Description
A railroad came to the mountains! To the Mountains by Rail is a landmark in railroad history. Written by renowned rail historian Manville B. Wakefield, the book is ground-breaking in its treatment of the details of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway, and in its exploration of Sullivan County history. The book takes readers back to a time when the Catskill Mountains were the major vacation destination on the East Coast, playing host to tens of thousands of visitors each summer. Wakefield has recreated this era in masterful style. He has assembled an unusually detailed photographic record of the O&W line, the people who traveled it, and the great bygone resort hotels of the area.
Manville B. Wakefield’s To the Mountains by Rail picks up where James Eldridge Quinlan left off in his 1873 history of Sullivan County, New York. This book is a must for the collection of any rail buff and anyone with an interest in the development and decline of the Catskill resorts. With 29 chapters, 32 original line drawings, 11 maps and more than 500 photographs, the book is a treasure trove of railroad history, social insight and nostalgia.
Manville B. Wakefield was a historian, artist, educator, and rail enthusiast. A president of the Sullivan County Historical Society, Wakefield set a high standard for thorough and beautifully illustrated works of local history.
