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Railroad HistoryThe following text has been prepared by the staff of the National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin as an education packet for use by school teachers who are planning field trips to the museum and/or who wish to prepare lesson plans about railroad history. Permission is hereby granted to make copies of this document for that educational purpose only. No other rights are granted for any other purpose. Copyright, 1999, National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin. This document contains approximately 628KBytes of text and graphic information. Considerable delays may be experienced when downloading using slower modems. BeginningsLike so much of present day society, the railroad, as we know it, was a product of the industrial revolution. However, the idea of a special "track" for hauling goods dates back about 2,000 years. The ancient Greeks built roads paved with stone blocks that had grooves cut in them. Wagons that had wheels the widths of the grooves were pulled over the roads by horses. The grooves kept the wagons on the road, and the stone paving was much smoother than dirt roads so heavier loads could be handled. These ideas were the beginnings of modern railroading. By about 1550, German miners had adopted the idea of using a guided wagon to haul coal, iron, silver and lead from the mines. Instead of grooves, the miners used wooden rails that were raised slightly above the ground. Small wooden carts full of ore were pushed out of the mines by hand. The wheels of the carts had flanges, a raised inside edge, which kept the wheels on the track and guided the cart around the curves. Figure 1 By the early 1700’s iron was replacing wood for the rails and wheels on the carts. By 1800 tramways were in widespread use throughout Europe. There were also one or two examples in America. Even so, tramways had limited capacity and only a few carts could be handled at a time. The most efficient tramways were designed to allow loaded carts to roll downhill from the mine. They were assisted by gravity. A man rode in each cart and applied a brake to stop the carts. Empty carts were then pulled back uphill by horses. The Steam EngineEngland was the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the 1700's. This revolution depended on a source of power for the new machines being developed. Originally water power was used, but as more power was needed new sources became necessary. The most efficient source of power was steam. In 1705, Thomas Newcomen invented a steam powered pump for removing water from mines. In 1763 James Watt greatly improved Newcomen’s engine. Today, James Watt is often referred to as the father of the steam engine. The First LocomotivesOne day in 1803, a man named Samuel Homfray and several companions were watching a horse pull three loaded wagons along a tramway in Wales. Talk turned from the quality of the horse to speculation about the suitability of steam for the same purpose. Homfray bet the others 1000 guineas ($5,250) that a steam powered vehicle could pull 10 tons of iron over the nine miles of the Pen-y-Darran tram line. They accepted. Homfray turned to Richard Trevithick to develop that vehicle. Trevithick already had a reputation for building reliable steam engines, and he did not disappoint Homfray. On February 22, 1804, the world’s first steam locomotive hauled a load of 10 tons of iron, 70 men and five extra wagons the 9 miles between the ironworks at Pen-y-Darron and the town of Merthyr Tydfil. It took about two hours. Trevithick’s locomotive worked. It showed that smooth metal wheels could pull a great deal of weight over equally smooth rails. But the locomotive was not really practical, and it was never used again. Nonetheless, Trevithick’s locomotive contained several inventions that were still in use 150 years later. The First Railroads By 1813, the three elements for the railroad were in place:
Railroads were still being used for mines, but it was only a matter of time before the idea for using trains to transport passengers and other materials spread. English inventors kept spreading the idea of railroads into other areas. They used trains to transport goods and moved on to carrying people. In September of 1825, the world's first true railroad traveled 9 miles. The Stockton & Darlington was designed to carry goods and passengers on regular schedules. In a little over an hour, it pulled six loaded coal cars and 21 passenger cars with 450 passengers. THE UNITED STATES Figure 2 Historians sometimes suggest that the railroad somehow sprang up almost magically, simply because it was a fascinating new machine. In reality it was a specific response to a specific economic need. Nowhere is this more clearly shown than in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1825, Baltimore was in fierce competition with Philadelphia, New York, Charleston and Boston. All of these places were seaports and each struggled with the others for the traffic moving to and from the rapidly expanding western territories. New York had the advantage of the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825. It linked New York with Lake Erie at Buffalo New York, which opened its port to the remainder of the Great Lakes. Philadelphia was also developing an extensive canal