Railroad: Identity, Design and Culture - Softcover

Lovegrove, Keith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0847827194 ISBN 13: 9780847827190

Publisher: Rizzoli, 2005

Synopsis

Celebrating the culture and design of the railroad from its beginnings in the Industrial Revolution through its 20th-century heyday, Railroad is a loving tribute to the unique aesthetic of trains. With hundreds of archival and contemporary photographs, it examines the glamorous early days, when train travel meant sumptuous, luxurious interiors with formal black-tie dining cars and private sleeping-suite cabins, up to the present with the sleek, streamlined design and record-breaking speeds of modern trains around the globe. Touching on every aspect of railroad design, from the interiors and exteriors of the trains, to railroad stations, signage, and trestles and tunnels, Railroad also abounds in such train ephemera as tickets, conductor uniforms, timetables, and advertisements, and is sprinkled with trivia and anecdotes illuminating railroading’s colorful history.
As both harbinger of modern engineering and nostalgic symbol of an earlier age, the railroad continues to exert a fascination over all those interested in travel, engineering, and design. Railroad is a stylish trip down memory lane, paying whimsical tribute to our earliest modern form of transportation and examining how design continues to shape and reflect transportation.

About this title

About the Author

Keith Lovegrove is a designer and has written the highly successful Airline: Identity, Design and Culture. He founded Lovegrove Design Consultancy in London in 1985 and has worked on a wide range of projects from corporate literature to environmental graphics. He has been awarded the PPA Magazine Designer of the Year Award for Photography magazine.

Reviews

Though the golden age of American rail travel may be long departed, enthusiasm for trains lives on. With an abundance of color photographs and informative accompanying prose, Lovegrove (Airline: Identity, Design and Culture) takes the reader on a beautifully illustrated journey through the many aspects of train design and railroad company branding from the late 19th century to the present. Focusing primarily on European, American and Japanese railways, the book features discussions of topics such as the nose design of modern high speed trains and the logo for Amtrak's Acela service, and includes photos of Japanese train washrooms, cramped kitchen staff on the Union Pacific, and the uniforms of Japanese and Belgian railway employees. Though the writing is occasionally dry, and more mentions of non-Western railway systems would be welcome-India has one of the world's largest railroad systems but it merits only a paragraph here-Lovegrove provides a comprehensive look at train design that's sure to appeal to train enthusiasts.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Rizzoli
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0847827194
• ISBN 13: 9780847827190
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160