The Chicago & Alton Railroad - by Gene Glendinning (Hardcover)
About this item
Highlights
- The first railroad to connect the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes, the Chicago & Alton Railroad played a key role in the economic development of the Midwest.
- About the Author: Gene V. Glendinning is past editor of the GM&OHS News, the official publication of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Historical Society, and has published numerous articles on railroad history.
- 283 Pages
- Transportation, Railroads
Description
About the Book
The first railroad to connect the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes, the Chicago & Alton Railroad played a key role in the economic development of the Midwest. From humble beginnings in 1847 as transport for farm produce, it grew to link three key midwestern cities--Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City--and set the standard for efficient service and luxurious passenger travel.
Such famous personages as Abraham Lincoln, Marshall Field, Timothy Blackstone, and Samuel Insull were associated with the Chicago & Alton. Lincoln had been among the first to buy stock in the company, and the Chicago & Alton carried his funeral train on the last leg of its journey to Springfield, Illinois. The introduction of George Pullman's first sleeping and dining cars enhanced the Chicago & Alton's reputation for elegant style and comfort. The company initiated a number of innovations in rail travel, including the installation of the first steel railroad bridge. It was also the first to bring streamliners and diesels into the highly competitive Chicago-St. Louis corridor. Events that shaped America, from the Civil War to World War II, impacted the Chicago & Alton. During the tumultuous years of its business expansion, frequent shifts of power threatened to destroy the railroad. Edward Harriman, for example, rebuilt and reequipped the Chicago & Alton only to lose it in one of his few mistakes. The federal government later seized control during one of the Chicago & Alton's weakest periods, but relinquished it after a devastating coal strike. Even criminal manipulations of the railroad's stock and bonds by a New york financier played a role in the company's turbulent history. Illustrated with eighty photographs, many of them never before published, The Chicago & Alton Railroad is the first complete history of one of America's most famous small railroads.Book Synopsis
The first railroad to connect the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes, the Chicago & Alton Railroad played a key role in the economic development of the Midwest. From humble beginnings in 1847 as transport for farm produce, it grew to link three key midwestern cities--Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City--and set the standard for efficient service and luxurious passenger travel.
Such famous personages as Abraham Lincoln, Marshall Field, Timothy Blackstone, and Samuel Insull were associated with the Chicago & Alton. Lincoln had been among the first to buy stock in the company, and the Chicago & Alton carried his funeral train on the last leg of its journey to Springfield, Illinois.
The introduction of George Pullman's first sleeping and dining cars enhanced the Chicago & Alton's reputation for elegant style and comfort. The company initiated a number of innovations in rail travel, including the installation of the first steel railroad bridge. It was also the first to bring streamliners and diesels into the highly competitive Chicago-St. Louis corridor.
Events that shaped America, from the Civil War to World War II, impacted the Chicago & Alton. During the tumultuous years of its business expansion, frequent shifts of power threatened to destroy the railroad. Edward Harriman, for example, rebuilt and reequipped the Chicago & Alton only to lose it in one of his few mistakes. The federal government later seized control during one of the Chicago & Alton's weakest periods, but relinquished it after a devastating coal strike. Even criminal manipulations of the railroad's stock and bonds by a New york financier played a role in the company's turbulent history.
Illustrated with eighty photographs, many of them never before published, The Chicago & Alton Railroad is the first complete history of one of America's most famous small railroads.
Review Quotes
"An excellent history of a short but vital Midwest railroad."--Mark Reutter, editor of Railroad History
About the Author
Gene V. Glendinning is past editor of the GM&OHS News, the official publication of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Historical Society, and has published numerous articles on railroad history.
