Rating: 
Summary: The definitive history of this subject and the period
Review: As other reviewers have noted, this was history at its best, full of sweeping events and characters bigger than life when viewed from our time period. I have often sat in a bar in the Huntington Hotel which is named "The Big Four" (referring to Huntington himself, Crocker, Stanford, et al) and wondered who these people were and how they accomplished what they did. Now I know. This history must be particularly fascinating to people living in areas described in the book (San Francisco and Sacramento, Omaha, Nebraska (which was totally shaped by the events surrounding the building of the railroad), the Plains area (North Platte, etc.), and Salt Lake City. Unlike prior reviewers, I enjoyed the details surrounding the politics and the financing of this gigantic undertaking, which are essential aspects of the overall success which was eventually attained. I also thought the detail of the book brought to life the plight of the Irish workers of the Union Pacific and the Chinese workers of the Central Pacific. Although lengthy, this is the definitive work on the subject and is a wonderful read (not dry and dusty at all in my opinion), bringing as it does this magnificant undertaking to life to readers from a distance of 140 years. A great accomplishment!
Rating: 
Summary: It's hard to make a financial scandal exciting
Review: David Bain has written an exhaustive history of the first transcontinental railroad. His account starts with pre-Civil War interest in the project, and culminates in the meeting of the rails and the famous "golden spike." The author gives a lot of detail about the challenges of construction, but this is predominantly a book about behind-the-scenes political and financial machinations. Anyone knowledgeable about US history has a fuzzy notion of the Credit Mobilier scandal, but here Bain explains in detail exactly how the "robber barons" got rich at the cost of their investors and the US government. I'm reluctant to criticize such a painstaking work of scholarship, but it did not hold my interest; financial scandals rarely make riveting reading. I much preferred Dee Brown's "Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow," which was broader in scope and directed toward a popular audience. Bain's book has 700+ pages, eight maps, and over 60 photos.
Rating: 
Summary: Expansive tome not for occasional non-fiction reader
Review: David Haward Bain's exhaustive work on the Transcontinental Railroad is probably the most complete novel on the subject with 711 pages of text but I would not recommend it to the casual non-fiction reader.Bain does not have the talent to liven up his literature like other western authors (i.e. David Lavender or Evan S. Connell) but he makes up for it with a plethora of information on almost every aspect of the vast project.
Bain covers the initial dreams of Asa Whitney and Theodore Judah, the creation of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific, the acceptance of Congress with the project, the perils of laying tracks through a mountain range and on a vast and at times, a hostile plain, and continues his writing past the meeting at Promontory Summit with a 35-page Epilogue. But Bain goes a step further than most authors on the subject by intricately detailing the boardroom battles that the Big Four and the U.P.'s Durant and Ames waged throughout the building of the RR lines. More of the book is spent in Washington, San Francisco and New York than it is out on the prairie or up in the Sierra Nevadas. Bain also writes ad nauseam about the Credit Mobilier scandal which rocked the nation during Grant's administration. I can only award four stars though as I wish that less text would've been spent on the corporate aspect and more writing would've covered the common track layer's plights, everyday life and work details. It all makes for interesting reading for someone searching for the entire story (and getting even more) of the Transcontinental Railroad but Bain's book is not the right source for the casual reader looking to refresh one's History 101 knowledge of the subject before taking the family vacation out west to visit a few of the sites. There are other books that are half the length of this that will work just fine for that. Do be cautious with Ambrose's "Nothing Like it in the World" though as railroad experts accused him of plagiarism and inventing colorful stories in said work. - One final note, the book has eight highly detailed maps (which include basic relief, rivers and RR tent towns) which I found sufficient enough to follow along both of the railroads' progress towards meeting in Utah.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good!
Review: Empire Express is an amazingly well done epic.
Starting at the beginning of the Age of Steam when only dreamers thought that America's greatest mid century engineering feat was a remote possibility, and winding up at the beginning of the Gilded Age, when only scoundrels seemed to be the survivors of this series of events, David Haward Bain weavers the tale of the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad. From the passes and tunnels of the Sierra Pacific and the Indian dislocations caused by the construction of the route, to the New York Boardroom skirmishes and battles, the swindles and the amazing Washington bribery that embittered two US Presidencies, Bain leaves no stone unturned in the description of THE event that finally bound the East and West coasts of the United States together for the for the time.
