role in national communication infrastructure. The book presents an in-depth analysis of the mail service on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, discussing the discrepancy between the costs incurred by the railroad and the payment received from the government. It includes detailed financial statistics regarding operating expenses, earnings from passenger and mail services, and how the allocation of space aboard trains impacts profitability. The author lays out several case studies on specific routes, detailing the inadequate compensation from the government relative to the operational costs and demanding conditions imposed by the postal service. Overall, it highlights the tensions between railroads and government policy in an era of increasing demand for postal service efficiency. (This is an automatically generated summary.)