Reveals the never-before told story of how and why passenger service declined in the years after World War II. Traces the decline and fall of the pre-Amtrak passenger train and how eleven rail systems fought off the inevitable.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Fred Frailey is by far one of the best writers in the railroad book business." —William D. Middleton, Jr., co-editor of The Encyclopedia of North American Railroads
(William D. Middleton, Jr., co-editor of The Encyclopedia of North American Railroads 2011)"Fred Frailey has done an excellent job. Of all the books about the 'last years' of rail travel, Frailey's by far the best." —Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., author of The New York, Westchester & Boston Railway
(Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., author of The New York, Westchester & Boston Railway 2011)"I consider this book to be the best documentation of the variety of ways the selected railroads dealt with the passenger train 'problem' in the decade leading up to the creation of Amtrak." —Bill Howes
(Bill Howes 2011)"In this thoroughly-researched volume, Fred Frailey features almost a dozen different railroads and the varying reaction of each company to the changes in transportation that threatened the passenger systems." —S Gaugian, Jan./Feb. 2011
(S Gaugian )"More than ever, this new edition of veteran railroad journalist Fred Frailey's absorbing chronicle of the last days of the pre-Amtrak, private-sector passenger train is an essential part of the literature of the varnish.... Throughout, Frailey weaves the story with excellent photos, route diagrams, and his trademark irresistible prose." —Classic Trains, Summer 2011
(Classic Trains )"This is an excellent and informative book covering a period of great change in railroading in America. If you are serious about railroad history, especially passenger trains, then Twilight of the Great Trains belongs in your library." —Railroad Model Craftsman, June, 2011
(Railroad Model Craftsman )"An outstanding history of the decline and eventual end of private-sector rail passenger service in the United States... Well illustrated with black and white and some color photographs, along with detailed diagrams illustrating routes and consists of major trains, this is a well-written look at the passenger rail industry of the 1960s." —Vinsonfarm.net, July, 2011
(Vinsonfarm.net )"A beautiful collection of images from some of the best rail enthusiast photographers in North America accompany the well written and lively text material. Frailey concludes with an insightful chapter on the events leading up to the creation of Amtrak. This volume is strictly first rate and comes highly recommended." —The Michigan Railfan, September - October 2011
(The Michigan Railfan ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.About the Author
Fred W. Frailey is author of Southern Pacific's Blue Streak Merchandise; Rolling Thunder; and Zephyrs, Chiefs & Other Orphans.
--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A detailed,sober look at the last days of the great trains,
By jmstone222@aol.com (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twilight of the Great Trains (Hardcover)
This is a book that could double as a coffee table book with its plentiful illustrations, but which is really a detailed account of the last 20 years of privately operated passenger trains in the United States. The author describes in depth the forces leading to the downturn of passenger service, contrasting those railroads which attempted to hasten the end (e.g. Southern Pacific, whivh sold tickets without commission for airline travel) and those which fought it (e.g. Santa Fe, which developed the doubledeck viewliner cars now widely used today). While the tone of the book is sometimes rather somber and even depressing, the quality of research is outstanding and it ends on a hopeful note, with the birth of Amtrak. This is a valuable book for the student or enthusiast of American rail passenger travel
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Great Trains...Once More,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Twilight of the Great Trains, Expanded Edition (Railroads Past and Present) (Hardcover)
Amazon just delivered the "Expanded Edition" (2010) of Fred Frailey's original book, "Twilight of the Great Trains," published in 1998 by Kalmbach. This new edition is printed by Indiana University Press. Both books cost the same: $50 (interesting...no price inflation over 12 years; you can't say that about much else today, and the new book is 20 pages bigger!). Amazon sold it to me for $33.In my opinion, the original book is the best treatment ever written about the final decade of passenger train operation in America. Fred's writing is detailed, comprehensive, and easy to understand. The passenger line diagrams of where the trains went, and their consists, is outstanding in understanding, even in the twilight of privately-operated passenger trains, just how fine tuned the system was. It's about as close to Trains editor David P Morgan's writing style as you'll find, and each chapter contains a wealth of knowledge written in a friendly "let me tell you about this" manner. The new edition keeps all the text of the older one, and has added one entirely new chapter focused on the Illinois Central: "America's Main Street." It comprises 17 pages, 10 pictures, and a superb chapter closing tabular entry by Steve Parsons of Sparta, Illinois, which documents by motive power and individual passenger car names/numbers 17 trains and 352 cars that passed through Carbondale, Illinois, on December 21, 1963. Fascinating insight into a way of traveling in terms of numbers of trains and traffic density that has all but disappeared from America outside the Northeast Corridor, particularly on the former IC routes. Ten different photos in the new book replace other images in the original version. One image, B&O's "Capitol Limited" leaving Baltimore in July 1965 has the identical caption as the 1998 version, but a different Herbert H. Harwood Jr. photograph. New to the book are a classic Richard Steinheimer view of the eastbound "City of San Francisco" in full cry leaving Oakland behind four PAs (Steinheimer always photographed PAs like they were steam locomotives, and it shows!) and a beautiful consist only shot of C&O's eastbound "George Washington" easing to a stop in the Alexandria, Virginia, depot in April 1968. The original book used glossy paper; the IU edition uses more of a matte finish paper. Its images are sometimes a bit darker than the Kalmbach print, but in many respects I found the "almost sepia tone" to be more pleasant visually. Kalmbach's was printed in Hong Kong; IU's in China. I'm glad I purchased the new edition. The fly leaf says the expanded edition "brings the story up to date." I don't think it does that, as the final chapter in both books is identical and there is no new forward in the 2010 edition. But the IC material is brand new, and I liked the printing of the 2010 version better than its 1998 predecessor. If you do not have the 1998 version, I can unequivocally recommend this book if you're interested in passenger trains on 12 great railroads in the last decade of their existence.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best "Passenger Trains in the '60's" books,
By
This review is from: Twilight of the Great Trains (Hardcover)
This is probably the best book I have ever read on the "downfall" of the post WWII passenger trains. I was particularly impressed with the coverage of the Southern and Seaboard Coast Line, since I "lived" the downfall. Factually correct in all respects.
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