Historians of midwestern railroading during the early part of the  twentieth century have generally focused on the production of railroad  company histories while ignoring the regional view. Fortunately for  railway historians and buffs, coincidentally with the zenith of the  Railway Age, the national fad for producing and mailing postcards was at  its height. Millions of cards, including "real-photo" images, were  produced between 1905 and 1915. Roger Grant has selected more than a  hundred representative picture postcards to visualize the principal  themes and characteristics that gave this dynamic industry its  distinctive regional features. By the turn of the century, the railroad map of the Midwest was  unequaled. Anyone who examined it carefully sensed that this was the  vital center of America's massive network of steel rails. Depots erected  in the western prairie environment were spartan, with only minor  decoration, but those in the Midwest usually mirrored more ornate New  England styles. These features are often reflected in the images in this  heavily illustrated book, which depicts the spare but strong pioneering  spirit of the enterprise.

Railroads in the heartland: steam and traction in the golden age of postcards PDF

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