Featuring 256 drawings, this history of military trains and railways from 1853 through 1953 describes how the railroad transformed the nature of warfare. Transport and logistics are discussed for armored trains, rail-borne artillery and armored combat vehicles, medical evacuation trains and draisines (light auxiliary vehicles such as handcars). The railroad's role in establishing European colonial empires in Asia and Africa is examined. Conflicts covered include the Boer Wars, the American Civil War, the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Russo-Turkish War, World War I, the Finnish Civil War, the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the French Indochina War.

"Detailed history of the use and importance of railways during the war in South Africa (the Boer War), written by Sir Edward Percy Cranvill Girouard, Director of Railways for the British South African Field Force. With chapters on the creation and control of a military railway staff, the Cape Government Railway, the Natal Railway, all facets of the Imperial Military Railways (construction, organisation by region, locomotives, railway telegraph, stores and accounts, etc.), and the use of armored trains."--Amazon

A story of true heroism. America's 44,000 soldier-railroaders kept vast numbers of troops and essential supplies moving through war-torn Europe.

With its gallery of over 360 striking and unfamiliar images and extensive historical text World Railways of the Nineteenth Century invites readers to experience an unparalleled glimpse into the world of nineteenth-century railroading.Peter Skinner, Foreword