The Northeast Corridor: The Trains, the People, the History, the Region

The Northeast Corridor has been a vital transportation route for over a century, connecting Boston to Washington, DC, and transforming hundreds of miles of Atlantic shoreline into a political capital, global financial hub, and home to fifty million people. David Alff's new book explores how freight trains, commuter rail, and Amtrak have influenced and been shaped by centuries of American industrial expansion, metropolitan growth, downtown decline, and revitalization. The corridor's future includes ever-faster trains zipping along technologically advanced rails, but it also links the life of Frederick Douglass, who fled to freedom by boarding a train in Baltimore, to the Frederick Douglass Tunnel, expected to be the newest link in the corridor by 2032.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 19 April 2024
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

The Northeast Corridor, a vital transportation artery that connects Boston to Washington, DC, has a rich and influential history that extends far beyond its tracks. In his comprehensive book, "The Northeast Corridor: How Trains Shaped America," author David Alff explores how nineteenth-century train tracks transformed hundreds of miles of Atlantic shoreline into a political capital, a global financial hub, and a home to fifty million people. The book reveals how freight trains, commuter rail, and Amtrak influenced—and in turn were shaped by—centuries of American industrial expansion, metropolitan growth, downtown decline, and revitalization. Alff pays as much attention to Canton, Trenton, New Rochelle, and Providence as to New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, offering narrative thrills for history buffs, train enthusiasts, and adventurers alike. Additionally, he provides a glimpse into the future of the corridor, with new infrastructural plans envisioning ever-faster trains zipping along technologically advanced rails. However, those tracks will literally sit atop a history that links the life of Frederick Douglass, who fled to freedom by boarding a train in Baltimore, to the Frederick Douglass Tunnel, which is expected to be the newest link in the corridor by 2032. Trains have long made the places that make America, and they still do.

Weight: 513g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226822839