[EBOOK] The Chicago Alton Railroad PDF Download Read Online

The Chicago & Alton Railroad

History

Author: Gene V. Glendinning

Publisher:

ISBN: 0875802877

Category: History

Page: 274

View: 236

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The first railroad to connect the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes, the Chicago & Alton Railroad played a key role in the economic development of the Midwest. From humble beginnings in 1847 as transport for farm produce, it grew to link three key midwestern cities--Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City--and set the standard for efficient service and luxurious passenger travel. Such famous personages as Abraham Lincoln, Marshall Field, Timothy Blackstone, and Samuel Insull were associated with the Chicago & Alton. Lincoln had been among the first to buy stock in the company, and the Chicago & Alton carried his funeral train on the last leg of its journey to Springfield, Illinois. The introduction of George Pullman's first sleeping and dining cars enhanced the Chicago & Alton's reputation for elegant style and comfort. The company initiated a number of innovations in rail travel, including the installation of the first steel railroad bridge. It was also the first to bring streamliners and diesels into the highly competitive Chicago-St. Louis corridor. Events that shaped America, from the Civil War to World War II, impacted the Chicago & Alton. During the tumultuous years of its business expansion, frequent shifts of power threatened to destroy the railroad. Edward Harriman, for example, rebuilt and reequipped the Chicago & Alton only to lose it in one of his few mistakes. The federal government later seized control during one of the Chicago & Alton's weakest periods, but relinquished it after a devastating coal strike. Even criminal manipulations of the railroad's stock and bonds by a New york financier played a role in the company's turbulent history. Illustrated with eighty photographs, many of them never before published, The Chicago & Alton Railroad is the first complete history of one of America's most famous small railroads.

DBA Journal eBook

The Chicago & Alton Railroad

The Chicago & Alton Railroad

The Chicago and Alton Railroad

Articles of Consolidation of the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company with the Chicago and Alton Railway Company, March 8, 1906

Report on the Chicago & Alton Railroad

Bondholders Agreement of Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad Company (late Chicago and Mississippi) Made 10th January, 1860, Altered 9th July 1862, Modified 23d July 1862 and Finally Amended 25th October, 1862