Starting in the mid 1840's when mountain men still roamed the American West and finishing in the early 1870's amid complex scandals quite beyond belief, Bain highlights just what an economic driver capitalism has been in the settlement and development of America as we know it today. For over 250 years men of all nations searched for the fabled Northwest Passage, the non existent sea lane that supposedly connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It wasn't until 1862, during the height of the American Civil War that America decided to create on land the passage that did not exist by sea.
This is the story of that incredible undertaking, truly the final step in America's Manifest Destiny.
Rating:
Summary: Short Threads Poorly Woven Together
Review: I used Empire Express as one of the sources for a research project that I had to do and I found it a mixed blessing. On the one hand, Empire Express is one of the most detailed books on the first transcontinental railroad of 1863-1869 that I have ever found. People, places, events, and ideas are all explained in crystal clear detail, leaving the reader with no ambuigities on how exactly the transcontinental railroad was constructed. Empire Express also includes a well-collected spread of primary source pictures in the middle, which is very helpful. Its information is invaluable if one needs true details. However, reading this book was also slightly painful and got boring after a while. It is a really, really long and lengthy history tome and at times the author digresses into people or places that really have nothing to do with the transcontinental railroad. If you are looking for a simple overview of the construction of the railroad, turn away from this book; you'll give up before you ever get out of the book's opening 7 chapters on Asa Whitney the merchant and how he thought of the transcontinental railroad on his barge on the way to China and how it would improve Sino-American trade...Empire Express also is hard to navigate through when one is looking for specific information; the index sometimes is missing pages on specific topics. It all boils down to whether you are able to read a lengthy historical tome and enjoy it as well or if you are put off by such long historical books; as for myself, I got halfway through and by that time I had finished with my project.
Rating:
Summary: Good historical book but has flaws
Review: I used Empire Express as one of the sources for a research project that I had to do and I found it a mixed blessing. On the one hand, Empire Express is one of the most detailed books on the first transcontinental railroad of 1863-1869 that I have ever found. People, places, events, and ideas are all explained in crystal clear detail, leaving the reader with no ambuigities on how exactly the transcontinental railroad was constructed. Empire Express also includes a well-collected spread of primary source pictures in the middle, which is very helpful. Its information is invaluable if one needs true details. However, reading this book was also slightly painful and got boring after a while. It is a really, really long and lengthy history tome and at times the author digresses into people or places that really have nothing to do with the transcontinental railroad. If you are looking for a simple overview of the construction of the railroad, turn away from this book; you'll give up before you ever get out of the book's opening 7 chapters on Asa Whitney the merchant and how he thought of the transcontinental railroad on his barge on the way to China and how it would improve Sino-American trade...Empire Express also is hard to navigate through when one is looking for specific information; the index sometimes is missing pages on specific topics. It all boils down to whether you are able to read a lengthy historical tome and enjoy it as well or if you are put off by such long historical books; as for myself, I got halfway through and by that time I had finished with my project.
Rating:
Summary: A great book about a great moment in American history
Review: If you can have only one volume on the building of the transcontinental railroad, this ought to be it. Bain is incredibly thorough without bogging us down in microscopic detail. He captures the milleu of the era through copius use of source material from the builders of the railroad - but the book never becomes a sort of doctoral disertation. This book gives a sense of the energy it took to create the wonder of transcontinental travel that we take for granted today. Read the book then take the train from Omaha west...or better yet, take the book with you on a long train trip!
