExpert insights and fascinating background information that bring each train experience to lifePractical information on how to book; plus distance, duration, and departure details to get you from A to BFeatures a foreword by Mark Smith: The Man in Seat 61Contents include: The Blue Train (South Africa); The Tazara Railway (Tanzania & Zambia); The Sunset Limited (USA); The Rocky Mountaineer (Canada); Perurail's Lake Titicaca Railway (Peru); The Copper Canyon Railway (Mexico); The Darjeeling Toy Train (India); The Post Road Train (Japan); The Reunification Express (Vietnam); The Glacier Express (Switzerland); The East Coast Main Line (England & Scotland); Munich to Venice on the Brenner Railway (Germany, Austria & Italy); Cannes to Menton (France); The Ghan (Australia); The Northern Explorer (New Zealand)Snake your way through mountain peaks, along mesmerising coastlines, or past patchwork fields with this exquisite guide that makes the perfect gift for railway enthusiasts or anyone looking for inspiration on how to travel the world responsibly. Read more

In this New York Times bestseller, Stephen Ambrose brings to life the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad, from the men who financed it to the engineers and surveyors who risked their lives to the workers who signed on for the dangerous job. Nothing Like It in the World gives the account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad—the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The U.S. government pitted two companies—the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads—against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails, and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West or lugged across the country to the Plains. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle, and sweat, comes vibrantly to life. Read more

From renowned writer and travel journalist Gary Krist comes the never-before-told story of one of the worst rail disasters in US history in which two trains full of people, trapped high in the Cascade Mountains, are hit by a devastating avalanche.In February 1910, a monstrous blizzard centered on Washington State hit the Northwest, breaking records. The world stopped - but nowhere was the danger more terrifying than near a tiny town called Wellington, perched high in the Cascade Mountains, where a desperate situation evolved minute by minute: two trainloads of cold, hungry passengers and their crews found themselves marooned without escape, their railcars gradually being buried in the rising drifts. For days, an army of the Great Northern Railroad's most dedicated men - led by the line's legendarily courageous superintendent, James O'Neill - worked round-the-clock to rescue the trains. But the storm was unrelenting, and to the passenger's great anxiety, the railcars - their only shelter - were parked precariously on the edge of a steep ravine. As the days passed, food and coal supplies dwindled. Panic and rage set in as snow accumulated deeper and deeper on the cliffs overhanging the trains. Finally, just when escape seemed possible, the unthinkable occurred: the earth shifted and a colossal avalanche tumbled from the high pinnacles, sweeping the trains and their sleeping passengers over the steep slope and down the mountainside. Centered on the astonishing spectacle of our nation's deadliest avalanche, The White Cascade is the masterfully told story of a supremely dramatic and never-before-documented American tragedy. An adventure saga filled with colorful and engaging history, this is epic narrative storytelling at its finest. Read more

The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean—an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. Many considered the project impossible, but build it they did. The railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for more than twenty-two years, heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” until its total destruction in 1935's deadly storm of the century. In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath. Read more

Examines over one hundred seventy current and former railroad systems in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, featuring maps as well as information on history, mergers, and predecessor lines. Read more

All Aboard for a Journey Through Railroad History!In "Train Stories for Curious Kids," you'll:Discover the thrilling tales of pioneer engineers who revolutionized transportation and connected the world.Uncover the secrets of legendary locomotives that powered industries and sparked imaginations.Explore the mysteries that have puzzled generations, from the ghost trains of folklore to the curious disappearance of historic railcars.Learn about the courageous heroes who braved the tracks to keep trains running and pave the way for modern travel.Ignite your curiosity and inspire your imagination with captivating true stories that will leave you eager to learn more.Ready to Ride the Rails?Join us on an unforgettable journey through the world of trains! Get your copy of "Train Stories for Curious Kids" today and let your imagination chug along the tracks. Read more

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From Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik, the epic tale of the clash for supremacy between America’s railroad titans In 1869, when the final spike was driven into the transcontinental railroad, few were prepared for its seismic aftershocks. Once a hodgepodge of short, squabbling lines, America’s railways soon exploded into a titanic industry helmed by a pageant of speculators, crooks, and visionaries. The vicious competition between empire builders such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, J. P. Morgan, and E. H. Harriman sparked stock market frenzies, panics, and crashes; provoked strikes that upended the relationship between management and labor; transformed the nation’s geography; and culminated in a ferocious two-man battle that shook the nation’s financial markets to their foundations and produced dramatic, lasting changes in the interplay of business and government.   Spanning four decades and featuring some of the most iconic figures of the Gilded Age, Iron Empires reveals how the robber barons drove the country into the twentieth century—and almost sent it off the rails. Read more

“[A] wealth of vignettes and more than 100 black-and-white illustrations . . . Does a fine job of humanizing the iron horse” (The Wall Street Journal).   In this social history of the impact of railroads on American life, H. Roger Grant concentrates on the railroad’s “golden age,” from 1830 to 1930. He explores four fundamental topics—trains and travel, train stations, railroads and community life, and the legacy of railroading in America—illustrating each with carefully chosen period illustrations.   Grant recalls the lasting memories left by train travel, both of luxurious Pullman cars and the grit and grind of coal-powered locals. He discusses the important role railroads played for towns and cities across America, not only for the access they provided to distant places and distant markets but also for the depots that were a focus of community life, and reviews the lasting heritage of the railroads in our culture today. This is “an engaging book of train stories” from one of railroading’s finest historians (Choice).   “Highly recommended to train buffs and others in love with early railroading.” —Library Journal   “With plenty of detail, Grant brings a bygone era back to life, addressing everything from social and commercial appeal, racial and gender issues, safety concerns, and leaps in technology . . . A work that can appeal to both casual and hardcore enthusiasts.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Read more

The international bestselling author records his many insights and adventures traversing the world by train in these 3 classic travel memoirs.  The Great Railway Bazaar In 1973, Paul Theroux embarked on his now-legendary journey from the United Kingdom through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Asia's fabled trains—the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express—are the stars of a journey that takes Theroux on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian.  The Old Patagonia Express Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Paul Theroux takes a grand railway adventure first across the United States and then south through Mexico, Central America, and across the Andes until he winds up on the meandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine.  Ghost Train to the Eastern Star Thirty years after the epic journey chronicled in The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux retraces his 25,000-mile journey to witness and experience a landscape drastically transformed by the intervening decades. The Soviet Union has collapsed and China has risen; India booms while Burma smothers under dictatorship; Vietnam flourishes in the aftermath of the havoc America was unleashing on it the last time Theroux passed through. Read more

Learn the model-making process from start to finish, including the best ways to choose scale, wheels, motors, and track layout. Get advice for building steam engines, locomotives, and passenger cars, and discover fresh ideas and inspiration for your own LEGO train designs.Inside you'll find:-A historical tour of LEGO trains -Step-by-step building instructions for models of the German Inter-City Express (ICE), the Swiss “Crocodile,” and a vintage passenger car -Tips for controlling your trains with transformers, receivers, and motors -Advice on advanced building tech­niques like SNOT (studs not on top), micro­striping, creating textures, and making offset connections -Case studies of the design process -Ways to use older LEGO pieces in modern designsFor ages 10+ Read more