Böcker av Don L. Hofsommer

Genuinely talented and successful managers in any field-business, government, military, academia-are scarce. John Howard Burdakin was a happy exception to the norm. This engaging biography examines Burdakin's life in the railroad industry-at Pennsylvania Railroad, Penn Central, and finally at Grand Trunk Corporation-during a tumultuous time in the transportation business and underscores his core principles and how he employed them in the management of people and property. Some contemporary observers may consider Burdakin's often conservative style as quite out of date, but a more sober assessment reveals that his approach has utility in any time and in any field. An excellent resource for leadership professionals, this study focuses on Burdakin's career in management, ever stressing his foundational convictions-how he came by them, how he employed those principles as a manager, and how they were understood by those who worked for him or with him. Through teamwork, trust, hard work, honesty, diligence, and integrity, Burdakin would become respected as one of the railroad industry's brightest guiding lights.

In this visually stunning and comprehensive photographic essay, railroad historian and photographer Donovan L. Hofsommer records the end of branchline passenger service, the demise of electric railroads, the transition from steam to diesel power, as well as the end of common carrier freight service on the Colorado narrow gauge. Off the Main Lines carries readers along out-of-the-way railways in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, and South Dakota to see the changes that occurred on these lines from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Railroads helped to define the character of America, and that certainly was the case in Iowa. Pioneer lines penetrated the interior from Mississippi River communities during the state's early railroad era, and later opened up huge tracts for agricultural opportunity, and urban development. This work gives a survey of Iowa's railroad experience.