Traces the history of the railroad during the height of its success, looks at its locomotive and rolling stock, and shares employee anecdotes.

History and development of steam power since 1900, including railroad-by-railroad histories and rosters.

When diesel power began to displace steam in earnest during the early 1960s, the publicity departments at Southern and later at Norfolk Southern (after the merger of the former with Norfolk & Western) began offering excursions on passenger trains pulled by classic locomotives like Southern Railway No. 4501, N&W Class J No. 611, and the giant N&W A-Class No. 1218. For three decades, these steam-powered excursions delighted railfans throughout the Southeast. Color photography of these bygone behemoths and others in action transport readers back to the pastoral steam era, just as the excursion trains did for 30 years. A fascinating text details the nostalgia-filled public relations steam operations of 1964 to 1994, and is accompanied by rosters of every excursion documented during the period.