This work offers an account of where and why rail lines were built in various regions and at different times across the North American continent. It tells why the United States and Canada developed distinctive forms of rail technology surprisingly different from those of Britain, where railroading originated, and explains how these developments convey with particular clarity the continent's unique historical geography. The author takes issue with the commonly held belief that a single rail technology spread from Britain to ...
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This work offers an account of where and why rail lines were built in various regions and at different times across the North American continent. It tells why the United States and Canada developed distinctive forms of rail technology surprisingly different from those of Britain, where railroading originated, and explains how these developments convey with particular clarity the continent's unique historical geography. The author takes issue with the commonly held belief that a single rail technology spread from Britain to the rest of the world. Instead, he argues, two distinct traditions of railroad building and utilization developed simultaneously - beginning in Britain around 1825 and in the United States around 1830. One defining difference, Vance explains, was that the construction of rail lines in North America was contingent on a potential market rather than an existing one. But an even greater factor was geography. Because of the great length of lines and the considerable physical barriers to rail development, North American rail companies developed powerful locomotives instead of building the costly engineering works customary in England. Few American lines had extensive tunnels or bridges because the railroads followed the terrain as closely as possible. The North American system, Vance concludes, was a mirror image of the British model of weak engines and superb infrastructure. Vance also explores the railroad's singular role in defining North American space, as lines crossed so varied and undeveloped a landscape. By 1917 the North American railnet had transformed the continent and become the most comprehensive in the world - with a quarter of the world's trackage built in the United States alone, and a third in the US and Canada combined.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 8x1x11; The binding is tight, corners sharp. Text and images unmarked. A touch of soiling on the fore edge of the text block. The dust jacket shows some very light handling, in a mylar cover. 4to. 348pp.
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Seller's Description:
Good in good dust jacket. Ex-library. Usual library markings and stickers, box 196. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 384 p. Contains: Illustrations. Creating the North American Landscape (Hardcover). Audience: General/trade.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. (Railroads, History) A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
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Seller's Description:
B/w Photos, Maps, Etc. Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. Folio. First Edition, First Printing; 348 clean, unmarked pages...will not fit in priority envelope.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Near Fine jacket. First edition. Spine very lightly worn, else about fine in a very near fine dustwrapper with some light rubbing on the panels.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good+ in Very Good+ jacket. 4to--11 1/4" Tall. Top and bottom edges of covers are lightly faded or dust smudged, Surface of dust jacket has light smudging/scuffing. Black cloth spine and edges with gold lettering on spine, rose colored covers. 348 pages.
