Awards

• Winner of RLHS Hilton Book Award 2019 (United States)

Overview

In 1836, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas agreed on one thing: Illinois needed railroads. Over the next fifty years, the state became the nation's railroad hub, with Chicago at its center. Speculators, greed, growth, and regulation followed as the railroad industry consumed unprecedented amounts of capital and labor. A nationwide market resulted, and the Windy City became the site of opportunities and challenges that remain to this day. In this first-of-its-kind history, full of entertaining anecdotes and colorful characters, Simon Cordery describes the explosive growth of Illinois railroads and its impact on America. Cordery shows how railroading in Illinois influenced railroad financing, the creation of a national economy, and government regulation of business. Cordery's masterful chronicle of rail development in Illinois from 1837 to 2010 reveals how the state's expanding railroads became the foundation of the nation's rail network.

Full Product Details

9780253019066

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Iron Road in the Prairie State is an informative and beautifully written overview of railroading in Illinois, the hub of the national transportation network. Through the birth, growth, decline, and resurgence of the railroads, Simon Cordery has admirably set local developments in the broader context of national changes in business, labor, and regulatory patterns. Albert J. Churella, author of The Pennsylvania Railroad: Building an Empire

What makes this work a true rarity is the author's inclusion of larger scholarly themes, such as corporate consolidation and US cultural trends. As a result, the story of one state's railroads becomes a narrative on the larger history of railroads in the US from the 19th to 20th centuries. A significant contribution to the study of rail transportation in Illinois and the US.... Highly recommended. -Choice [An] effective overview of the state that gave us railroad lawyer Abraham Lincoln, Pullman, rail labor strife, Electro-Motive, Civil War heroism, Samuel Insull, and a host of other milestones. -Classic Trains The Iron Road in the Prairie State is an informative and beautifully written overview of railroading in Illinois, the hub of the national transportation network. Through the birth, growth, decline, and resurgence of the railroads, Simon Cordery has admirably set local developments in the broader context of national changes in business, labor, and regulatory patterns. -Albert J. Churella, author of The Pennsylvania Railroad: Building an Empire Cordery details the history and construction of Illinois railroads and the colorful cast of characters who played a part in its creation. -The Chicago Tribune Though readers might reasonably expect a volume twice, even thrice the size of this one, it's Cordery's welcome accomplishment to have told this complex story so concisely and accessibly -- all the while skillfully situating Illinois railroad development in a national context. -The Lexington Quarterly This remarkable and insightful book offers for the first time a rich narrative about Illinois history through the lens of emerging railroads from their muddy beginnings to the present day. Simon Cordery has succeeded in capturing a unique national understanding of the industry's history by focusing on how railroads and the state of Illinois evolved simultaneously in separate yet interdependent ways. -William E. Greenwood, COO Burlington Northern Railroad, retired

Cordery details the history and construction of Illinois railroads and the colorful cast of characters who played a part in its creation. -The Chicago Tribune The Iron Road in the Prairie State is an informative and beautifully written overview of railroading in Illinois, the hub of the national transportation network. Through the birth, growth, decline, and resurgence of the railroads, Simon Cordery has admirably set local developments in the broader context of national changes in business, labor, and regulatory patterns. -Albert J. Churella, author of The Pennsylvania Railroad: Building an Empire This remarkable and insightful book offers for the first time a rich narrative about Illinois history through the lens of emerging railroads from their muddy beginnings to the present day. Simon Cordery has succeeded in capturing a unique national understanding of the industry's history by focusing on how railroads and the state of Illinois evolved simultaneously in separate yet interdependent ways. -William E. Greenwood, COO Burlington Northern Railroad, retired What makes this work a true rarity is the author's inclusion of larger scholarly themes, such as corporate consolidation and US cultural trends. As a result, the story of one state's railroads becomes a narrative on the larger history of railroads in the US from the 19th to 20th centuries. A significant contribution to the study of rail transportation in Illinois and the US... Highly recommended. -Choice [An] effective overview of the state that gave us railroad lawyer Abraham Lincoln, Pullman, rail labor strife, Electro-Motive, Civil War heroism, Samuel Insull, and a host of other milestones. -Classic Trains Though readers might reasonably expect a volume twice, even thrice the size of this one, it's Cordery's welcome accomplishment to have told this complex story so concisely and accessibly -- all the while skillfully situating Illinois railroad development in a national context. -The Lexington Quarterly

Author Information

Simon Cordery researches, writes, and rides on railroads on both sides of the Atlantic. He is Chair of the History Department at Iowa State University and heads the Inductions Committee of the National Railroad Hall of Fame. A member of the Lexington Group in Transportation History, he has published two other books and numerous articles.

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