This is a guide to rails, a relatively homogeneous family of birds spread throughout the world. Barry Taylor and Ber van Perlo have described and illustrated 145 species of rails, including two that are newly described, and also ten that are recently extinct and two that are almost certainly extinct. The book, based on up-to-date references and on new observations, is the first to give comprehensive information on field identification (including voice), covering all species and races for which details are known. It is also the first to provide descriptions of the immature and juvenile plumages of many species. The authors provide a detailed summary of current knowledge of all aspects of rail biology and their often complex behaviour, social structure, and family life. They explain how such apparently poorly flying birds can undertake intercontinental migrations and are such widespread and successful colonists of remote oceanic islands. They also discuss the remarkable ease and speed with which species on such islands have evolved into flightless forms in the absence of predators, a fact that has led to the rapid extinction of numerous island taxa following the arrival of man. Rail habitats are fast disappearing, say the authors, and many rails become endangered before enough is known about them to plan effective conservation measures. The book provides information on distribution, status, habitat requirements, and current threats, and it gives conservation priorities for threatened species.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

"From Rails to Trails is the fascinating tale of the political rebirth of bicycle advocacy and of what happened to the railroad companies' thousands of abandoned corridors"--

Ruby on Rails is an extremely powerful full-stack web application framework, but with its power comes complexity. For front-end developers who simply need to edit HTML, CSS, and JS within a Ruby on Rails application, it can be a daunting task. This book explains what front-end developers needs to know about Ruby on Rails in order to work their mastery within a rails app.By the end of the book, you'll be able to:* know where to put your html, css, & js within the structure of a ruby on rails app* how rails routes requests to controllers* using views, layouts, and partials in controllers* what the asset pipeline is and how to use it* how controllers and views in rails work together to render a response in the browser* how data is added to views and how to link to the data in your html

Covering legendary and obscure intercity passenger trains in a dozen Southeastern states, this book details the golden age of train travel. The story begins with the inception of steam locomotives in 1830 in Charleston, South Carolina, continuing through the mid-1930s changeover to diesel and the debut of Amtrak in 1971 to the present. Throughout, the book explores the technological achievements, the romance and the economic impact of traveling on the tracks. Other topics include contemporary museums and excursion trains; the development of commuter rails, monorails, light rails, and other intracity transit trains; the social impact of train travel; and historical rail terminals and facilities. The book is supplemented with more than 160 images and 10 appendices.

"Outside the Rails: A Rail Route Guide from Chicago to Kansas City" is a 334-page route guidebook for passengers traveling Amtrak's Southwest Chief train through Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. Learn interesting facts about the people, place, and history passing by outside the window between Chicago and Kansas City. This book was written by Robert and Kandace Tabern with the Midwest Rail Rangers.