THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA AND WESTERN RAILROAD. The Road of Anthracite. In the Twentieth Century 1899-1960. PART TWO: The Equipment and Marine Operation of the Lackawanna Railroad, Which Would Be Recognized As Mile for Mile, the Most Highly Developed Railroad in America. - Hardcover

Thomas Townsend Taber; Thomas Townsend Taber III

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0960339833 ISBN 13: 9780960339839

Publisher: Thomas T. Taber III, 1981

Synopsis

This volume covers the history and operation of the ferries, the freight activities in New York harbor, public relations and advertising, locomotives and cars, and a station listing giving information concerning every named point along the railroad. The Phoebe Snow advertising program was one of the first in the United States to have a person represent a product, and it was phenomenally successful in causing the railroad to outdistance its competitors. The marine operation, both freight and passenger, presented problems totally alien to land operation - fog, tides, river currents, wind, and ice - all of which were safely handled and schedules met long before radar became available. Additionally, the coordination of trains and cars, and boats and barges required special knowledge and procedures not required in normal railroading. The twentieth century saw three generations of locomotives - first to catch up with the competition and then to stay abreast with advancing technology. The wood era of car construction, both passenger and freight, gradually gave way to steel. The railroad reached its apex in freight customer service. Equipment suitable for twenty mile an hour speeds was replaced by locomotives and cars suitable for forty, and they in turn were replaced by new equipment suitable for sixty. Today at most points there is little indication of the activities which once thrived. The passenger station, the freight house, the switch tower, water tank, engine house, team tracks, and many customer spur tracks are all-too-often gone. The many men who worked these facilities are also gone, and a telephone connects the potential customer impersonally to a railroad representative miles away who he seldom if ever sees.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas T. Taber III
• Publication date: 1981
• ISBN 10: 0960339833
• ISBN 13: 9780960339839
• Binding: Hardcover