Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Bibliography: American Railway Transportation

American Railway Transportation
by Emory R. Johnson
1903, D. Appleton & Company, New York
-available used from sources like Ebay and Amazon


I found a nice little volume, published in 1903 but largely written during the 1898 tax years, that provides a wonderful source of information on some of the most frequent users of 1898 tax stamps, especially of the 1 cent documentary.

Dr. Emory Johnson covers the state of the railway business at the beginning of the 20th century, with chapters very relevant to the 1898 cancel collector including: 

Chapter 5:  The Present Railway System of the United States
Chapter 9:  The Freight Service
Chapter 11: The Express Service of the Railways

In brief: 

Chapter 5, on the railway system in the US, groups major railroads by region and ownership.  As far as utility to the collector, this was the first source I've found that explained to me the difference between the Pennsylvania Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad, both frequent users of documentary stamps.  The Penna Co and The PRR were parts of the same railroad company.  The PRR included the the system east of Pittsburgh, while The Penna Co. included the company's operations west of Pittsburgh.  The book is valuable for the maps of ownership groups. 

Chapter 9 on freight services discusses revenue stamp relevant subjects such as bills of lading and fast freight lines.

Chapter 11, on express companies,  is a short and clear explanation of the role and relationship between the express companies and railroads.  The major companies and their origins are included.  There is background material on the Adams, American, Pacific, Southern Expresses and more. 

Copies of this book can be found on Ebay or through Amazon, usually in the $10 to $20 range.

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