The North American railroad

the long version

In The North American Railroad, James Vance offers a sweeping account of where and why rail lines were built in various regions and at different times across the continent. He tells why the United States and Canada developed distinctive forms of rail technology - surprisingly different from those of Britain, where railroading originated. And he explains how these developments convey with particular clarity the continent's unique historical geography. Vance takes issue with the commonly held belief that a single rail technology spread from Britain to the rest of the world. Because of the great length of lines and the considerable physical barriers to rail development, North American rail companies developed powerful locomotives instead of building the costly engineering works customary in England. Few American lines had extensive tunnels or bridges because the railroads followed the terrain as closely as possible. The North American system, Vance concludes, was a mirror image of the British model of weak engines and superb infrastructure. Vance also explores the railroad's singular role in defining North American space as lines crossed so varied and undeveloped a landscape. By 1917 the North American railnet had transformed the continent and become the most comprehensive in the world - with a quarter of the world's trackage built in the United States alone, and a third in the United States and Canada combined. Illustrated with more than a hundred maps, diagrams, and historical photographs, The North American Railroad is the definitive account of that extraordinary achievement - and what it meant for the people and landscape of the continent.