Books by William D. Middleton

A comprehensive history of North American railroad electrification.

Deals with the growth and development of urban rail transit systems in North America. This volume traces the history of rail transit technology from such impractical early schemes as a proposed steam-powered "arcade railway" under New York's Broadway through the sophisticated systems.

Two dozen illustrated stories describing William D Middleton's railroad journeys in North and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East.

In this lavishly illustrated memoir, William D. Middleton invites readers to climb aboard and share with him 60 years of railroad tourism around the globe. Middleton's award-winning photography has recorded events such as the final days of American Civil War locomotives in Morocco and the start up of the world's first high-speed railway in Japan. He has photographed such great civil works as Scotland's Firth of Forth Bridge and the splendid railway station at Haydarpasa on the Asian side of the Bosporus, while closer to home he has been recognized for his significant contribution to the photographic interpretation of North America's railroading history. On Railways Far Away presents over 200 of Middleton's favorite photographs and the personal stories behind the images. It is a book that will delight both armchair travelers and those for whom the railroads still hold romance.

Frank Julian Sprague invented a system for distributing electricity to streetcars from overhead wires. Within a year, electric streetcars had begun to replace horsecars, sparking a revolution in urban transportation. Sprague (1857-1934) was an American naval officer turned inventor who worked briefly for Thomas Edison before striking out on his own. Sprague contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His innovations would help transform the urban space of the 20th century, enabling cities to grow larger and skyscrapers taller. The Middletons' generously illustrated biography is an engrossing study of the life and times of a maverick innovator.