Hard Coal and Coal Cars Hauling Anthracite on the New York, Ontario & Western Railway

Karig Iii, Martin Robert

ISBN 10: 1589661206 / ISBN 13: 9781589661202

Published by University of Scranton Press, Scranton, PA, 2006

About this Item

DJ has some light scuffing. ; 220 pages. Seller Inventory # 329378

Bibliographic Details

Title: Hard Coal and Coal Cars Hauling Anthracite ...

Publisher: University of Scranton Press, Scranton, PA

Publication Date: 2006

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

From 1880 through the 1950s, the New York, Ontario and 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 and 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 and 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.

About the Author:

Martin Robert Karig III lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and serves as a docent at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. His grandfather was a fireman and engineer on the O & W.