Amtrak America’s Railroad records the many trials of keeping America’s railroad passenger service on track, and there were and still remain many. The chapters offer coverage of “What We Had,” “Creating a New National Network,” “Where Do We Go From Here?” and “The Road to the Future.” The authors have dug deep to record input from many railroad and governmental sources to tell this history. This is not a typical railfan book with equipment photos and action shots. But for those who want to get into the nuts and bolts of Amtrak’s creation and ongoing problems and solutions, I know of no better source than Amtrak America’s Railroad.
By Geoffrey H. Doughty, Jeffrey T. Darbee, and Eugene E. Harmon. Indiana University Press, 238 pages. $40.
