The railroad passenger car : an illustrated history of the first hundred years with accounts by contemporary passengers / by August Mencken ; with a new introduction by Courtney B. Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mencken, August, 1889-1967.

Contributor:

Wilson, Courtney B.

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Railroad passenger cars--United States.

Railroad passenger cars.

United States.

Railroads--United States--Passenger traffic.

Railroads.

Physical Description:

xvii, 209 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, plans ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, MD : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Summary:

Railroad travel in the 19th century was often dangerous, dirty and uncomfortable, yet most of the inventions associated with a later era - from sleeping cars to air conditioning - had already made their appearance. This text explores the contraditions of this key period in railroad history. Drawing on a wide assortment of materials, including drawings from the US Patent Office, first-hand accounts of contemporary passengers, and his own experience as a young civil engineer active in railroad construction, author August Mencken presents the roster of cars in which 19th-century travellers rode and suffered. He presents the weird and ingenious inventions designed to increase both the passengers' comfort and the owners' revenue, alongside the passengers' own comments.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

0801865417

OCLC:

43936781