"Schneider’s extensive research and sympathetic rendering of this case make for enjoyable and informative reading. For historians and others interested in the intricacies of political economy and the law in action this is a must-read."—Middle West Review
"This is one of the greatest contributions to railroad history that has been presented over the past several years, and one cannot completely understand the history of US railroads in the final half of the 20th century without reading this book."—Railroad History
"This impressive volume chronicles the long, sad decline of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and illustrates how federal regulation dating back to the early 20th century had become counterproductive by the 1960s."—Trains
"Gregory L. Schneider has given us a fine account of this excruciatingly tangled affair. . . . The book is an important contribution to our understanding of regulatory proceedings and the workings of bankruptcy litigation."—American Historical Review
"The Rock Island’s plight is an amazing story and Schneider does it complete justice here."—Michigan Railfan
“An exciting story that is well researched and pleasingly written and that makes a major contribution to recent railroad history.”—H. Roger Grant, author of The Railroads: The Life Story of a Technology
“Schneider’s careful research shows that misguided regulation forced a troubled railroad out of business and made bankruptcy lawyers rich. Rock Island Requiem reminds us how the all-powerful Interstate Commerce Commission turned the railroad industry into a basket case, much to the nation’s loss.”—Marc Levinson, author of The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger
“In Schneider’s tightly-organized, clear, and illuminating history, the Rock Island becomes a key ingredient in the reshaping of the economic partnership between government, industry, and finance at a crucial period in American history.”—Edward Brunner, author of Splendid Failure and former employee of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway
11/15/2013
In this railroad business history, Schneider (history, Emporia State Univ.) chronicles the course of the Rock Island Line from 1948 to its liquidation as a railroad in 1980. Schneider says that after a few prosperous postwar years, competition from trucks, airlines, and barges, coupled with hobbling government regulation and tough labor unions, depleted the Rock Island and other railroads of the revenue they needed to survive. Having skimped on modernization and maintenance, the company needed to complete a merger with the stronger Union Pacific by the 1960s, but opposition from rival railroads and more than a decade of study by the Interstate Commerce Commission cut that lifeline. By 1975, the railroad was in bankruptcy and well on its way to being dismantled. Schneider says that the sad story of the Rock Island Line represents a microcosm of failed American railroads in the postwar era. VERDICT While Schneider's clear and painstaking documentation of the Rock Island's demise is essential reading for students of transportation and others specifically interested in the line, his detailed coverage of litigation and regulatory wrangling will lose readers interested primarily in railroad operations or train history.—Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA