Aldrich, Mark (Author)
Throughout the early twentieth century, railroad safety steadily improved across the United States. But by the 1960s, American railroads had fallen apart, the result of a regulatory straightjacket that eroded profitability and undermined safety. Collisions, derailments, worker fatalities, and grade crossing mishaps skyrocketed, while hazmat disasters exploded into newspaper headlines. In Back on Track, his sequel to Death Rode the Rails, Mark Aldrich traces the history of railroad accidents beginning in 1965, when Congress responded to bankrupt and scandal-ridden carriers by enacting a new safety regime. Aldrich details the federalization of rail safety and the implementation of a massive grade crossing program. He touches on post-1976 economic deregulation, which provided critical financing that underwrote better public safety. He also explores how the National Transportation Safety Board acted as a public scold to shine bright lights on private failings, while Federal Railroad Administration regulations reinforced market incentives for better safety. Ultimately, Aldrich concludes, the past 50 years have seen great strides in restoring railroad safety while enhancing industry profitability. Arguing that it was not inadequate safety regulation but rather stifling economic regulation that initially caused an uptick in train accidents, Back on Track is both a paen to the return of more competitive railroading and the only comprehensive history of the safety of modern American railroads. Praise for Death Rode the Rails"A masterful study of the complex evolution of railroad safety."―American Historical Review"Students of rail safety, and today's Class I railroad managers, need to read this volume."―Trains"Aldrich has created a masterpiece. His research is extensive, drawing on a rich variety of obscure yet relevant sources."―Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"One of the first large-scale scholarly studies of railroad safety in America."―Railroad History"A thought-provoking and well-grounded contribution to the history of American economic development."―Journal of American History"Pioneering... A central message of Aldrich's book is that 'little accidents' played a crucial though until now largely hidden role in the gradual evolution of a risk society."―Technology and Culture"A work of merit... essential reading for historians of transport safety, business, and technology."―Journal of Transport History"Impressive and thoroughly researched... Demonstrates how railroad safety evolved from the intersection of market pressures, technology, and public sentiment."―Journal of Southern History
...MoreReview Gangloff, Amy (October 2019) Review of "Back on Track: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1965–2015". Technology and Culture (pp. 1117-1119).
Review David C. Lester (Fall-Winter 2018) Review of "Back on Track: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1965–2015". Railroad History (pp. 99-100).
Article
Rhine, Stan;
(Fall-Winter 2017)
The Railroad Safety Appliance Acts
(/isis/citation/CBB009796379/)
Article
Gregory P. Ames;
(Fall-Winter 2018)
Mother Hubbards' Bone of Contention
(/isis/citation/CBB204261367/)
Book
Sarah E. Robey;
(2022)
Atomic Americans: Citizens in a Nuclear State
(/isis/citation/CBB648725464/)
Thesis
Kim, Richard S.Y.;
(2010)
Cyber-Surveillance: A Case Study in Policy and Development
(/isis/citation/CBB001567169/)
Article
Mirowski, Alexander;
(2017)
At the Electronic Crossroads Once Again: The Myth of the Modern Computer Utility in the United States
(/isis/citation/CBB369914463/)
Book
Philippe Saint-Raymond;
(2012)
Une longue marche vers l'indépendance et la transparence l'histoire de l'Autorité de sûreté nucléaire française (A long march towards independence and transparency the history of the French Nuclear Safety Authority)
(/isis/citation/CBB553727094/)
Article
Maury Klein;
(Spring-Summer 2019)
What the Transcontinental Railroad Wrought
(/isis/citation/CBB941796191/)
Book
Wilson, Jeffrey K.;
Rehberg, Randy;
(2014)
Great American Railroad Stories: 75 Years of Trains Magazine
(/isis/citation/CBB232156804/)
Article
Pär Blomkvist;
Martin Emanuel;
(July 2020)
Regulating Innovation: Utility vs. Leisure in Swedish Moped History, 1952–1961
(/isis/citation/CBB229059967/)
Article
Kaori Kitagawa;
(2015)
Continuity and Change in Disaster Education in Japan
(/isis/citation/CBB236182879/)
Article
Luegenbiehl, Heinz C.;
(2009)
Societal Values and Nuclear Power: A Case of Conflicting Priorities
(/isis/citation/CBB001031098/)
Article
Foley, Jillian;
(March 2019)
Regulating Contested Reality: The Failure of US Encryption Regulations
(/isis/citation/CBB627277329/)
Book
Kerr, Ian J.;
(2007)
Engines of Change: The Railroads That Made India
(/isis/citation/CBB000950798/)
Book
Sean Seyer;
(2021)
Sovereign Skies: The Origins of American Civil Aviation Policy
(/isis/citation/CBB651045978/)
Book
Robert McKnight;
(2013)
You Can't Beat the Train: An Overview of Highway-rail Grade Crossing Safety in North America, 1830-2009
(/isis/citation/CBB460567152/)
Article
George Martin;
(2019)
A Sustainability Interrogation of the Autonomous Vehicle at Its Society-Technology Interface
(/isis/citation/CBB041327262/)
Article
Farley, Tom;
(Winter 2007)
The Cell Phone Revolution
(/isis/citation/CBB729065131/)
Book
Craig Ryan;
(2015)
Sonic Wind: The Story of John Paul Stapp and How a Renegade Doctor Became the Fastest Man on Earth
(/isis/citation/CBB027020848/)
Book
Peter Norton;
(2021)
Autonorama: The illusory promise of high-tech driving
(/isis/citation/CBB174173957/)
Article
Lisa M. PytlikZillig;
Brittany Duncan;
Sebastian Elbaum;
Carrick Detweiler;
(March 2018)
A Drone by Any Other Name: Purposes, End-User Trustworthiness, and Framing, but Not Terminology, Affect Public Support for Drones
(/isis/citation/CBB947202008/)
Be the first to comment!