Metropolitan Railways

by Middleton, William D.

• ISBN13: 9780253341792
• ISBN10: 0253341795
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Early in the 19th century, growing American cities began to experience transportation problems. One solution was the horse-drawn streetcar, developed in 1832, but it soon proved inadequate. The first elevated train was transporting passengers above the streets of Manhattan by 1871; the first subway opened 25 years later in Boston; and similar systems soon followed in Philadelphia and Chicago. Rapid transit was confined to these few cities until after World War II, when a new generation of systems began to appear. In the 1970s, light rail became an economical alternative to conventional rapid transit. By century's end, some three dozen cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico operated metropolitan rapid transit or light rail systems that transported five billion urban passengers annually, and still more were under construction or planned.These diverse systems include elevated lines ranging from Chicago's "L" to the fully automatic Skytrain metro of Vancouver, B.C.; subways from New York City's thundering tunnels-the world's largest underground system-to the thoroughly modern metro of Guadalajara; and light rail from lovingly restored New Orleans streetcars to the sleek, articulated vehicles of Silicon Valley.Metropolitan Railways is a large-scale, extensively illustrated volume that deals with the growth and development of urban rail transit systems in North America. It traces the history of rail transit technology from such impractical early schemes as a proposed steam-powered "arcade railway" under New York's Broadway through today's sophisticated systems. Rapid transit enthusiasts as well as residents of cities that are potential candidates for rapid transit or light rail systems will find this book indispensable.ALSO OF INTEREST When the Steam Railroads ElectrifiedRevised Second EditionWilliam D. Middleton0-253-33979-0 HB £49.95"Yet There Isn't a Train I Wouldn't Take"Railway Journeys by William D. MiddletonWilliam D. Middleton0-253-33699-6 HB £30.50History of the J. G. Brill CompanyDebra BrillSeries - Railroads Past and Present0-253-33949-9 HB £37.95

Author Biography

William D. Middleton, a transportation historian and journalist, is the author of 18 books, including The Time of the Trolley, The Interurban Era, and When the Steam Railroads Electrified, which together with Metropolitan Railways form a comprehensive illustrated history of electric railway transportation in North America.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
The Quest for Rapid Transit	1	(18)
The Era of the Elevated	19	(38)
Rapid Transit Goes Underground	57	(38)
Rapid Transit at Midcentury: New Systems and a New Era	95	(12)
New Metro Technologies	107	(38)
Light Rail Transit: New Life for an Old Technology	145	(18)
Conveyances for the Multitudes: The Cars We Rode	163	(42)
A Metropolitan Railways Renaissance	205	(12)
Appendix A. The Technology of Rail Transit	217	(20)
Appendix B. North American Metro and Light Rail Transit	237	(24)
Bibliography	261	(8)
Index	269