Railroaded - by Fred S Naiden (Hardcover)

About the Book

One of the few subway workers to earn a PhD from Harvard, historian Fred Naiden gives readers a first-hand look at the lives of New York City subway employees in the 1980s. He recounts their labor activism, shares stories about his craziest on-the-job experiences, and answers all your questions about the subway system.

Book Synopsis

The New York City subway system is one of the largest and oldest in the world, still carrying traces of the transport systems that came before it. Some of its elevated tracks are remnants of steam railroads, and some tunnels run where canoes served as ferries. For passengers, riding the subway can feel like stepping into another world, dark and dank and sometimes dangerous. Now just imagine what it's like to work there every day.

One of the few subway workers who went on to earn a PhD from Harvard, historian Fred Naiden gives readers a firsthand look at what it was like to work as a subway porter, a motorman, and a locomotive engineer during the 1980s. He recounts the labor activism of his fellow MTA employees, who advocated for better conditions, higher pay, and less institutional racism. He also shares wild stories about the riders he encountered, from a homeless former realtor who worked as a mob frontman to an angry passenger who pulled a gun on him while the train was stuck at a stop signal. Above all, Railroaded will answer many questions about the New York subway system, including how it could be improved.

Review Quotes

"A vivid, ground-level, often funny view of what it was like to work on the New York City subway during the 1980s, when underfunding and neglect led to startling levels of decay and chaos, and what it was like to live in the pre-gentrified city. Along the way, motorman-turned-historian Fred Naiden provides a rich, iconoclastic history of New York mass transit."

"A gripping, often heartbreaking account of transit workers working in the tunnels under New York City, moving millions of souls each day. Fred Naiden worked on the New York subways as a young man, and Railroaded is a memoir of the deplorable conditions he and thousands of others worked in, combined with a sardonic history of the crazy quilt of subway lines that never quite became a system."

About the Author

FRED S. NAIDEN, formerly New York City Transit Authority Employee #4046, is now professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His many books include Ancient Supplication (2006), Smoke Signals for the Gods (2012), and Soldier, Priest, and God: A Life of Alexander the Great (2018).