Trains of Discovery: Railroads and the Legacy of Our National Parks, Fifth Edition - Softcover

Alfred Runte brilliantly demonstrates why he is considered one of America's preeminent environmental historians. Not only does National Parks sing with inspiration but it is the most trustworthy synthesis scholars have on the American preservation movement. Everybody should read this marvelous study. Highly recommended!--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

A glorious, nostalgic book with an abundance of period advertising illustrations.

A splendidly produced book featuring beautiful cover art and rich period imagery promoting the railroads' relationship with the environment. The book's high production values, engaging and accessible narrative, and timeliness-considering the current national debate over increased energy costs-makes this fascinating study essential for environmental historians, students, and the general public.

'Railroads protected our national sense of place.' So writes internationally noted environmental historian Alfred Runte in Allies of the Earth: Railroads and the Soul of Preservation. This thought-provoking book explores the many reasons why railroads-passenger railroads in particular-were once an important part of the national identity and should regain that distinction.--Railway Age, on Allies of the Earth

Like John Muir, Al Runte has felt the siren call of our saved-and sacred-places, and, like John Muir, he has found a way to share their glories with power and poetry. This is a sensitive, well-written history of our land and the complicated people who call it home.--Ken Burns, filmmaker, on National Parks, Fourth Edition, filmmaker

...[B]eautifully illustrated...Trains of Discovery presents educational information in an engaging manner.--Deseret News

A thoroughly revised and expanded successor to Alfred Runte's Trains of Discovery: Western Railroads and the National Parks, the new edition now includes protected landscapes and historical sites east of the Mississippi made possible or influenced by railroads: the Hudson River Valley; Delaware Water Gap; Harpers Ferry; Indiana Dunes; Gettysburg; Steamtown; and Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, and Acadia National Parks. Illustrated with paintings, posters, photographs, and artifacts from major libraries and public archives, as well as America's railroads and the author's private collection, this book is a sight to behold as well as a wonderful, nostalgic armchair read.--El Paisano

Al Runte is a hardcore conservationist, and his work reflects that. He's obviously in love with passenger trains, and his work reflects that, too. His books are a combination of excellent history about passenger trains and his passion for conservation. Whether you read the book for trains or read the book so you can enjoy hugging the next tree you see, either way, you will spend an enjoyable time with the writing of Al Runte. The book also contains full color photos of many of his extensive railroad collectibles and many illustrations by J. Craig Thorpe.--This Week at Amtrak

The fortuitous relationship between America's national parks and its railroads receives a fresh take in this 5th edition of Alfred Runte's classic work on the subject. As in earlier editions, Runte offers his keen and eloquent analysis of what the parks mean to American life, and how the railroads often made it all possible. In this new volume, however, he moves beyond the generally more spectacular parks of the West and includes other sites east of the Mississippi. Thus we have not only the familiar stories of the Great Northern and its ties to Glacier National Park, or the Santa Fe and the Grand Canyon, or Union Pacific and Yellowstone, but also significant if less-celebrated examples in the East. Here Runte shows how the B&O exploited the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley, how the Pennsylvania made Horseshoe Curve into an attraction, and the Lackawanna's efforts to bring people to the Delaware Water Gap. As in earlier editions, the glory of the book is the illustrations, a mix of historical photos and promotional posters and advertisements. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the railroads were, in effect, sponsors of great commercial art, and much of it is showcased here: Northern Pacific's depictions of the mountainous Pacific Northwest, UP's posters for Zion and Bryce Canyon, the Milwaukee Road's "Madonna of the Rails," and Santa Fe's influential art of the Southwest. The railroads were an essential part of what filmmaker Ken Burns called "America's Best Idea," and Runte has no peer in telling that story.--Trains Magazine

Alfred Runte received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is the author of Yosemite: Embattled Wilderness, National Parks: The American Experience, and Allies of the Earth: Railroads and the Soul of Preservation. He lives in Seattle, Washington.