Getting There: The Epic Struggle Between Road and Rail in the American Century [Hardcover]

Stephen B. Goddard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1994

"A readable and concise overview of how U.S. transportation came to its
present pass. . . . Goddard is at his best when recounting the complex
and interesting history of what has come to be called 'the highway
lobby.'. . . An excellent book for the general reader with an interest
in getting around."—Larry Fish, Philadelphia Inquirer

"This is a riveting story: of mighty railroads hamstrung almost
overnight by government bureaucrats; of road interests led by General
Motors Corp. conspiring in city after city to destroy efficient trolley
systems . . . and of freeways that are far from free."—Bill Laitner,
Detroit Free Press

"The combination of forces and fates that turned America into a giant
parking lot from sea to shining sea is the subject of Stephen B.
Goddard's lively pop history. . . . As Mr. Goddard ably points out,
road-building and the creation of car-dependent suburbs have become ends
in themselves."—James Howard Kunstler, Wall Street Journal

"The strength of Goddard's book is that he understands the complexities
of manipulating public opinion to influence legislatures."—David
Young, Chicago Tribune

"[Goddard's] book is a deft and easily read history of how
transportation has shaped the nation and its economy, and ultimately,
how a federation of truck and car interests drastically tilted national
policies. . . . For many reasons this is an exceptionally important
work."—Jim Dwyer, New York Newsday

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Goddard tells the story of how the struggle between the highwaymen and the railroaders ultimately changed the course of modern transportation systems and the U.S. economy. He describes how the automakers, engineers, contractors, and government officials dethroned the once-powerful railroad barons, pushing them from their position at the apex of the American industrial empire, and how the dawning of the global empire taught these bitter antagonists to either cooperate or perish. His account is a human story of opportunity, greed, high ideals, and raw ambition in which the automobile is painted as the "bad guy" and the railroad as the better system both for the public and for the economy. This engaging tale ends with a discussion of the implications of the railway-highway struggle on future transportation systems. For large public and academic libraries.
Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, R.I.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

No one nowadays salutes the name of Tom MacDonald, but this road construction czar and federal bureaucrat single-mindedly changed the landscape of the U.S. By the time his 34 years of promoting the automobile ended in 1953, the iron horse was a nag limping into the boneyard, and the designs for U.S. autobahns by MacDonald's Bureau of Public Roads were ready to cut through and wall off cities and interstates, begun in 1956, were just around the corner. The result, traffic jams and railroads living on subsidized life support, is an unsung revolution whose concealed obviousness in the everyday is akin to looking for the nose on one's face: it's there but hard to see. So the triumph of the car calls for an enthusiastic scholar and bard who also sings the dirge for lost railroads. That Goddard is. In the process of disinterring MacDonald and others, he reveals his zest for and immersion in his subject and writes with anecdotal richness about the politics and wastrel economics surrounding the car--and he could have written a second volume on its cultural drawbacks. This will grab the policy-interested reader; the masses stuck in lonely gridlock can listen if it ever becomes an audiobook. Gilbert Taylor

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465026397
• ISBN-13: 978-0465026395
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Did We Get Into This Mess, March 21, 2001

By 

JOHN A. PRITCHARD (SANTA FE, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting There: The Epic Struggle between Road and Rail in the American Century (Chicago Lectures in Mathematics) (Paperback)

Of all of the books that I have read pertaining to railroad history, "Getting There" is head and shoulders above all the rest. The author provides a well written and generally balanced account of the competition between rail and highway transportation in the United States from about the 1920's forward.

By 1920, the powerful presence of the robber barons of the late 19th century had disappeared, and the railroads were in a state of disarray and disintegration as a result of the heavy demands being placed upon the system, and the benign dictatorship of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) who took over and ran the railroads during WWI.

In addition, the railroads were required to operate under onerous and restrictive rules and regulations imposed by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) as a result of the excesses of the 19th century. And the railroads had little support from the public because of these past sins.

Into this scenario arose highway competition, by and large developed with public funds. And without controls such as imposed on the railroads. In contrast trucks and busses were allowed to operate unfettered. So a trucking company could operate freely between two given points and change rates and service at will. While a railroad operating between those same two points would have to go through the cumbersome ICC process.

Author Goddard provides a concise and well documented picture of this competition between rail and highway, a competition which continues to this day.

I highly recommed this book to anyone who is interested in a serious look at our overall transportation system. But a word of advice: Check the condition of your pacemaker first. This book is not recommended for someone with high blood pressure. I guarantee that you will come away absolutely furious at the foibles of our national transportation policy.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How highways, with massive gov't subsidies, beat railroads, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Getting There: The Epic Struggle between Road and Rail in the American Century (Chicago Lectures in Mathematics) (Paperback)

A well-written readable, and mostly objective picture of how highways, through massive government investment through the construction of the interstate highway system, steadily became the dominant mode of transportation in the US. The author concludes that, with deregulation and improvements to Amtrak, railroads do have a promising future despite the historic imbalance.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but not balanced, December 3, 2007

By 

P. Chrzanowski (Chicago IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting There: The Epic Struggle between Road and Rail in the American Century (Chicago Lectures in Mathematics) (Paperback)

The author knows a lot about railroads- about their history, their operation, and their economics. And it is this knowledge which makes this book a good (and informative) read.

But, it is not at all balanced- rather, it is all too obvious that the author really likes railroads and really doesn't much care for motor transport.

And, therefore, he seems to "cherry pick" his facts- not that any are false, just that they're incomplete. For example, he notes that Amtrack's subsidy is tiny compared with highway subsidies- which is true, but, he neglects to note that Amtrack's subsidy *per passenger-mile* is enormously greater. Nor is he about to point out that NYC's extensive subway system actually uses more energy (again, per passenger-mile) than a commuter's car.

Nor does he identify the real reason why, outside of a few very congested areas, the public consistently chooses to drive rather use public transportation- and, no, it's not the government subsidies. It's because transit (local or inter-city, present-day or "golden age") is almost always a 3-seat solution: there's a branch line to the mainline, the mainline, and then another branch line to your destination. And therefore it takes too long, and is too inconvenient, and (dare I say it?)becomes too costly and inefficient. Without the ability to offer a door-to-door ride, those who can will almost always choose to drive.

But, the author does know lots about trains- and that (if you can ignore the anti-highway bias) still makes this book a worthwile read.