and roadway system. Baltimore was in a different situation. The land to the west was too rough for canals. The National Road that stretched to the west was slow and often difficult to travel because of poor weather conditions. Overland freight rates were expensive and could not compete with the canals. The leading businessmen of Baltimore felt that unless they could develop a way of competing with the Erie Canal, Baltimore would soon be an unimportant port. A group of men was sent to England to study the growing rail network. The reports they brought back were favorable. On July 4, 1828, Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid the cornerstone of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The first 13 miles from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills were completed by 1830. Horse drawn carts moved freight and passengers over the line. Peter Cooper, a wealthy man, often watched the carts. He figured there should be an easier way and wanted to use steam power. However, the only steam locomotives came from Britain. These were too heavy and could not operate on the sharp curves of the B&O’s track. Cooper set out to prove that steam power would cause the B&O to grow. He constructed a smaller locomotive. Because of its size, it was nicknamed the "Tom Thumb." On August 25, 1830, the "Tom Thumb" pulled a train of B&O officials from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills. A race between "Tom Thumb" and a horse took place on the return trip. Although the locomotive lost, the officials became convinced of the usefulness of steam power. They began use of this "new power" on the B&O. However, there were many who were against rail development. Those who operated stage coaches, taverns, canals, and toll roads and bridges tried to interfere with the progress of railroading. Railroads that ran beside canals had to pay special taxes. A New York town required the train to stop at one end of the town. Passengers had to leave the train and walk to the other side of the town to get on to the next train. There was even a school board in Ohio that labeled the railroad as "a device of Satan to lead immortal souls to hell." Nevertheless, the idea caught on and railroads kept growing. YEARS OF GROWTH: 1835-1860 CONSTRUCTION In 1830, there were 23 miles of railroad in the United States. By 1840 this had grown to 2,808, and by 1860 there were 30,626 miles. Just eight years after the start of the B&O in 1836, the first track was laid in the State of Michigan. In 1848, the "Pioneer" became the first locomotive to operate west of Chicago (figure 3). In 1853 the first all rail route was opened between Chicago and the East Coast. The Mississippi River was reached in 1854 and the first railroad bridge crossed the river in 1856. That same year the first railroad was opened on the west coast. It ran from Sacramento to Folsom, California. By 1859, shortly before the start of the Civil War, the first railroad reached the Missouri River and St. Joseph, Missouri. Impact on American Culture
Figure 3 As
impressive as numbers are, they do not give a real sense of the impact of railroads
on American society. America was fast becoming a nation apart from its European
roots, and was developing its own way of doing things. The railroad played a
major role in many of those developments. The railroad
changed our perception of time, space and distance. Travel that once took
days or weeks could be accomplished in hours. No longer did distance keep
people from traveling easily or being able to buy or sell goods in cities
far away. People were also able to send and receive information much more
quickly. The railroads
were responsible for developing technology that was often used by other
industries. The rest of society benefited from railroading advancements,
much as modern America has benefited from our space program. The railroads
were the first companies to conduct business on a national scale. Railroads
had to control their growing business activities that were often spread
over hundreds or even thousands of miles. The railroads
were instrumental in helping to develop safer jobs, higher pay, and better
working conditions for all Americans, not just for those working
for the railroads. This was done through the development of labor unions. Settlement of
much of the middle and western part of the country was defined by the railroad.
This was in contrast to Europe, which was mostly settled prior to the coming
of the railroad. In America, the railroad many times made settlement possible.
The railroads
offered employment to a large number of immigrants. For many, the railroad
was their first job in the New World. The railroads provided them with good
jobs and a chance for economic security at a time when they were not accepted
in many parts of society. They developed a fierce loyalty to the railroad.
It is not uncommon to find families of fifth and sixth generation railroaders.
The railroad was a major employer in many communities. Unlike in Europe,
American railroads helped to bring the classes of people together. More
than 90% of Americans that traveled by rail in the 1800’s traveled
in the same class accommodations. At the same time, however, railroads reflected
America’s prejudices. There were separate waiting rooms for men and
women and separate facilities for blacks and whites.
