From the first, U.S. railroads have carried coal from mines to docks, steel mills, and power plants across the country. In this authoritative book spanning the whole of that history, from the mid-nineteenth century to present, noted rail author Brian Solomon explores the railroads and hardware that have transported the fossil fuels that made America work. Brilliant period and contemporary photographs convey the drama of the enterprise: the very long—and very heavy—trains powering up mountain grades and thundering across barren prairies. At sites from the eastern and western U.S., past and present, readers see giant double-headed Norfolk and Western steam locomotives moving Appalachian coal in Virginia; modern CSX diesels dragging unit coal trains over the well-groomed former Chesapeake & Ohio main line; BNSF’s SD70MACs with more than 100 hoppers in tow; Rio Grande locomotives snaking through the Rocky Mountains; and coal trains working full-throttle up Colorado’s Tennessee Pass, cresting the Continental Divide at 10,000 feet above sea level. Taking up topics ranging from the colorful but now-defunct “anthracite roads” of eastern Pennsylvania to today’s AC-traction diesels that work Wyoming’s thriving Powder River Basin, Solomon reveals how for 150 years the unique demands of coal—and America’s demand for coal—have prompted new railroad technologies.
Powder River Coal Trains
many as ten trains per day were reported in August 2014 during a busy period. Coal was even brought in from as far away as New Cumnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland. This was the longest distance rail-borne coal flow in the UK at that time ...
This volume details the coal mines, tipples, and switching operations - including coal trains and mine runs - that formed the backbone of this line's traffic.
The Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR) operated approximately 600 miles of mainline track throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, stretching from the Mississippi River to the central part of the state.
Despite the loss of its division point status in 1988, Alliance continues to have its fortunes closely tied to the railroad, now known as the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe. Today, the BNSF funnels large numbers of coal trains through the ...
With a bouncy rhyming text, and clever illustrations full of visual cues, young readers will love learning all about trains. A companion to the Children's Book Award nominated Alphabet Trucks! From the Hardcover edition.
With previously unpublished photographs documenting merry-go-round coal trains on Britain's railways.