Southern railroad man : conductor N.J. Bell's recollections of the Civil War era / edited by James A. Ward.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bell, N. J. (Nimrod J.), 1830-approximately 1899.

Contributor:

Ward, James Arthur, 1941-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Railroad travel.

History.

Railroads.

Confederate States of America--Description and travel.

Confederate States of America.

Southern States--Description and travel.

Southern States.

Bell, N. J. (Nimrod J.), 1830-approximately 1899.

Bell, N. J.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate.

United States.

Railroads--Southern States--History--19th century.

Railroad travel--Southern States--History--19th century.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- Confederate.

Physical Description:

xxv, 194 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press, 1994.

Summary:

Nimrod J. Bell worked as a conductor for several southern railroads in their formative period, from 1857 to 1894. After his career was cut short by an accident, he wrote his memoirs detailing his first glimpses of some of the earliest trains in the South and his thirty-eight years as a conductor. Published in Atlanta in 1896, his book offers a first-hand account of working conditions on the railroads, operational procedures, wartime railroading, and passenger travel during Reconstruction. Full of stories about colorful characters who rode the trains - from Confederate troops to train robbers - Southern Railroad Man is a rich source on late nineteenth-century southern culture, tradition, and travel. Perhaps because Bell worked as a conductor, some of his most interesting observations pertain to the people he encountered. Unintentionally, he also provides insights into race relations in a time of transition as he recalls his interactions with blacks as slaves, laborers, and patrons. Written in the language of the ordinary worker, Bell's narrative is a veritable treasure trove of information on southern railroads and their operations. Among the roads he traveled were several in the Carolinas, the Western & Atlantic, the East Tennessee & Georgia, the Alabama & Chattanooga, the South & North Alabama, and the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia. Many of the railroads for which Bell worked were eventually incorporated into the Southern Railway. A rare account of early railroading, Southern Railroad Man is edited by James A. Ward, who provides notes and an introduction that places Bell's story in historical context. This unique book will appeal to anyone interested in railroad history, thehistory of industrialization, the Civil War, and the culture of the South in the late nineteenth century.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [183]-189) and index.

ISBN:

0875801846

OCLC:

28844018