Railroad History on American Postage Stamps [Paperback]

Anthony J. Bianculli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004 | ISBN-10: 1931626200 | ISBN-13: 978-1931626200

Covering a span of almost two centuries, Railroad History on American Postage Stamps tells the stories behind the many United States postage stamps that portray railroad history. Almost 200 stamps depicting railroading highlights including land grants, the completion of the transcontinental railroad, railroad heroes (from John Henry to Casey Jones), and equipment from famous locomotives to workaday freight cars are described in fascinating vignettes. In addition, a major chapter covers railroad issues, labor and the law. There is even a section identifying many famous individuals with surprising railroad associations including Irving Berlin, Nelly Bly, John Wayne, Samuel Clemens, Emily Dickinson, Will Rogers and Cary Grant. Extensively researched by the author over a period of more than two years, the book treats the reader to a treasure trove of little-known yet interesting facts that capture the reader’s attention from the first page to last. Includes an extensive bibliography and Scott Number index.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anthony J. Bianculli is a mechanical engineer with a lifelong interest in railroading. Over a twenty-five year period, he conducted research concerning the history and technical development of railroads. His findings, especially the facts that misinformation abounded about pioneer railroads and that many early railroad features were not well-explained in literature, led to his writing the book Trains and Technology, a four volume exposition of the working of American railroads during the 19th century. His current work, Railroad History on American Postage Stamps, melds another interest, philately, with railroads. In the course of researching this topic, Mr. Bianculli discovered that, although many individuals are interested in stamps with railroad subjects and there is, in fact, an organization that serves these specialists, there are no books that provide a thorough listing of all of the American stamps that relate to the subject. More importantly the railroad history represented by these various stamps has never been organized into a comprehensive account. This book attempts to correct those omissions.

Mr. Bianculli is active in the current effort to establish a New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Museum. He is a Life Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the National Railway Historical Society, the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, The Society for Industrial Archeology, and the Society for the History of Technology. He is a past mayor of his community and presently serves as a trustee of his local library.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Astragal Press (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931626200
• ISBN-13: 978-1931626200
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,179,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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