Railroad Forums 

  • New book about WMATA

  • Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.
Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.

Moderators: mtuandrew, therock, Robert Paniagua

 #218801  by Sand Box John
 
New book by Zachary M. Schrag titled “The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro” from The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Image

To learn more about the author, visit Zachary M. Schrag’s web site at www.schrag.info

As usual it can be had from any of the following online sources The Johns Hopkins University Press Amazon.com Barnes and Noble and Powell's. I picked up my copy at Barnes and Noble in Salisbury Maryland.

If you haven’t already ordered or purchased it, do so. This is the most definitive work that I have read. If you are expecting book with pictures this isn’t it. If you are look for a complete history of WMATA this is it. I have found it to be very enlightening and sometimes amusing.

A few priceless passages.

“Jackson Graham had little experience with such concerns. He was no stranger to public hearings, which were standard in Corps of Engineers projects, but most corps projects involved relatively unpopulated bodies of water, and only a few conservationists spoke for the fish. He ignored his assistant’s warnings that pushing a subway through downtown was more complicated then flooding a Nebraska cornfield.”

“WMATA planner William Herman complained that the system’s main transfer station was badly named. He argued that “12th and G” was both confusing (several entrances would be on other streets) an too undistinguished for so important a station. Ever the reasonable, Graham agreed to let Herman choose a better name. “I’ll let you know” responded the relieved Herman. “No” Graham explained “I’ll give you twenty seconds.” Stunned, Herman blurted out the first words that came to his head “Metro Center” “Fine, that’s it, go on to the next one” replied the general.”

“The Authority also gave the system a name. The NCTA had long resisted using “subway” and “elevated”, for both connoted the noisy dirty systems of New York and Chicago. Staffers played with alternatives, including “the Rapid” and ‘the Underground” as well as monstrous names that only politicians could love, like the District-Maryland-Virginia-Transit-System. One jokingly recommended “Federal Area Rapid Transit” easily abbreviated as FART. It took Weese’s Italian graphics consultant, Massimo Vignelli, to come up with a more elegant term “Metro”.”

 #218947  by Robert Paniagua
 
How can I order that book, if you can?

And does it contain photos and the like, just like "The Story of Metro"?

Thanks for your help

 #219363  by Sand Box John
 
"Robert Paniagua"
How can I order that book, if you can?

I ordered my copy Monday 20 February at the Barns and Noble in Salisbury Maryland. Purchased and picked it up Friday 24 February. You can get it through most any book store.

"Robert Paniagua"
And does it contain photos and the like, just like "The Story of Metro"?

The ratio of pictures to text is a fraction of that compared to Ron Deiter’s book. However there are various graphics that have never been published.

If you want pictures you might want to get Metro at 25 it can also be had at Amazon.com.

 #225911  by geoking66
 
I'm going to DC next week, I hope that I can get the book!