Soldiers, Spies & Steam

The first book to examine the role of the Northern Central Railway during the Civil War, this work discusses the origins of the NCRW, its route structure, destructive Confederate raids at the start of the war, and the troops who rode the rails. President Lincoln used the Northern Central to travel to and from Gettysburg for the dedication of the National Cemetery; his brief remarks are immortalized as the Gettysburg Address. His funeral train would also pass over the same route. Accidents, spies, sabotage, political intrigue, and the expansion of the railroad as a military and economic necessity form the backbone of the book. Of special interest is a detailed examination of a series of controversial photographs taken at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania, which may or may not show Abraham Lincoln on his way to deliver the Gettysburg Address.