NATION BUILDING: 1860-1900
CONSTRUCTION
With
the discovery of gold in California, the nation turned its attention to the
far west. A railroad was needed to connect the east coast with the West. In
1854 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who later became President of the Confederacy,
sent out survey parties to look for a railroad route from the Missouri River
to the Pacific Coast. Five possible routes were examined; one northern, three
central and one southern. Davis favored the southern route.
These surveys gave vivid descriptions of the West including observations about
plants, animals, weather, land formations, and settlements of native people.
The surveyors also located likely routes to the Pacific, both for the original
transcontinental route and for the railroad lines that would follow.
But before construction could begin, the slavery question that had been brewing
for decades came to a head. The American Civil War (1861-1865) has been called
the first railroad war. Battles were fought over rail junctions and repair facilities.
The side that could use the railroad most effectively, and keep the other side
from its use, had the advantage.
At the start of
the war, the North had about 20,000 miles of tracks and the South had only about
9,000 miles. A number of Southern battle campaigns were against Northern rail
targets, with thousands of cars and locomotives destroyed, bridges burned and
hundreds of miles of track ripped up. The North established a Military Railway
Service to carry troops and war materials. The engineering department quickly
rebuilt the destroyed track and the North enjoyed a major advantage throughout
the war.
In April 1865, Southern General Robert E. Lee camped near Appomattox Court House,
Virginia, to wait for supplies that were coming by train. Northern troops seized
the train. This kept the South from receiving badly needed replacements and
supplies. Without supplies, Lee realized his position was hopeless. He surrendered
to the Northern Commander, Ulysses S. Grant, which ended the Civil War.
In spite of the war, Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
giving permission to begin the first transcontinental railroad. One of the central
routes was chosen; from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California. The Union
Pacific Railroad (1,038 miles long) began constructing a line west of Omaha
while the Central Pacific (742 miles long) started east from Sacramento. After
incredible hardships the two railroads were joined together at Promontory, Utah,
on May 10, 1869. The last spike driven into the rail ties was made of gold.
The completion of the transcontinental railroad started a boom in construction.
From 30,000 in 1860, rail mileage grew to more than 201,000 by 1900. Five transcontinental
routes linked east and west together.
As
railroading expanded west in the late 1850’s, government leaders began
looking for ways to help people settle the Midwest and the South. The most famous
was the Federal Land Grant Program. This program promoted the advantages of
settling and helped pay for railroad construction. The government identified
strips of land in areas where it wanted the railroad to go. The railroads were
given money to build along these routes. Usable land around the railways was
then sold to people.
The money from the land sale was used to also help railroad construction. A
total of 18,738 miles of track was funded by land grants. There was one "catch"
in the program: railroads accepting land grants had to provide transportation
for government troops and goods, charging only one-half the normal fare.
Railroads advertised the grant program in both Europe and America. Wisconsin
Central Rail Corporation kept an office in Switzerland that put out advertisements
in several languages. The railroad especially wanted Germans to come because
of their work ethic. Do you suppose this is why Wisconsin has a high number
of people from a German background?
During
the mid to late 1800’s the railroad labor movement began. Unions were formed
whose purpose was to help provide for the safety, health and welfare of railroad
employees. The unions tried to improve conditions, increase pay, and protect
jobs.
This brought employees into conflict with the owners. Strikes
occurred (figure 5). The unions won more battles than they lost. Railroad employment
gradually began to improve with better working conditions, higher wages, stricter
safety standards, retirement funds, and shorter work hours.
As the railroads grew rapidly during
the last half of the 19th century, government control fell hopelessly behind.
Some greedy businessmen took advantage of the situation, and the era of the
Robber Baron was born.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
railroad owners were at the center of many scandals stemming from the excessive
profits they made and the monopolies they controlled. Names like
Jay Gould, James Fisk, Commodore Vanderbilt and Daniel Drew were linked with
great wealth, power, and corruption.
One of the things that the Robber Barons
did was to charge high rates in areas where they did not have any competition.
