railroad: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
Current developments in railway transportation are documented and interpreted in Jane’s World Railways (annual). The history of railway technology is presented in Geoffrey Freeman Allen, Railways: Past, Present & Future (1982); George H. Drury (comp.), The Historical Guide to North American Railroads, updated ed. (1991); Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg, Hear the Train Blow: A Pictorial Epic of America in the Railroad Age (1952); Geoffrey Freeman Allen, Railways of the Twentieth Century (1983); and Gustav Reder, The World of Steam Locomotives (1974; originally published in German, 1974).
Geoffrey Freeman Allen, The World’s Fastest Trains: From the Age of Steam to the TGV, 2nd ed. (1992), is a history of high-speed rail through the 20th century by a well-known British railroad writer. Jacob Meunier, On the Fast Track: French Railway Modernization and the Origins of the TGV, 1944–1983 (2002), explores the technological context and the political decisions that led to the French high-speed rail system. Christopher P. Hood, Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan (2006), is a study of the importance of the Shinkansen in modern Japanese identity. Jonathan S. Fischer (ed.), High Speed Rail: Background and Issues (2010), is a collection of essays and public documents on issues facing the development of high-speed rail in the United States.
Fred W. Frailey, Twilight of the Great Trains, expanded ed. (2010), examines the social and technological forces that brought about the decline of American passenger rail after World War II. Other scholarly detailed and well-illustrated histories, by a former curator at the Smithsonian Institution, are John H. White, The American Railroad Passenger Car (1978), and The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel (1993). Mike Schafer and Mike McBride, Freight Train Cars (1999), is a well-illustrated popular history of all types of American freight cars.
Histories of railroads frequently address their social and political impact, as in Nicholas Faith, The World the Railways Made (1990); Patrick O’Brien, Railways and the Economic Development of Western Europe, 1830–1914 (1983); Albro Martin, Railroads Triumphant: The Growth, Rejection, and Rebirth of a Vital American Force (1992); and Clarence B. Davis et al. (eds.), Railway Imperialism (1991).
Modern traction systems are the subject of Vilas D. Nene, Advanced Propulsion Systems for Urban Rail Vehicles (1985); and H.I. Andrews, Railway Traction: The Principles of Mechanical and Electrical Railway Traction (1986).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- Thomas Clark Shedd
- James E. Vance
- Geoffrey Freeman Allen
-
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modified link of Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Real-time railroad track components inspection framework based on YOLO-NAS and edge computing. | Nov 06, 2026 | ||
| Replaced media. | Jul 07, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Real-time railroad track components inspection framework based on YOLO-NAS and edge computing. | Jun 09, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia - Railroads. | Mar 17, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Securing the Future of Railway Systems: A Comprehensive Cybersecurity Strategy for Critical On-Board and Track-Side Infrastructure. | Sep 01, 2025 | ||
| Article updated and revised. | Jul 22, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Railway and Locomotive Historical Society - Railroad History. | May 27, 2025 | ||
| Media added. | Apr 23, 2024 | ||
| Links and photos added. | Apr 27, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Military Railroads. | Feb 10, 2023 | ||
| Link added. | Feb 10, 2023 | ||
| Noted that the Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in June 2016. | Sep 04, 2020 | ||
| Added an image of the ceremonial opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. | Sep 04, 2020 | ||
| Revised and updated the section Maglev. | Aug 20, 2020 | ||
| Add new Web site: United States History for Kids - Railroads in the 1800s. | Jan 25, 2019 | ||
| Add new Web site: Train History - History of Railways - Invention of Rail Transport. | Jan 25, 2019 | ||
| Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - American Experience - Transcontinental Railroad. | Jan 27, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - American Experience - Transcontinental Railroad. | Jan 27, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: American Studies at the University of Virginia - Early Railroads. | Jul 08, 2016 | ||
| Media added. | Apr 18, 2013 | ||
| Add new Web site: Light Rail Now - News from Around the World on Railroad Transportation. | Jul 23, 2012 | ||
| Add new Web site: Light Rail Now - News from Around the World on Railroad Transportation. | Jul 23, 2012 | ||
| Article updated to note the completion of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line. | Aug 18, 2011 | ||
| Bibliography updated with titles on high-speed rail and on 20th-century American railways. | Jul 07, 2011 | ||
| Article thoroughly revised. | Jul 07, 2011 | ||
| Added images of the Countess of Dufferin locomotive, and the De Witt Clinton locomotive, and of Canadian railway workers laying track. | Apr 08, 2010 | ||
| Fixed styling of "the Netherlands." | Apr 08, 2010 | ||
| Typograhical errors corrected. | Feb 26, 2008 | ||
| Railroard history revised. | Feb 26, 2008 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Mar 16, 2007 | ||
| Bibliography revised. | Mar 16, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: The Library of Congress - The Beginnings of American Railroads and Mapping. | Oct 11, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: Railway History. | May 24, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | Jun 21, 2002 | ||
| Article revised. | May 29, 2002 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 26, 1999 |