Tag Archives: transportation

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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In the City of Bikes

Posted on January 13, 2017 by smellincoffee

In the City of Bikes: the Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist© 2013 Pete Jordan448 pages “It is quite possible that all the bicycles in the world are not in Amsterdam, but you’ll never be able to convince me.”  American tourist, … Continue reading →

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Danger Heavy Goods

Posted on December 4, 2016 by smellincoffee

Danger Heavy Goods: Driving the Toughest, Most Dangerous Roads in the WorldAlso known as: Juggernaut: Trucking to Saudi Arabia© 1988 Robert Hutchinson288 pages “Makes Smokey and the Bandit Look Like Smokey and the Boy Scouts” When is a lorry not … Continue reading →

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The Works

Posted on November 25, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Works: Anatomy of a City© 2005  Kate Ascher240 pages Cities are, for my money, mankind’s most astonishing invention. Their complexity is stupefying — system within system, handling tons of material at any given time, whether the subject is cars … Continue reading →

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Truck This For A Living

Posted on November 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Truck This for a Living: Tales of a UK Lorry Driver© 2014  Gary Mottram226 pages After hand-manufacturing woodwind instruments for thirteen years, Gary Mottram was laid off. So naturally, he took up driving. Working through a temp agency, he delivered … Continue reading →

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