People were forced to pay whatever the railroads charged or else find other
ways to ship their goods.
Farmers were one of the groups affected
by this. No group had looked forward to the coming of the railroads more than
the farmers. They supported the construction of the railroads because they knew
that they would benefit from having railroads available to ship their crops.
Eventually some came to hate the railroads.
Due to rates charged by the railroads,
farmers sometimes had to pay more to have their grain shipped to a neighboring
town to have it shipped across the state. The farmers fought back by banding
together in a way similar to the unions. One of these groups was called the
"Grange." By 1875 it had 800,000 members. They fought to have laws passed that
were designed to outlaw unfair rates and special privileges.
Passing laws was one thing, but enforcing
them was another matter. The railroad owners fought these laws and challenged
them in court. They sometimes bribed officials and/or ignored the laws altogether.
During the 1880’s, railroad regulation
moved from the state to the national level. In 1887 the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC) was created to help establish rates that were reasonable and
just.
It required railroads to publish their
rates and file them with the government. In its original form the ICC was mostly
ineffective. The railroads ignored ICC rulings or tied them up for years in
court. It took nearly 30 years, additional regulations and many Supreme Court
decisions before the ICC had any real control over the railroads.
SAFETY
The early years of railroad development
were years of experimentation. Time and energy were spent on developing the
machines and systems. Safety was not a main concern, because of the slow speed
of the trains and the small size of the equipment. Before 1850 railroading was
probably no more dangerous than any other kind of travel.
In 1853 a series of wrecks, with many deaths, focused
the country’s attention on the problems. Railroads needed better engineering
of bridges and roadbeds, stronger rails, better methods for communicating, improved
ways to control trains, and safer brakes and couplers.hese last two were especially
important to railroad safety and are good examples of how long it took to get
a good idea to be used. George Westinghouse invented the first version of the
air brake in 1869 when he was just 22 years old. It took several years to perfect
the invention and to convince the railroads that trains could be stopped by
the "wind". The other major safety concern for railroad employees was the coupling
of cars together. The brakeman had to walk between two cars, out of the engineer’s
sight, and put a metal pin through a hole in the car and a link to attach the
cars together. Without air brakes, the engineer had little control over his
train and it was not uncommon for the brakeman to lose fingers or be crushed
between the cars. In 1868, Eli H. Janney patented a coupler that closed automatically
when the cars came together. It could also be opened from the side of the car.
After some improvements this device became a great success.
Other parts of railroad operations were
also improved. The telegraph was used to control train movements, and a system
of signals was created to keep trains from running into each other. With the
development of the Bessemer steel making process, large quantities of steel
rail became available to the railroads during the 1870’s. Steel is more
durable than iron and can support greater loads. This cut down on the number
of accidents from broken rails.
THE GOLDEN AGE: 1900-1945
The time period from 1900 to 1945 can be called the
‘Golden Age’ of railroading. Almost every city and town in America
was reached by rail. Almost all passenger travel and freight shipments were
by rail. Almost no American lived beyond the sound of a locomotive’s whistle.
CONSOLIDATION
Most of the small rail companies eventually
combined into seven major and several smaller systems. Many railroads, banks,
steel mills, oil companies and other businesses were controlled by two major
businessmen, J.P. Morgan and E.H. Harriman.
In 1903, Governor Robert La Follette
of Wisconsin led an investigation into corruption by some railroad owners. On
the national level, President Theodore Roosevelt pushed laws that gave more
power to the ICC to work at ending these monopolies.
PASSENGER TRAVEL
Until after the Civil War, most people
considered travel by train a necessary evil. Rail cars were dark, dirty, crowded
and uncomfortable. George Pullman was an American inventor. He became interested
in improving the crude railway cars. In 1857 he introduced his first sleeping
car. His first dining car was built in 1868. Electric lights were put in the
cars in 1882. Five years later, the spaces between passenger cars were enclosed
so that people could pass from one car to another without ever having to go
"outside." Cars began to be made from steel, which was safer than wood in the
event of an accident. By 1890 passenger cars were truly "palaces on wheels."
