The Iron Road: An Illustrated History of the Railroad

Although we all know that the days of the passenger railroad are long-since over, especially in the USA, it's very enlightening to read about how the railroads were so vital to building all countries, all over the world.There have been many new technologies which have come along since the days of the railroads, but they were definitely one of the first to have such an incredible impact as they had.What is truly amazing is just how once the very difficult task of actually building the railroads was accomplished, it made the expansion of the country possible, far beyond what would have ever happened without the existence of the railroads.

Gave this as a gift, a lot of interesting info in the book...

I was expecting an adult book. This is more like a middle school textbook. An interesting read, but the simplicity of the text was grating.

FANTASTIC book for railheads. Easy to read, great art... just really enjoyed this book.

Obviously author is British. Everywhere else is second class. A lightweight high school encyclopedia. Covers everything very superficially. Would be a good beginner source if bibliography was better. Index isn't much good either. Technical information is OK but very simple. The Westinghouse Air Brake is mentioned but not explained or diagrammed. Same for dynamic braking. The U.S. RR history must share space with the rest of the world. Author uses a silent movie and a folk song to make points. Very disappointing from a historical and technical perspective.

Very good information.

I wish the maps had been clearer and that more thought had been written on why and how mishaps happened--especially regarding the building of the railroad across Siberia and the Swiss experience. The wealth of pictures was appreciated; but not enough information was provided about what they depicted. Overall, the book was well organized and I feel better informed about the industry, "The Iron Road."

I grew up with trains my blood. When I was a young lad my father bought me my first Lionel train set; I had tracks running through most of the doorway so they could not be closed. If you ever watch the movie “People Will Talk” (1951) then you’ll get a feel for a real train set.My mother used to take me on the Redline from LA to Long Beach. Eventually, they were dumped in the ocean as fish houses.I rode the train from Los Angeles to Ft. Worth as a child; the advantage was even though the trains might’ve changed the train car stayed the same so all I had to do was stay seated.I still have a picture of the Sunset Limited on my wall.One of my favorite T.V. programs which is a good companion to this book is “Michael Palin: Great Railway Journeys.”The book itself is just exactly what the title implies “The Iron Railroad – an Illustrated History of the Railroad.” It covers railroads of the world in somewhat chronological order. There are color pictures, monochrome pictures, drawings, portraits, and pictures of memorabilia. One of the added pluses is the maps of the railroads as they make the understanding of history come to life. There’s even a section on railroad signal telegraphy.So if you like railroads, or history, or technology, or just want a good read this is the book for you. Michael Palin: Hemingway Adventure / Great Railway Journeys

looks good

The writer is aclaimed for his research to bring back the forgotten history of an important evaluation of our modern age, the book is a must have for all.

excelent