Tag Archives: transportation

Are We There Yet?

Posted on March 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless ©  2019 Dan Albert 304 pages Are we there yet? I mean, at the end of the book?  Because it’s not fun.  Oh, sure, the author is trying to … Continue reading →

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Romance of the Rails

Posted on March 21, 2019 by smellincoffee

Romance of the Rails: Why the Trains We Love Are Not the Transportation We Need© 2018 Randal O’Toole300 pages “These are the 1930s again, with all the charm and romance, all the gaiety! That was a carefree world, Danny, and … Continue reading →

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Short rounds and leftovers:

Posted on November 24, 2018 by smellincoffee

Hello, readers! Here’s hoping those of you in the US had an enjoyable Thanksgiving on Thursday. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of my cousins, though I did rather poorly in our board game of choice.  I blame the dice.   … Continue reading →

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Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am

Posted on March 23, 2018 by smellincoffee

Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am© 2011 Robert Gandt351 pages How does a world-class airline fall so quickly from the heights that its pilots are accidentally locked in the building when it closes its doors for the last time, forced … Continue reading →

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Door to Door

Posted on March 22, 2018 by smellincoffee

Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation© 2016 Edward Humes384 pages Are you interested in the Port of Los Angeles? Do you hate cars and find hushed reports of every auto death in a single day great … Continue reading →

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Fares Please!

Posted on January 17, 2018 by smellincoffee

Fares, Please! A Popular History of Trolleys, Horsecars, Streetcar,s, Buses, Elevateds, and Subways© 1941, 1960 John Anderson Miller204 pages With her high starch collar and her high-topped shoes,  and her hair piled high above her headShe went to find a … Continue reading →

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Conquest of the Skies

Posted on November 7, 2017 by smellincoffee

Conquest of the Skies: A History of Commercial Aviation in America© 1979 Carl Solberg441 pages If ever you wanted a history of commercial aviation in the United States, Conquest of the Skies is it. Beginning with the origins of flight … Continue reading →

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A Thousand Miles from Nowhere

Posted on October 1, 2017 by smellincoffee

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere© 1995 Graham Coster275 pages Great literature has been produced from travelers’ tales, from those who walked or rode trains or even drove — but none from a truck, says Graham Coster. In the hopes of … Continue reading →

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Infrastructure: A Field Guide

Posted on September 14, 2017 by smellincoffee

Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape© 1999, 2014 Brian Hayes544 pages Here at last is a book for those of us who constantly gaze out the car window at the fixtures on utility poles, or drums mounted in … Continue reading →

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Mean Streets

Posted on January 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

Mean Streets: Confessions of a Nightime Taxi Driver© 2002 Peter McSherry256 pages Mean Streets takes readers into the dark side of Canada, or at least the dark side of Toronto. Ever since the 1970s, Peter McSherry has been driving the night … Continue reading →

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