They had artistic decorations, ornate wood and plush seats (figure 7).
In 1900 the fastest trains carried passengers
from New York to Chicago, a distance of 800 miles, in about 24 hours. By 1940
this was reduced to 16 hours. At the same time, the trip from Los Angeles to
Chicago was reduced from 60 to 39 hours.
By 1916 almost all passenger travel
between cities was by train. It was not uncommon for even small towns to be
served by six or eight trains a day. A city the size of Green Bay would have
as many as 40 trains daily. Chicago was served by as many as 5000 trains each
day.
News services were always being added
to first class trains. This included barber and beauty shops, showers, valet
service, ticker tapes and some of the best food served in America. While the
great majority of people traveled in less luxurious style, conditions were still
comfortable.
Passenger trains also carried vast quantities
of mail and express items. Railroads had been carrying mail since 1831. Starting
in 1857, specially built Railway Post Office cars allowed the mail to be picked
up, sorted and delivered en-route. Clerks were so fast that mail picked up in
one town could be sorted and ready for delivery before the train reached the
next town.
IMPACT ON AMERICAN SOCIETY
The year 1916 is generally considered
the date when railroads reached their peak of importance in the United States.
The track system had 254,000 miles, and a majority of people and freight traveled
by rail. There were over 2,000,000 people working for the railroads in the year
1920. Almost every family in America had a father, brother, uncle, or cousin
working on the railroad. There were also women working for the railroads as
depot agents, clerks, secretaries, and telegraphers.
In song, story and influence, railroads
were as important to American culture as television is today. If you mentioned
the name of the train you rode, people automatically knew what rail line you
were on as well as what time you arrived in town. Fathers took their families
down to the local depots on Sunday afternoons to watch the world go by and to
catch up on the latest news.
People were dependent on the railroads
for almost every product made and used in this country, or imported from overseas.
Bananas and raw silk were shipped in special train cars. California fruit could
be kept fresh in refrigerated cars for east coast customers.
Vacationers caught the train to go fishing
in the north woods, shopping in the big city or relaxing at resorts that were
often owned and promoted by the railroad. For years the most comfortable way
to get to Yellowstone National Park was on the Northern Pacific.
Much of our entertainment arrived on the railroad. This included the circus, traveling theater shows, vaudeville acts and noted speakers of the day. Local sports teams left on the train to defend a community’s honor. Later, as professional teams developed, they traveled by train and were often accompanied by their fans.
THE DEPOT
The railroad station was the center of the community. It was the point of contact between the railroad and the public. To the railroad, the depot was a statement of its wealth and power. To the community, the depot was a visitor’s first impression of the community’s prosperity and importance.
Large depots could include hotels. These stations were sometimes as decorative and large as churches. Smaller depots were adorned with gingerbread, turrets, clock towers, spirals, wrought iron and carved stonework. Depots were also working structures. They were built to efficiently handle passengers, freight, baggage and mail.
WORLD WAR I AND THE 1920’S
The years from 1913 to 1920 were ones of great change for the railroads. With the passing on of many railroad owners, the ICC moved into all aspects of railroad operations. The ICC began setting work rules, hours of service, passenger train routes and schedules. The railroad industry swiftly became the most heavily regulated in America.
The union brotherhoods also began to exert greater influence over railroad operations. In 1915, the unions threatened a national strike if the railroads refused to reduce the workday from ten to eight hours. When management refused, the U.S. Congress entered the picture. They made the eight hour day standard for all workers, not just railroad employees, thus the strike never happened.
With World War I raging in Europe, rail
traffic increased dramatically. By 1917 there was a national shortage of 158,000
freight cars because 180,000 freight cars were being used as warehouses to store
war material waiting to be shipped overseas. Fortunately after the war the traffic
problems were resolved, and incomes were good through most of the 1920’s.
THE DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II
The stock market crash in 1929 began
the Great Depression. Many railroads owed more than they were earning. In 1933,
a law was passed which allowed railroads to continue operating while bankrupt.
Railroads were so important to the nation that they were not sold off to pay
their bills.
