All aboard for the first comprehensive history of the hard-working and wildly influential Northeast Corridor. ¿Traversed by thousands of trains and millions of riders, the Northeast Corridor might be America¿s most famous railway, but its influence goes far beyond the right-of-way. David Alff welcomes readers aboard to see how nineteenth-century train tracks did more than connect Boston to Washington, DC. They transformed hundreds of miles of Atlantic shoreline into a political capital, a global financial hub, and home to fifty million people. The Northeast Corridor reveals how freight trains, commuter rail, and Amtrak influenced¿and in turn were shaped by¿centuries of American industrial expansion, metropolitan growth, downtown decline, and revitalization. ¿Paying as much attention to Aberdeen, Trenton, New Rochelle, and Providence as to New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, Alff provides narrative thrills for history buffs, train enthusiasts, and adventurers alike. What¿s more,