Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is too good not to have at least one review. While I have no overwhelming interest in Midwestern interurbans, the combination of Amazon's price, admiration for author Harwood's other work, and the quality of Indiana University Press' Railroads Past and Present series of books made a purchase irresistible.
It took longer to write The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story than the 37 years the company existed. Authors Harwood and Korach completed the writing of a project begun by John Rehor and Willis McCaleb. Perhaps the Lake Shore was fortunate in running between populous Cleveland and Toledo, but the photographic record of the line is simply amazing #although coverage of the extreme western end of the line near Toledo has been slighted#. There is enough detailed coverage of the nuts and bolts to satisfy the hard core rail buff: main line operations, local service in cities and towns, equipment, freight, and wrecks #typical of interurbans, there were more than enough of those#.
But readers with interests in economics and technology should also enjoy the book. The interurbans "flamed out" with a rapidity that is rare in American history. Harwood and Korach explain why the Lake Shore finally went bankrupt, and how management in a declining industry fought against the inevitable.
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