Our Alice takes a break from visiting stops in Whenland.
PRIZE: book of your choice from October Trix-n-Treatz book list and a surprize Alice-in-Wonderland-related item.
-offer ends November 13, 2011
I shall post a challenge task each day through Oct 31.
You MUST complete all 5 tasks:
links will be provided for these as the posts go live
task 1: Journey
task 2: Pioneers
task 3: Gateway
task 4: Laurel Line - see task below
task 5: signup form
TASK: (2-parts)
An Anthracite Region Railway
by James N.J. Henwood and John G. Muncie
The dawn of the 20th century saw a new form of transportation evolve in the United States: the interurban electric railway. These enterprises were natural offshoots of the original, short urban trolley lines that quickly replaced the horse car in the 1890s.
Most trolley lines lived in relative obscurity and enjoyed a few years of prosperity, followed by decline and abandonment in the face of bus and automotive competition. A relative handful managed to survive until the post-World War II years and thus have attracted greater attention.
Among them was the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad. The Laurel Line, as it was most commonly known, was unusual in several respects: It was built to higher-than-normal standards for electric short line railroads; it operated mostly with a third rail power system; it ran exclusively on private rights-of-way; and it served a geographically narrow region whose economy was heavily dependent on one industry - coal.
The Laurel Line's corporate records survived, and authors Henwood and Muncie made the most of this historical treasure. In the book, the railroad emerges in human terms of strife, struggle, victory and defeat. The reader learns not only what happened, but why, and who made it happen.
All railroads are interesting if properly researched - the Laurel Line as portrayed in this work is profoundly fascinating. Life in Pennsylvania's anthracite region is detailed when the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad was fighting the good fight.
1. WATCH the Book Trailer for this:
