FACES OF RAILROADING: Portraits of America's greatest industry

by Carl A. Swanson

A glorious photographic tribute to the people who made railroading the greatest industry America has ever known, this book celebrates those who made the nation's railroads the envy of the world. Although its magnificent machines and inventions are often romanticized and celebrated alongside its most eccentric pioneers and tycoons, it is the faces of an unsung workforce that best personify this great industry. Readers will glimpse their own family history as they join train crews in the locomotive cab and at the back of the caboose.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Carl Swanson is the editor of Kalmbach Media Company's Model Railroader magazine. He has worked at Trains magazine and Classic Toy Trains magazine. He is the author of the Kalmbach book "Faces of Railroading" and "Lost Milwaukee" and "Historic Milwaukee Crimes" from The History Press. He also contributed essays to Belt Publishing's 2019 "The Milwaukee Anthology" and "The Milwaukee River Greenway" (River Revitalization Foundation, 2021).

Carl was the founding editor of Pentrex Publishing's RailNews magazine and served as editor of Passenger Train Journal magazine prior to joining Kalmbach in 1997.

Carl studied journalism at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, and photography at the Woodland School of Photography. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife Judith. The couple has three children. Carl blogs about the city and its history at http://milwaukeenotebook.com

Reviews

[Gary Aubry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read! I've always had a love of trains. Carl Swanson really brought to light a lot of what went on "behind the scenes."