The best-loved company symbol of all time. Introduced in 1933, Chessie appeared on calendars, railroad memorabilia, and in advertisements and was modernized to form the logo for the new Chessie System paint scheme in 1972.

This second volume in a series of books about railroading in Virginia details the history of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway from its inception as the Louisa Railroad in central Virginia in 1836 up to modern times. Each chapter explains how a subdivision of the railway developed, including the types of locomotive used, the nature of the traffic carried, and geographical considerations. The many photographs are mostly from the 1930-1960 era. Maps and track plans add to the rich illustrative treatment, making this a gazetteer of the line.

Take a photographic journey along the 184-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, from the streets of Georgetown to the railway depot at the canal's western terminus. The C & O Canal sprang from the dreams of George Washington, who wanted to build a transportation link between tidewater Washington, D.C. and the Ohio River. Though commerce on the canal ceased years ago, today it is a place for contemplation and recreation, a unique and precious blend of human and natural history. In more than 100 beautiful photographs, author Gary Anthes offers stunning views of the natural world – including birds, fish, insects, and trees – as he peers into the past at the fading but resolute houses, locks, and aqueducts left behind by the men and women who kept the canal boats flowing one hundred years ago. This book is both a treasured keepsake for tourists and a wonderful resource for history buffs and nature lovers.

This book by T. W. Dixon, Jr., details the whole history of passenger train service on the C&O. Beginning with the Virginia Central in the 1840s and ending with Amtrak's takeover in 1971, much of the information has never before been published. Especially during the 1920-1971 period, the era of the heavyweight steel passenger equipment and the lightweight streamlined cars, the heaviest and most powerful steam locomotives, and the iconic E8 diesels - a wealth of detail. Mail, express, dining car, sleeping car, and ancillary service are covered, as well as motive power, cars, schedules, consists, methods of operation, stations, staff/personnel, advertising, and all the elements that went to make the C&O's passenger trains not only highly efficient, greatly successful, widely known, and well respected. Though passengers accounted for only 5% of C&O's revenue in the mid-20th century era, the company lavished a great deal of attention on it. The feeling was that, to truly be a first class railway, C&O had to have the very best passenger service. Innovations starting in the 1880s and leading up into the 1950s, put C&O at the forefront of passenger service development from an operational and technological viewpoint. In the final decades C&O absorbed the passenger losses in the belief that the passenger train was the best advertising that it could have.

This book picks up where the previous two Classic American titles left off, focusing on the golden age of American railroading from 1945 to the early 1970s. It extends to the present day where applicable, providing a colorful look at locomotives, passenger and freight operations, development, and, in some cases, demise. Full color.