Coal Trains: The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States [Hardcover]

Brian Solomon (Author), Patrick Yough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2009

From the first, U.S. railroads have carried coal from mines to docks, steel mills, and power plants across the country. In this authoritative book spanning the whole of that history, from the mid-nineteenth century to present, noted rail author Brian Solomon explores the railroads and hardware that have transported the fossil fuels that made America work. Brilliant period and contemporary photographs convey the drama of the enterprise: the very long—and very heavy—trains powering up mountain grades and thundering across barren prairies. 

 

At sites from the eastern and western U.S., past and present, readers see giant double-headed Norfolk and Western steam locomotives moving Appalachian coal in Virginia; modern CSX diesels dragging unit coal trains over the well-groomed former Chesapeake & Ohio main line; BNSF’s SD70MACs with more than 100 hoppers in tow; Rio Grande locomotives snaking through the Rocky Mountains; and coal trains working full-throttle up Colorado’s Tennessee Pass, cresting the Continental Divide at 10,000 feet above sea level. Taking up topics ranging from the colorful but now-defunct “anthracite roads” of eastern Pennsylvania to today’s AC-traction diesels that work Wyoming’s thriving Powder River Basin, Solomon reveals how for 150 years the unique demands of coal—and America’s demand for coal—have prompted new railroad technologies.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

In this authoritative history of the link between coal and railroading in the U.S., noted rail author Brian Solomon explores the railroads and hardware that have transported the coal that made America work. Brilliant period and contemporary photographs convey the drama of the enterprise: the very long—and very heavy—trains powering up mountain grades and thundering across barren prairies. Taking up topics ranging from the colorful but now-defunct “anthracite roads” of eastern Pennsylvania to today’s AC-traction diesels working Wyoming, Solomon reveals how for 150 years the unique demands of coal have driven railroad technology.

From the Inside Flap

For more than a century and a half, coal mining and railroading have been irrevocably linked in the United States. In this illustrated history, Brian Solomon and Patrick Yough examine the railroads and hardware that have brought coal from mine to mill, pier, and power plant.

            From the first modest coal trains in the East to today’s high-horsepower unit-train operations in the West, Solomon and Yough present a concise history of American coal haulers illustrated with dozens of period and contemporary photographs depicting dozens of railroads and the drama of very long—and very heavy—trains powering up mountain grades and charging across barren prairies.

While exploring topics ranging from the colorful but now defunct anthracite roads of eastern Pennsylvania to today’s AC-traction diesels that work Wyoming’s thriving Powder River Basin, Solomon and Yough show how, for 150 years, the unique demands of coal—and America’s energy consumption—have prompted new railroad technologies.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press; First edition (July 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760333599
• ISBN-13: 978-0760333594
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #602,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Solomon is one of today's most accomplished railway historians. He has authored more than twenty-five books about railroads and motive power, and his writing and photography have been featured in the world's top railfan publications, including Trains, Railway Age, Passenger Train Journal, and RailNews. He divides his time between Massachusetts and Ireland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coal trains, its history!, February 4, 2010

By 

Mark "Trainmaster Mark" (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coal Trains: The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States (Hardcover)

Hi!
This book was really interesting reading if you are interested in how the railroad industry is very close connected to the coal mines and how the rolling equipment has been developing through the decades in the states and threw out the world to become of what it is today, a very effective transportation hauler of coal in today's modern railroad industry.

This writer Brian Salomon has done this book also very well. This book is also very well written I must say. I couldn't find one single misspellings in it too.
The book shows in a very thorough way how it all started in the early ~1850: s with very simple cars and low axle loads to haul coal in them.
The book also explains very well how the cars and equipment for this kind of hauling have been developed through the decades to what it is today, this with lots of good illustrative pictures and with just as good comments to these pictures.
It also explains very well why this kind of hauling has been the big industry as it has become of today, in our modern railroad industry, not only in the states, but also all over the world.
The only thing that I am really missing in this book too, is a summary chapter where you can see all these different variants of cars through the years are put up in some kind of diagram or table.
This, so it will be more easy to see the small changes of development as the evolution has been going forward of this kind of equipment.

But if I summary this book overall I can really recommend it for those who want to get some really thorough information of how the history of coal traffic industry has been developed through the decades to get there of what it is today.
It is very "nutritious" of information.
It also brings up how this kind of haulage will continue to grow as our society and cities will continue to grow.
I was also very pleased with this book I must say, so I can really recommend this one too.

Yours sincerely Mark from Sweden.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great review of coal trains in the US, June 7, 2010

By 

Gene Bowker (Aiken, SC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Coal Trains: The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States (Hardcover)

Railfanning in the Southeast United States I see a lot of coal trains on the CSX and NS railroads. I have learned a few of the reporting marks, but I never really knew much about the history of coal carrying on the American Railroads.

Over Memorial Day, I visited the Elkhorn Inn in Langraff, West Virginia which is located on the NS Pocahontas Subdivision in the Appalachian Coal Belt. While up there for the weekend, I had the chance to read Coal Trains- The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States by Brian Solomon and Patrick Yough, published by Voyageur Press in 2009.

The book covers the entire United States and starts back in the mid-1800s with the first coal carriers in Pennsylvania such as the Philadelphia and Reading (P&R) carried coal via canals and inclined planes to eastern seaboard cities.

The next major section of the book covers Appalachian Coal, starting with the historical carriers such as the C&O and the N&W and moving to the modern operations of the NS and CSX. These sections were great being up in the West Virginia mountains as it helped explain the pattern of the rail lines in the region and also the history behind them.

It was fascinating to see where many of the trains I've seen down in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida come from.

The book continues west to Illinois. I never realized how much coal this region used to produce. I knew that Carbondale was the center of the coal industry there. Some coal is still mined in the region and shipped, but due to the high-sulfur content the mines are silent compared to the mid-20th Century.

The next section on the Powder River Basin was fascinating to me as it describes the center of coal mining in the United States and did a great job of explaining how the railroads were developed into the region. These were not railroads built during the 1800's but most of the infrastructure dates from the late 20th century. The BNSF and UP originate many of the coal trains from mines which can load out trains in an hour. After reading the book, I'm ready to make a trip out to Wyoming to see the operations in person.

Coal Trains- The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States provides a great overview of the Coal Industry and modern Coal trains. If you want details about any of the regions mentioned there are additional books which cover them in greater detail.

Coal plays an important role in the current and future energy picture for the United States. This book is a good primer about it.