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Title: The Fallen Colossus by Robert Sobel ISBN: 1-893122-88-3 Publisher: Beard Group Pub. Date: August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: A Detailed History
Comment: The Fallen Colossus is, on the surface, the story of the failure of the Penn Central Railroad. Sobel, however, takes great pains to chronicle the development of transportation in America. Starting with the the very begining of freight and passenger transit by roads and turnpikes, through the canal era, he ulitmately provides a thorough treatment of the eastern lines (and even a bit beyond when he discusses the impact of air and highway transport on the rail industry). The book is, at times, tedious with figures and balance sheets, though they are important to understanding railroads as a business and as a contributing factor to the near catastrophic collapse of the 1960s. The book was written as the Penn Central mess was just being cleaned up with the advent of Conrail and Amtrak. It is notable that the author notes the overly optimistic estimate by the directors of the new Conrail organization that they expected to take these bankrupt railroads and make them profitable by the 1980s. The author and others doubt this potential. Ironically, it worked and Conrail was reasonably successful where the Penn Central failed. Overall, an informative, if not lively, read for those looking into how not to run a railroad.

One curious item is the generic cover art. It cannot possibly be part of what was the Penn Central. The scene is one of flat desert with straight rails running toward a series of treeless hills on the horizon. It looks more like the Southern Pacific as this scene couldn't possibly be Appalachia. Details, details.