Fascinating history of the transformation of many of America's railroads from the grime of the Steam Age to the promise of a cleaner, smoother motive power. The author, a noted railroad writer, covers the entire story -- from the first successful electric locomotive built by Robert Davidson in 1838 through Frank J. Sprague's development of electric street railways, the foresight of the Pennsylvania Railroad's William Wallace Atterbury, the faith of C. A. Goodnow of the Milwaukee Road, the awesome Hell Gate Bridge, Illinois Central's Chicago terminus through to the experimental catenaries on the Union Pacific in the early 1970s. The book focuses mainly on Class I railroads in the US but it also has sections on electrification of branch lines, mines, and railroads in South and Central America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba). Illustrated throughout with hundreds of black and white photos as well as maps and drawings. 439 pages with detailed index.