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at a remarkable achievement
Review: In "Empire Express" author David Haward Bain tells the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad, from the original evangelizing of the idea by Asa Whitney in the early 19th century to the Credit Mobilier scandal that engulfed Congress in the wake of the railroad's completion during the second Grant administration. In telling the story the author skillfully bridges fifty years of American history, from the agrarian, inward-looking communities of Jacksonian America to the dawn of American industrialism and expansion of the Gilded Age. In tracing the evolution of the dream to build a transcontinental railroad from conception to completion in a single volume narrative history, Bain tackles a subject nearly as daunting as the original project itself. The cast of characters involved were many and diverse: Asa Whitney, Ted Judah, the "Big Four," the Ames brothers, Charles Durant, Grenville Dodge, several US presidents and cabinet officials, a slew of state and local leaders, not to mention the numerous mid-level railroad managers that actually turned the dream into reality. Weaving this wide array of participants and events into one seamless story is challenging, to say the least, but the author proves worthy of the task. Bain is not a historian by training, but rather a former journalist currently serving as professor of literature at Middlebury College (VT). Thus, his writing has a certain literary quality and tends to eschew the bland prose common in more academic pieces, which could have made this book all but unbearable. However, it must be noted that the author isn't entirely successful in bringing order to the chaos. One can easily become confused as new players constantly emerge in the storyline while others quietly fade away. This cycle is repeated often, leaving the reader to thumb back to re-read certain sections again for clarity. Finally, a modern American reader of "Empire Express" can't help but be shocked at the malfeasance attending the construction of the transcontinental railroad, not to mention the blatant conflict of interest prevalent throughout. For instance, Leland Stanford served as President of the Central Pacific and Governor of California simultaneously, pushing through legislation favorable to his company in the process. Meanwhile, the Union Pacific's Oakes Ames served as a US Congressional Representative with influence on federal railroad policy during construction of the road. Taken altogether, the present day pseudo-scandal surrounding Enron looks positively benign in comparison.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at a remarkable achievement
Review: In "Empire Express" author David Haward Bain tells the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad, from the original evangelizing of the idea by Asa Whitney in the early 19th century to the Credit Mobilier scandal that engulfed Congress in the wake of the railroad's completion during the second Grant administration. In telling the story the author skillfully bridges fifty years of American history, from the agrarian, inward-looking communities of Jacksonian America to the dawn of American industrialism and expansion of the Gilded Age. In tracing the evolution of the dream to build a transcontinental railroad from conception to completion in a single volume narrative history, Bain tackles a subject nearly as daunting as the original project itself. The cast of characters involved were many and diverse: Asa Whitney, Ted Judah, the "Big Four," the Ames brothers, Charles Durant, Grenville Dodge, several US presidents and cabinet officials, a slew of state and local leaders, not to mention the numerous mid-level railroad managers that actually turned the dream into reality. Weaving this wide array of participants and events into one seamless story is challenging, to say the least, but the author proves worthy of the task. Bain is not a historian by training, but rather a former journalist currently serving as professor of literature at Middlebury College (VT). Thus, his writing has a certain literary quality and tends to eschew the bland prose common in more academic pieces, which could have made this book all but unbearable. However, it must be noted that the author isn't entirely successful in bringing order to the chaos. One can easily become confused as new players constantly emerge in the storyline while others quietly fade away. This cycle is repeated often, leaving the reader to thumb back to re-read certain sections again for clarity. Finally, a modern American reader of "Empire Express" can't help but be shocked at the malfeasance attending the construction of the transcontinental railroad, not to mention the blatant conflict of interest prevalent throughout. For instance, Leland Stanford served as President of the Central Pacific and Governor of California simultaneously, pushing through legislation favorable to his company in the process. Meanwhile, the Union Pacific's Oakes Ames served as a US Congressional Representative with influence on federal railroad policy during construction of the road. Taken altogether, the present day pseudo-scandal surrounding Enron looks positively benign in comparison.
Rating:
Summary: Good history, but lacking references for non-US people
Review: This book certainly goes into the detail and provides a fascinating insight into the machinations (good and bad) which went on behind the scenes to help in the construction of this great line. I would recommend it for anyone interested in the history of this great project. One complaint - lack of maps or other way of working out the relevant progress of the two ends of the line. I certainly lost track from about the middle of the book. I guess it might be easier if you know the geography of the States reasonably well, but the inclusion of a simple map every chapter would help put the text in context. Other than that I would recommend it. Perhaps it could be read in conjunction with an atlas of US railroads.
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