Uncle Sam's Locomotives
Subtitle: The USRA and the Nation's Railroads (Railroads Past and Present)
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: August 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 215
ISBN-13: 9780253340863
Subjects: American history: First World War; Railway technology & engineering; Railway transport industries; Trains & railways: general interest; 20th century; Railroads - History; Locomotives; Railroads; Technology; Transportation; Science/Mathematics; USA; Railroads, Industrial; United States.; Power Resources; Railroads - General; Federal Railroad Administratio; Federal Railroad Administration; United States
First sentence: It is a fearful thing to lead this great and peaceful people into war. . . . But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our heart-for democracy. . . . for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free people as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free.
Description: "When the United States entered World War I, the railroads proved unable to cope with the resulting increase in traffic. After eight months President Woodrow Wilson established the United States Railroad Administration to operate them until the war ended. One of the USRA's first acts was to rationalize the railroad supply industry by standardizing rolling-stock designs, including twelve locomotive types, at a time when customized designs were taken for granted.

Uncle Sam's Locomotives looks at these magnificent locomotives and discusses how and why the designs were chosen, how they related to existing designs, what standardization entailed, and how each performed.".

""While the standardization experiment had little if any effect on winning the war," remarks Huddleston, "it was highly successful from an engineering standpoint...locomotives of USRA design were generally among the last steamers to be withdrawn from service in the move toward dieselization on American railroads."".

"Uncle Sam's Locomotives will be indispensable to those with an interest in steam locomotive history or in the interaction of American industry and government regulation. It deals masterfully with the complex and often controversial relations between the United States Railroad Administration, the railroad companies, the major locomotive builders, and the numerous smaller companies that supplied locomotive accessories.

Featured is a picture gallery of USRA locomotives - light and heavy Mikados, Pacifics, Mountains, Switchers, Santa Fes, and Mallets."--BOOK JACKET.