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    Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World---from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
    Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World---from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
    Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World---from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
    Audiobook12 hours

    Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World---from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief

    Written by Tom Zoellner

    Narrated by Grover Gardner

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Tom Zoellner loves trains with a ferocious passion. In his new book he chronicles the innovation and sociological impact of the railway technology that changed the world, and could very well change it again.

    From the frigid Trans-Siberian Railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the futuristic maglev trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of man's relationship with trains. Zoellner examines both the mechanics of the rails and their engines and how they helped societies evolve. Not only do trains transport people and goods in an efficient manner, but they also reduce pollution and dependency upon oil. Zoellner also considers America's culture of ambivalence to mass transit, using the perpetually stalled line between Los Angeles and San Francisco as a case study in bureaucracy and public indifference.

    Train presents both an entertaining history of railway travel around the world while offering a serious and impassioned case for the future of train travel.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 30, 2014
    ISBN9781452686721
    Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World---from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
    Author

    Tom Zoellner

    Tom Zoellner is an award-winning magazine and newspaper journalist. He is a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine and has worked as a Metro reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Arizona Republic. He was the 2002 recipient of the Knight Fellowship in Specialized Reporting. He lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for Train

    4/5

    27 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      If you love trains and/or are fascinated about them, you'll enjoy this book that reviews a brief history of the development of trains in Europe, South America, India, China, Russia, and the U.S. Some great discussion of the collapse of trains (for passenger travel) in the U.S., the weak support for Amtrak, and the lack of development of high-speed train travel -- unlike in other countries in which governments have made huge investments in bullet trains. A fun and informative ride... err, read.
    • 2/5
      Some interesting highlights but nothing astounding.
    • 4/5
      I thororoughly enjoyed this book. Like Theroux, Zoellner takes a series of train rides around the world. He engages with his fellow travellers, but unlike Theroux he goes deeper into the egineering and development of railroads. The writing is top notch. There is a significant editing glitch. On a southwestern train ride to LA, Zoellner wakes up in the San Bernardino train station, and then proceeds over the Cajon Summit to LA. In fact San Bernardino is below thw Cajon summit. This is a surprising error given that Zoellner teaches in LA.