Landmarks on the Iron Road: Two Centuries of North American Railroad Engineering (review)

Landmarks on the Iron Road: Two Centuries of North American Railroad Engineering. By William D. Middleton. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. Pp. x+194. $39.95.

Landmarks on the Iron Road documents a vivid aspect of North American railroad history, one touched upon in other publications—as the bibliography indicates—but seemingly never the focus of a study quite like this. William D. Middleton has engineered a well-informed and accessible work, part narrative, part reference, part gazetteer.

"Across the Waters" takes up a third of the book and traces the development of railroad bridges from the earliest wooden trusses to box girder/ reinforced concrete structures. "Across Great Mountains" examines surveying and topographical obstacles. "Railroads below Ground," not surprisingly, is concerned with tunnels and tunneling methods. "Yards, Docks, and Terminals" takes a look at some less appreciated aspects of the railroad environment, such as ore docks or the stark commonplace of the modern container terminal. The book is rounded off with "Lost Landmarks."

Middleton begins each section with a detailed preamble that fixes the greater mass of each chapter into a historical foundation. He then continues with chronological accounts of specific structures, features, or routes, interspersing these with thumbnail biographies of key engineers and, where beneficial, technical definitions and explanations. A career civil engineer, the author stakes out and explores his territory with an unassuming authority. Paradoxically, this is hardly likely to win new converts to the cause (especially considering the mostly dry tone of the writing) but the very nature of the subject and the evident respect and admiration he feels for the engineers and their achievements lifts the work above a plain documentary level.

The majority of railroad history publications are concerned either with corporate history or motive power and rolling stock. Depots and vernacular railroad architecture have also been scrutinized, documented, and appreciated. Despite its sidestepping these well-trodden areas, Middleton's work should still have a strong appeal, especially to those readers intrigued by personalities, technical detail, or aesthetic concerns. The photographs evoke ambition and the pioneering spirit, and motivated readers will be pleased with the directions provided for seeing the various landmarks in person. Middleton is also subtly making a case for the craft and ambitions of contemporary civil engineers, upon whose skills the more glamorous or obvious aspects of contemporary railroading rely, whether via the monitoring and upgrade of venerable engineering features or through new construction and methods.

Landmarks on the Iron Road perhaps functions best as an understated reference work. The selective content and thematic organization is readily navigated, and while Middleton stops shy of providing a complete overview, his book's vivid accounts and clear explanations provoke further browsing—certainly for this reviewer one of the marks of a successful reference work.