Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow : The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroads

Rating:
Summary: I'll toot the whistle for this one
Review: I'm contributing this review because I think the existing, single review on Amazon is unfair. I know nothing about the author, but I do know enough from history that he is not completely out of whack to take the view that the railroads were often in the grip of robber barons and that many in Congress had their hands out when it came to making sure the Iron Horses enjoyed lenient legislation that enabled them to cross the continent. Thus, I think the author was entitled to his strong views when it comes to assessing the political and business climate in which the railroads were built. But this book is far more than a polemic. It contains fascinating passages about the "Hell on Wheels" collapsible shanty towns that followed the rail-heads across the prairie with their accompanying cast of gamblers, con artists and prostitutes waiting to prey on the laborers who built the lines. Also, there are memorable descriptions of the hardships endured by the first adventurers to travel from coast to coast behind the Iron Horse, together with quotes from Kipling, Robert Louis Stephenson and others who made the trip. I bought this book because I wanted to know more about the history of the building of the railroads and the opening up of this country. My curiosity was fully satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Weird mix of first hand accounts and political diatribe
Review: If you thought Halliburton abusing the tax payers was something new and different, think again. Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow, by Dee Brown, is a history of the building of the transcontinental railroads. It starts in 1854 and proceeds in detail until the 1890s, then hurriedly summarizes until the 1970s. (The book was written in 1977.) And Brown shows, repeatedly and at length, how the railroad builders screwed the American public time and again.

In fact, reading this book made me very very angry. It's the same old story: a bunch of rich men want to get richer, and figure out ways to use the public purse to make money. In this case, there were three main ways that wealth was moved from the taxpayer to the wealthy: scams building the railroads, land grants, and high railroad rates. Brown examines all of these in some detail, and sometimes the disgust just made me squirm. He also, towards the end of the book, examines some of the political reaction to the railroads: the Grangers and the Populist Party.

However, he also intermingles first person accounts in this story of perfidy. Whether it is stories from the immigrants, the first riders of the transcontinetnal railroad, the railroad workers, or the Congressmen who authorized the land grants, he quotes extensively from letters and speeches. In fact, he might go overboard in the quoting department; I would have appreciated more analysis of some of the statements.

Brown does include some very choice, precient statements though. In chapter 11, talking about Pullman's improvements, a French traveller said "...unless the Americans invent a style of dwelling that can be moved from one place to another (and they will come to this, no doubt, in time)...". In chapter 12, a fellow was travelling on an immigrant train and was happy to be separated in the mens' car because he "escaped that most intolerable nuisance of miscellaneous travelling, crying babies."

I learned a lot from this book, both about American history and the railroads. In large part, the railroads made the modern west--I 80 follows the path of the Union Pacific, and Colorado Springs was founded because a railroad magnate owned chunks of land around the area. It's also always illuminating to see that, in politics as in everything else, there's nothing new under the sun.

Rating:
Summary: Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad
Review: One should not be surprised that railroad companies in a capitalist country are run to produce profits rather than for the good of the country. There is no astonishment that railroads in the United States were seen as money machines, and the natural monopolies of railroading were exploited to the max. However, railroads were widely seen as being good for the United States--and indeed the railroads provided the United States with a heightened sense of national unity as well as great economies in transportation.

Dee Brown does an admirable job of narrating the inherit contradictions involved in the story of the transcontinental railroads--"the good of the country" and "$$ for a few". The story does not stop once the first transcontinental railroad is built, either. Dee Brown describes effects on Native Americans, immigrant populations, tourists, farmers, and others.

The book is readable--good high school students should be able to handle it. There are also lots of vintage photographs, which add to the value. I'm not a professional historian, so I can't judge some things. The book is still in print after twenty-five years, and there's a reason for that: it's good.

Rating:
Summary: Hear that same old story
Review: This is another railroad history potboiler. Bad rail barons build bridges, lay tracks, grab the the land, loot everything, corrupt politicians and oppressed everybody. They ruined American society, ruined all the western lands, and set up corporate monopolies to crush everyone forever, if one believes this book. It is another journalistic sensation story. This story is so old the author even tells the old "Railroads Grab Land for Free" story where the railroad supposely got millions of acres (he claims 10% of the entire country!) for free from the government. This tale was discredited publicly in the 1950's as 19th century political propaganda. The railroad lands were paid for by all railroads at discount rates for over a centutry but Dee Howard never mentions that. His shallow search probably never found it. Nor does he present a balance view of the western rail development. Sure there were excesses, but the west is the world's biggest bread basket. Who set that up? Airlines?

This is a rip off book. Read something by Albro Martin of Harvard, if you want something readable, detailed, balanced and acurate about railroads and U.S. history.