Websites about Railroads
For Adults:
Description: Contains many links to quality railroad information sites and news on the Internet, such as historical societies and museums sites.
Description: Contains an extensive archive of railroad history and features a search engine, as well as a gallery of railroad art.
Description: Steam Locomotive Dot Com is full of extensive and somewhat technical information about steam locomotives, and also features an excellent FAQ section.
Description: Union Pacific Railroad History describes the people, equipment, and important locations that made the building of the Transcontinental Railroad possible.
Description: They Rode the Orphan Trains is an informative site about New York’s homeless children who sought better lives in the Midwest. It includes stories about the lives of individual children.
For Adults and Children:
Description: It’s Just Railroad Talk is a kid-friendly site that can help everyone learn essential train, engineering, transportation and yard terms. Another section of the website details the differences between various types of trains.
Description: Steel Rails and Iron Horses: From Steam to Maglev is about the transition from steam to electrically powered trains. It makes the complicated mechanics of train engines easy to understand. The site also delves into the advent of the diesel engine, as well as the possibility of trains that run on magnetic repulsion.
Description: Streamliners: Americas Lost Trains presents information about the PBS documentary of the same name, but also includes a detailed timeline. The “Special Features” link leads to information about the composition of steel and the workings of the diesel electric engine. A “People and Events” section features information about some of the most important people in railroad history, as well as essential historical and political events such as the Interstate Commerce Act and The World’s Fair.
Description: Driving the Last Spike details the contributions of the “Big Four,” the important figures that helped to get the Transcontinental Railroad built in the 1860s.
Description: Golden Spike National Historic Site is about the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Point in 1869. The site’s narrative style of presenting history is particularly engaging as well as informative.
Description: The First American Transcontinental Railroad is a well-organized site about the Transcontinental Railroad. It features excellent pictures and briefly addresses the railroad’s importance and what remains of it today.
Description: Steel Rails and Iron Horses: The Transcontinental Railroad is a succinct history of the Transcontinental Railroad, and presents the underlying politics of the building of the railroad.
Description: Riding the Rails deals with the PBS documentary about orphan trains, but also includes a timeline, a “Tails from the Rails” section and railroad hobo songs. Another section details the obstacles faced by many African American hobos. A Teacher’s Guide is helpful for teachers who wish to show the PBS documentary in their classrooms.
Description: Orphan Trains of Kansas contains comprehensive information about the orphan trains that traveled from Kansas to New York. It features sections on true stories, history, real newspaper accounts, and excellent pictures and illustrations.