The Story of the Western Railroads: From 1852 Through the Reign of the Giants

by Robert Edgar Riegel

On December 23, 1852, the first train on the first railroad west of the Mississippi River steamed proudly from St. Louis to Cheltenham--the immense distance of five miles. In that moment of exaltation, writes Robert Edgar Riegel, "flags waved, bands played, and orators prophesied the flowering of the West under the beneficent influence of the steam locomotive. For once the orators were right. An epoch was marked. Twenty-five years earlier the musical...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803209037
• ISBN13: 9780803209039
• Release Date: November 1976
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 363 Pages