The Iron Road in the Prairie State
The Story of Illinois Railroading
Reeks: Railroads Past and Present
Simon Cordery
- 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.