{"product_id":"supplanting-americas-railroads-john-a-jakle-9781621902683","title":"Supplanting America's Railroads: The Early Auto Age, 1900-1940","description":"With their speed and geographical reach, America's railroads reigned supreme through much of the nineteenth century, knitting together the sprawling country as no other mode of transportation was able to do. Around 1900, however, an upstart challenger--the automobile-- arrived on the scene. At first regarded as little more than a plaything for the wealthy, the new invention rapidly gained popularity, especially after Henry Ford's innovative mass-production techniques made cars affordable to the middling classes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this engaging book, John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle--renowned experts on the wide-ranging effects of automobility on American life--examine the various ways in which the railroads responded to their new competition, not just from the automobile itself but from its close cousins, the motor truck and motor bus, through several decades up to the eve of World War II. Drawing on extensive research in the trade publications of the period, the authors examine the development of interurban and intraurban rail transport, the transition from steam to electric and diesel power, and the railroads' close involvement in the nascent trucking and passenger-bus industries. They devote a chapter to the places where trains and automobiles came most directly and dangerously into conflict--railroad crossings--and pay special attention throughout to the key role of government in the competition, whether through antitrust legislation, taxation, or the building of the \"good roads\" that were so necessary to the rise of auto, truck, and bus transport. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Although the railroads remain with us, it was the automobile that emerged as the predominant transportation form, owing to its promise of speed, convenience, flexibility of movement, and, most important, self-gratification. In a country that places such high value on individual freedom, the romance of motoring has proven irresistible. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e JOHN A. JAKLE, emeritus professor of geography at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and KEITH A. SCULLE, the former head of research and education at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, have collaborated on eight previous books on the history of \"Roadside America,\" the most recent of which is \u003ci\u003eThe Garage: Automobility and Building Innovation in America's Early Auto Age\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John A. Jakle,Keith A. Sculle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1621902684\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781621902683\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Tennessee Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/02\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2017","brand":"John A. Jakle","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48217490096383,"sku":"9781621902683","price":36.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d25f661c-1973-41c0-9ef3-5bdc53294e77.jpg?v=1771997558","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/supplanting-americas-railroads-john-a-jakle-9781621902683","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}