"From Trail to Railway Through the Appalachians" by Albert Perry Brigham. Discusses how the roads in the westward movement turned into railroads, starting with Boston and the Berkshires and working south all the way to Georgia. Complete with maps and 74 photographs and illustrations. Brigham was a professor of Geology at Colgate University and weaves geology into the story.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71908
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71908