Celebrate National Train Day with GALILEO

National Train Day is coming up on May 11th. We thought this would be an excellent excuse to show off all things train-related in GALILEO.

The railroad was an influential part of Georgia’s history. For a review of the expansion and decline of the railroad in Georgia, take a look at the Railroads article in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. You can even find out how the origin of Atlanta is connected to the railroad. For a lot of wonderful historical images, take a look at all the trains in Digital Library of Georgia.

For a broader look at trains and their history, search Discover GALILEO for railroad to see articles and images on the history of the railroad, including how the development of railroads impacted the West and how they took the “Wild” out of it.

For a deeper look at train cars, rails, and the operation of them, take a look at the Railroad article in Encyclopædia Britannica (for the institutions that purchase Britannica resources). Also, Annals of American History offers a first-hand perspective of the railroads in America with letters, government documents, and other primary sources, including this letter describing the birth and explosive growth of the railroad towns that would spring up around the rail lines.

Some links may not work off site. Log in to GALILEO first for access.

Image from the Vanishing Georgia collection in the Digital Library of Georgia