The American steam locomotive in the twentieth century

Generously illustrated with black-and-white photographs from the Denver Public Library, California State Railroad Museum, and Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, this volume investigates the American steam locomotive between 1895 and its demise in the 1950s. The longstanding trade journal published under various names--the Railroad Gazette (1856--1908), Railroad Age Gazette (1908--18), and Railway Age (1919--present)--provides a detailed framework for organizing the plethora of archival material available for these decades of the railroad industry. Compiled by a mining engineer, this volume combines technical detail with readability for a general audience. An initial section on the technical, political, and economic factors of the American railroad industry is followed by four chronological sections on locomotives (1895--1905, 1905--20, 1920--30, 1930--50). Each section examines locomotive engineering and construction, concluding with a brief mention of the alternative modes of traction that eventually superseded steam. Operating the gigantic, powerful, idiosyncratic steam locomotives required skill and elicited prideful attachment from those who did it. Meticulously documented, this work of both love and precision is an essential addition to transportation libraries and highly recommended for engineering and history of technology collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Micheline Nilsen, Indiana University South Bend

Morrison held on to his childhood unabashed enthusiasm for steam locomotives, which flourished and became extinct in fifty years. Era by era (each roughly a decade), he traces their ascendancy and decline in the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, in Canada, from the 1890s to 1950. Engineering advances, fuels, design, finance, technical components, government regulation, economic conditions, wars, corporate competition, safety issues, and the expanding range and role of rail operations for transportation and freight contribute complexity to the behemoth machines the industry relied on. Morrison simplifies the issues in subsections devoted to particular locomotive models or common technologies (e.g., firebox and grate design, superheat, exhaust steam injectors); their strengths and limitations; and their role in the technology's evolution as electric and diesel receive increased attention, which challenged steam's power. Informative graphs illustrate trends and complement the copious, profusely footnoted and indexed text. All who share Morrison's passion will relish the many thoroughly captioned black-and-white photos and will pore over this history of steam locomotives.--James Rettig Copyright 2019 Booklist