Trains Across the Continent
North American Railroad History
Second Edition
Rudolph Daniels
A wonderfully readable, illustrated guide to the history of railroads in America.
"Trains Across the Continent is everything you need to know about railroad history―both educational and enjoyable reading." ―Dean Bruce, President, Railroad Education Training Association
"Trains Across the Continent should be in every public school library in the country. Quickly and concisely Dr. Daniels leads you through the maze of building, merging, and a myriad of other details necessary to understand modern railroading. Steam, diesel, passenger, and freight are all carefully explained on a national scale rather than railroad specific, making this book even more of a useful tool for the student." ―Donald D. Snoddy, Historian, Union Pacific Railroad
"Trains Across the Continent" is a truly comprehensive account of how railroads helped shape, and are continuing to shape, the history of North America." ―Jonathan B. Hanna, Historian, Canadian Pacific Railway
"Nothing but positive comments about it from faculty and students alike. . . . The industry bible in this area." ―Phillip B. Cypret, Sacramento City College
"Professor Daniels displays both passion and scholarship in this nicely arranged buffet of subjects both large and minute, important and interesting, serious and fun, to present a delicious overview of railroad history." ―James D. Porterfield, author of Dining by Rail
"Daniels manages to make brief mention of all major points of North American railroad history . . . from the workings of a steam locomotive to the dawn of the railroad mega-merger, nearly every conceivable aspect of railroading receives attention. . . . This volume is a must for those wishing to broaden or hone their knowledge of the birth and evolution of the railroad industry in North America." ―Rail News
Updated maps, new appendices, a greatly expanded bibliography, detailed discussions of the recent attempted mergers of the CN and BNSF, of the diesel locomotive, and of railroad electrification further round out the usefulness of Trains Across the Continent as the complete and concise introduction to North American railroads.
Rudolph Daniels is Chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department at Western Iowa Tech Community College, where he teaches history and Railroad Operations Technology.
Rudolph Daniels is Assistant Dean and Department Chair of Railroad Operations Technology at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City. He was born in Trenton, N.J. and studied the oboe with some of the world's leading performers. He graduated from St. Francis College, Loretto, PA. He went on to Penn State University studying Russian/Soviet foreign policy, history, and Russian language and literature. He received his Ph.D. in 1971, and later developed his dissertation into a book: V. N. Tatishchev: Guardian of the Petrine Revolution. Daniels taught Russian studies at various colleges in Dubuque, Iowa before moving to W. Germany in 1974, where he taught English and French. Over the course of 22 years, he became Dept. Chair of History and Poli Sci and also taught woodwinds and music lit. classes. In 1996, he became Dept. Chair of the Behavioral Sciences at WITCC, where he began teaching courses in Railroad Operations Technology. Trains across the Continent was developed as a textbook for his classes at WITCC.
