From Steam to Diesel: Managerial Customs and Organizational Capabilities in the Twentieth-century American Locomotive Industry

[jjb1970]

The talk of driving a stake through the heart of internal combustion engines in cars motivated me to re-read this book, although a few years old it is superb:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001TH8XLG/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The book is more about management and corporate behaviours and managing a technological discontinuity than it is about trains, but it is a well written and insightful book (even if some managementese jargon does creep in) and well worth a read.

 

Albert Churella also wrote a fabulous history of the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1846 and 1917 which is probably the definitive work on the subject:

 

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pennsylvania-Railroad-Building-1846-1917-American/dp/081224348X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1501181854&sr=1-2

 

I bought it when it was published and have been eagerly awaiting the second volume ever since.