As roads improved automobiles were used
for more than just local transportation. By 1940 the country had 3,000,000 miles
of roads. About half of them were paved. Trucks and busses provided cheaper
transportation of goods and people between smaller sized cities.
At the height of
Depression many railroads introduced a whole new technology for passenger trains.
Known as Streamliners, these bright, aerodynamic, up-to-date trains
operated on much faster schedules. They had names like Zephyr, Hiawatha, 400,
City of San Francisco, and Super Chief.
At the beginning of World War II in 1941,
the Office of Defense Transportation was established. It coordinated all war
transportation by highway, rail, water and air. While the majority of passengers
were troops, many civilians were forced to ride the rails because of gas and
tire rationing. In addition to war materials, items like oil that
were normally carried by ship were transferred to rail. This was caused by the
threat of German submarines or U-boats in the waters off the east coast.
The military itself operated a large railroad
network, mostly overseas. The Army ran a line in Iran that sent supplies to
Russia. It also rebuilt and operated both the Italian and French railway systems
after the invasions of those countries. This kept troops and supplies flowing
to the front lines.
One of today’s greatest social
changes also dates from the war. With so many men away in the military, great
numbers of women entered the workforce for the first time. "Rosie the Riviter"
became a symbol of working women during the war. On the railroad, women took
over many maintenance and operating positions. Their behind the scenes contributions
played a large role in winning the war.
While 1916 can be considered the high
point of the railroad as an industry, the World War II years of 1941 to 1945
can be considered the high point of the railroads’ contribution to the
country.
DECLINE AND REVITALIZATION:
1945-PRESENT
THE END OF PRIVATE PASSENGER SERVICE
Excluding the years of World War II,
passenger service declined every year after 1920. Railroads had not made money
on passenger trains since 1929. At that time 20,000 passenger trains a day moved
over American rails.
Management knew that railroads had been
losing passengers to automobiles, busses and airplanes. After the war, the strategy
was to advertise railroad travel as an exciting way to see the country.
Millions of Americans still depended
on trains for everyday travel. While somewhat smaller than its all time high,
the railway system still served the majority of communities in the nation. As
late as 1954, the city of Chicago handled 1,700 passenger trains a day. Smaller
cities especially depended on rail travel long after it was declining between
major cities. Green Bay had six to eight passenger trains daily into the 1960’s.
AMTRAK
By the end of the 1960’s several
of the nation’s largest railroads were facing bankruptcy. This was partially
caused by the large amount of unprofitable passenger service they were providing.
The government agreed to step in, creating the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
On May 1, 1971, Amtrak service began. Amtrak’s first director was skeptical
of the system, saying that the passenger train was as outdated as the stagecoach
and should be allowed to die an honorable death.
Despite his comments,
Amtrak survived. Service improved, new equipment was designed and purchased,
and a passenger train schedule was established. By the late 1980’s Amtrak
service was acceptable, if not outstanding.
One area of passenger travel that has flourished
recently has been commuter and short haul service between nearby
cities. For example, you can travel from downtown New York City to Washington
DC faster by train than by air. It is an 89 minute trip from downtown Milwaukee
to the Chicago loop on Amtrak. Planners around the country are looking at the
railroad as a workable alternative to traffic jams and serious pollution problems.
FREIGHT SERVICE AND REGULATION
During World War II, America’s
railroads handled most of the nation’s freight. For several years afterward
business remained very good, but the elements of decline had been in place for
many years. With the country at peace and the Great Depression over, those forces
began to have a serious impact.
While the ICC intended to correct the
problems through more regulations, they only prevented the railroads from being
efficient and did not really reach the people who were to blame. When railroads
were the only practical way for shipping freight, strict ICC regulations were
tolerable. However, as competition grew, ICC regulations began to keep railroads
from being able to compete. In some cases when a railroad wanted to lower rates
in order to be more competitive with the trucking industry, the ICC refused
to allow it. The ICC was swayed more by their own outdated rules than by the
railroads’ legitimate need to cover rising costs.
