"While climatological observations have been steadily accumulating for the last quarter of a century, the general results are inaccessible, not only to the general public but also to tho great majority of students and investigators interested in the advancement of scientific agriculture in the United States. The work herewith aims to present in form for ready reference comparative climatic statistics for the different portions of the United States, accompanied by explanatory charts and text. The charts and text figures are necessary to a proper understanding of the text"--Letter of transmittal.

Containing 202 hand-drawn color maps of every railroad line in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, this book provides a unique record of a time when passenger trains still made stops in every town and freight trains carried the bulk of the nation's cargo. Drawn at a scale of 1 inch to 4 miles, the maps include main and branch passenger and freight lines, former steam locomotive and manual signal tower stations, towns that functioned as crew change points, track pans, coaling stations, and a variety of indexes of railroad features. Carpenter is a longtime observer and collector of railroad history. This is the first volume in a series that eventually will provide the first comprehensive atlas of the U.S. post-World War II railroad system. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

This volume presents a detailed empirical analysis based on a large cross-national data collection, covering the entire post-war period from 1945 to 1999.