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| Electric Interurbans and the American People
ISBN: 9780253023209
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Indiana University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Street-railroads -- United States -- History;
"A well-written social history of the shortest-lived major US transportation mode" from the railway historian and author of A Mighty Fine Road ( Choice ). One of the most intriguing yet neglected pieces of American transportation history, electric interurban railroads were designed to assist shoppers, salesmen, farmers, commuters, and pleasure-seekers alike with short distance travel. At a time when most roads were unpaved and horse and buggy travel were costly and difficult, these streetcar-like electric cars were essential to economic growth. But why did interurban fever strike so suddenly and extensively in the Midwest and other areas? Why did thousands of people withdraw their savings to get onto what they believed to be a "gravy train?" How did officials of competing steam railroads respond to these challenges to their operations? H. Roger Grant explores the rise and fall of this fleeting form of transportation that started in the early 1900s and was defunct just 30 years later. Perfect for railfans, Electric Interurbans and the American People is a comprehensive contribution for those who love the flanged wheel. "With this book, the subject no longer has footnote status. In fact, Grant's work deserves a place alongside some of the other landmark surveys of the subject . . . Here, Grant moves beyond the receiverships, the rickety track, and all that fascinating rolling stock. He shows us why the whole darned thing mattered." -- Railroad History "H. Roger Grant has produced a fine social history of America's electric interurbans, exploring the relationship between people and those railway enterprises. The book fills a void, is eminently readable, and richly illustrated." --Don L. Hofsommer, author of Off the Main Lines
Born in 1943 in Ottumwa, Iowa, H. Roger Grant is a professor of history at the University of Ohio at Akron. A contributor to numerous history journals, Grant is also a noted railway historian and editor of Railway History. His books on the subject include Erie Lackawanna: Death of an American Railroad, 1938-1992 (1994), and Living in the Depot: The Two-Story Railroad Station (1993). Grant has also published several collections of postcards with railways and Ohio history as their themes. (Bowker Author Biography) |
