1. Early American Railway Projects
Oliver Evans, John Stevens, Robert Fulton
The Practicality of Steam Wagons
Charter for the Pennsylvania Railroad Granted in 1823

2. Colliery and Quarry Railroads
Gradual Improvement of the Primitive English Railroads
Importance of the Edge Rail
Three Great Railway Inventions
The First American Railroad
The Quincy Railroad

3. Knowledge of Railways in 1825
Labors of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements
Mr. Strickland's Report

4. Railway Progress from 1825 to 1830
Short Railways as Feeders to Canals
First Railway in the Schuylkill Region
The Mauch Chunk Railway
The Delaware & Hudson Railway
The First Locomotive Service
The Charleston & Hamburg or South Carolina Railway

5. Railway Construction from 1830 to 1840
Preparations for Railway Advances
Progress of Steamboat Movements
Railways Completed or Progressing in 1836

6. Progress in Various Sections
New York and New England Railways
New Jersey Improvements—The Camden and Amboy
Delaware and Maryland Improvements
Improvements in Pennsylvania and Southern and Western States
Railways in Southern and Western States
The General Results

7. Early Railway Financiering
State Aid, in Various Shapes
System of State Banking
The State Governments
Demoralizing Effects of the Construction of Internal Improvements by States
Early Massachusetts and New York Lines
In Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, South-western and Western States
All the State Debts in 1842
Effects of State Aid

8. Physical Characteristics
A Permanent Way
Locomotives and Cars Should be as Light as Possible
Different Plans of Construction
Constructing the Portage Railway
The Baltimore and Ohio

9. Early Rails, Sills and Stone Blocks
Detailed Description of the Methods Used on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad
"Snake Heads"
Wooden "Rails," String Pieces or Stringers
Origin of the T-Rail
Diversities in Permanent Way

10. Tunnels and Bridges
The Black Rock Tunnel
Railway Bridges and Viaducts
Bridge Crossing the Schuylkill River Near Peters' Island
Town Lattice Bridges
Protection of Wooden Bridges
Draw Bridges

11. Inclined Planes
Stationary Engines vs. Locomotives
Journey Over the Plane of the Allegheny Portage Railroad
Portage Railroads and their Uses
Method of Operation
First Ascent of an Inclined Plane by a Locomotive

12. Railways as Public Highways
Horse Power vs. Locomotives
Public Highway Theories
Supposed Analogy Between Railways and Turnpikes
Necessity of Effective Regulations

13. Early Locomotives
Pioneer American Locomotives
Imported English Locomotives
Defects of English Locomotives
Mr. Dripp Applies a Pilot to the John Bull Locomotive
Early American Locomotives
The Trial Trip of the Cooper Locomotive
Pioneer Locomotive Works
The Long and Norris Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Parkesburg Shops
Safety Chains, Connecting the Locomotive and Tender
The Introduction of Sand Boxes
The Phineas Davis Locomotive
The Rogers Locomotive Works

14. Notable Improvements of the Locomotive
Cabs, Spark Arresters, Equalizing Beams, etc.
Increase of Locomotive Capacity
Locomotive Possibilities in 1840
Baldwin Locomotives in 1840

15. Cars of the Early Lines
Development of a Necessity for "Springs"
Improvements on the Baltimore and Ohio
The First Eight-Wheeled Car in the United States
Barrel Shaped Cars
Limited Capacity of Freight Cars
Two-Story Cars
Passenger Cars on the Camden and Amboy
Miscellaneous Devices
Sleeping Cars
The Old Tioga Eight-Wheeled Passenger Car
Arrangements for Heating Cars
Devices for Lighting Cars
Car Seats
Tread-Mill Horse-Power Experiment

16. Novel Incidents on Early Railways
Some of the Original Defects
Opposition Encountered
Defects of the Tracks
Difficulties on Edge Railways
How Roads were Operated before Telegraphic Communication was Available
Primitive Signals
Defective Brake Power
Substitutes for Locomotive Head-Lights
Horse Power vs. Steam Power
Slaymaker's Bull
Impecunosity
Paucity of Freight Traffic
Employees Obtained from Stage Routes
Early Locomotive Engineman

17. Economic Results of Early Railroads
Prevention of Ice and Freshet Blockades
Increase of the Value of Real Estate
Passenger Traffic
Regulation of Fares
The Horse-Power Railways
Comparative Costs of Different Methods
Canals vs. Railroads
Loads Drawn by Horses on Early Railroads

18. Cost of Early Railway Freight Movements
Industrial Products in 1840
Freight Charges for Early Movements by Rail
A New York Estimate of the Cost of Railway Transportation
Difference of Rates on Different Lines
Prophetic Views of J. Edgar Thompson

19. Rivalry Between Land and Water Routes
Paucity of Interstate-Freight Movements Over Artificial Channals in 1840,
and Causes which Checked their Growth
How the Great Western Emigration Movement was Made
Freight Tariffs Proposed by Robert Fulton in 1796
Ellets Laws of Trade, Showing Injurious Effects of Overcharges and Undercharges

20. Railroad Construction from 1840 to 1850
Mileage and Cost of Construction in Each State at the End of 1850
Pacific Railroad Projects
Railway Connections Between the Atlantic Coast and the Mississippi Valley
Various Fields of Railway Progress
The New England States
The Railroads of New York in 1850
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Railroad
Delaware and Maryland Roads
Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
Georgia Railroads
Gulf States
Interior Western States