Hard Coal and Coal Cars
Hauling Anthracite on the New York, Ontario & Western Railway
Distributed for University of Scranton Press
220 pages
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200 halftones
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8-1/2 x 11
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© 2006
From 1880 through the 1950s, the New York, Ontario & Western Railway hauled coal from the rich anthracite deposits of eastern Pennsylvania to homes throughout the eastern United States and Canada. In Hard Coal and Coal Cars, Martin Robert Karig chronicles the rise and fall of the O & W’s coal hauling operation in a richly illustrated work that interweaves economic, industrial, and technological history.
Karig opens his history with the intense competition for the rights to eastern Pennsylvania’s lucrative coal-hauling business. He then details the technological developments that transformed coal cars from wooden carts carrying just a few hundred pounds to steel hoppers hauling several tons. Bringing the story into the twentieth century, Karig explains how the O & W’s ownership ultimately abandoned the coal-hauling business in the 1950s as coal was supplanted by more reliable and convenient home heating fuels.
Rich with the romance of the railroad and crucial to any understanding of Pennsylvania history, Hard Coal and Coal Cars will be the definitive book on a fascinating chapter of American life.
Karig opens his history with the intense competition for the rights to eastern Pennsylvania’s lucrative coal-hauling business. He then details the technological developments that transformed coal cars from wooden carts carrying just a few hundred pounds to steel hoppers hauling several tons. Bringing the story into the twentieth century, Karig explains how the O & W’s ownership ultimately abandoned the coal-hauling business in the 1950s as coal was supplanted by more reliable and convenient home heating fuels.
Rich with the romance of the railroad and crucial to any understanding of Pennsylvania history, Hard Coal and Coal Cars will be the definitive book on a fascinating chapter of American life.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1, The Anthracite Region and the Development of the Railroad
Chapter 2, The Anthracite Operations of the New York, Ontario & Western Ry.
Chapter 3, A Brief History of Coal Cars
Chapter 4, Appliances and Accessories for Coal Cars
Chapter 5, Freight Car Trucks
Chapter 6, Lettering and Marking of Coal Cars
Chapter 7, The History of O&W Coal Cars
Chapter 8, Identification Guide for O&W Coal Cars
Appendix A, Nomenclature of Coal Cars
Appendix B, Glossary
Appendix C, Safety Saftey Appliance Standards for Open Top Cars (1893-1911)
Appendix D, U.S. Safety Appliance Standards for Hoppers and Gondolas
Reference Notes
Bibliography
Index
For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu
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