For over 100 years, the railroads of America were the king
of transportation. But more than that, they were truly what drove the
Industrial Revolution, and along with that, the growth of the country.
Railroads made communities from nothing, grew sleepy crossroad towns
into major hubs of commerce, and opened areas of Delmarva to goods they
once could only read about in magazines and newspapers.
By the 1960s, all of this had changed. Passenger service had fallen
off to the point that most railroads had ended this once vital travel
method. Trucks now hauled the goods that once filled the boxcars of the
railroad. Many old rail lines closed. The rails and stations were
abandoned to the state governments. Most were just left in place to rust
and rot away.
This book resurrects those abandoned rails and railroad companies.
Photos of the stations, once the center of their town's growth, are
preserved in these pages. Memories of the companies that crisscrossed
Delmarva are brought back to life.
