By 1933, the Pennsylvania Railroad had been in existence for nearly ninety years. During this time, it had grown from a small line, struggling to build west from the state capital in Harrisburg, to the dominant transportation company in the United States. In Volume 2 of The Pennsylvania Railroad, Albert J. Churella continues his history of this giant of American transportation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the world's largest business corporation and the nation's most important railroad. By 1917, the Pennsylvania Railroad, like the nation itself, was confronting a very different world. The war that had consumed Europe since 1914 was about to engulf the United States. Amid unprecedented demand for transportation, the federal government undertook the management of the railroads, while new labor policies and new regulatory initiatives, coupled with a postwar recession, would challenge the company like never before. Only time would tell whether the years that followed would signal a new beginning for the Pennsylvania Railroad or the beginning of the end. The Pennsylvania Railroad: The Age of Limits, 1917-1933, represents an unparalleled look at the history, the personalities, and the technologies of this iconic American company in a period that marked the shift from building an empire to exploring the limits of their power.
Albert J. Churella is the author of From Steam to Diesel: Managerial Customs and Organizational Capabilities in the Twentieth-Century American Locomotive Industry and The Pennsylvania Railroad, Volume I: Building an Empire, 1846-1917. He is Professor of History in the History and Philosophy Department at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Churella is also the president of the Lexington Group, an organization dedicated to transportation history and practice.
Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Prelude 1. War 2. Labor 3. Welfare 4. Cities 5. Transportation 6. Stagnation 7. Crisis 8. Wired Notes Index
Churella's work is fascinating economic history that provides detailed analysis of the development of the Pennsylvania Railroad and its interaction with contemporary government policies. The researcher will find much to learn about the Pennsylvania Railroad and each chapter is thoroughly cited with extensive endnotes that contain further literature to read. One can only wait in eager anticipation for Churella's third and final volume in his saga. - Patrick Newman, University of Tampa (EH.NET) This magnificent book is the second volume in Albert Churella's encyclopedic, three volume history of the Pennsylvania Railroad-a project that has been nearly two decades in the making. . . . Well documented, clearly presented, and insightful. - David J. Mrozek (The Michigan Railfan)