MANAGEMENT AND LABOR RELATIONS
Two other factors that contributed to
the railroads’ decline were outdated work rules and the attitude adopted
by management after the war.
The period from 1945 to 1955 was one
of turnover in the railroad industry. Many employees reached retirement age
and were replaced with war veterans coming home from Europe, Japan, and Korea.
These new people were trained in the ways of business by men who had learned
it when the railroad was king. They tried to dictate service condition to shippers
and passengers. Trucking companies, on the other hand, were finding out the
shipper’s needs and trying to meet them, rather than telling shippers how
it was going to be. In many cases, the railroads’ outdated attitudes continued
until the post World War II generation of managers began to retire in the 1980’s.
Railroad management was also confronted
with outdated employee work rules and an "us versus them" mentality that remained
from the problems the railroads had in the 19th century. Trains in the 1950’s
were able to travel greater distances in less time with smaller crews so many
earlier rules were not necessary.
YEARS OF CRISIS: 1961 to 1977
Higher taxes, passenger service losses,
fewer goods to ship, and work rule problems led to an industry wide crisis by
the early 1970’s. Railroads began to go bankrupt and shut down. Some companies
merged together to avoid financial ruin. Many railroads were in need of help
if they were to continue.
At first, the government was not willing
to become involved in what it saw as a private matter, but shutting rail transportation
down completely would have hurt the economy too much. The government began giving
railroads financial help. Amtrak took over most passenger service in 1971.
The railroads’ continuing importance
to the nation was made clear in late 1973 when America faced a new national
emergency. It was the Middle East oil embargo and resulting energy
crisis. Gasoline prices soared, and Americans were asked to limit the use of
their automobiles. Railroads were expected to respond as they had in past emergencies,
and they did by handling greatly increased carloads.
The railroad freight network was seen
as too important to be shut down. There was some talk of giving the railroad
system to the government. Instead, in January 1974, President Richard Nixon
signed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act. The goal was to rebuild the system,
return it to profitable service, and then give its control back to private businesses.
Conrail, the new company, began operating on April 1, 1976.
DEREGULATION
By 1980 the American railroad system
was down to 190,000 miles of track. Railroads were carrying only 40 percent
of all inter-city freight. Words like dinosaur, obsolete, and out-of-date were
being used to describe the rail system which seventy years earlier had been
the lifeblood of every city in the country.
The only choice was to cut back on the
control the ICC had over railroads. Trucks, pipelines, barges, ships and airplanes
were all competing for passenger and freight service. If the railroad industry
was deregulated, it could then compete fairly and prosper.
Just as it had taken many years and
several governmental acts to create the web of regulations, it would take time
and repeated efforts to eliminate those rules. As the president of Conrail pointed
out, the government would have to continue giving money to rail companies unless
the regulations were changed.
On October 14, 1980, President Jimmy
Carter signed the Staggers Act. It was a combination of laws that gave railroads
the freedom to make their own rules. For the first time in nearly 100 years,
the industry was free to earn a fair profit and improve itself so it could be
more competitive.
The Staggers Act made it easier to shut
down rail lines that were not making a profit. Independent business people (with
lots of money) could purchase those failing lines and get them up and running
again. Deregulation meant smaller operators could make a profit where bigger
companies could not. Instead of losing the traffic on otherwise abandoned tracks,
the entire network benefited.
Eventually, Conrail was sold by the
government to a group of investors in 1986. It became one of the strongest railroads
in the country. A merger between Conrail and CSX is planned for late 1998.
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Like the rest of society, the railroad
has seen major changes in technology. This includes all parts of the operation.
Where once telegraphs were used to give orders that were then passed up to the
engineer by hand, dispatchers now control trains from highly automated centralized
locations. Where once thousands of people were employed to process freight bills,
computers are now used. An automatic scanning system will soon know the location
of every freight car in the country. Continuous welded rail has eliminated the
"clickety-clack" and maintenance problems of bolted track.
The two biggest innovations have to
do with how freight is carried. The ideas of unit trains and intermodals
are making many people talk about the railroad becoming the most efficient means
of transportation in the future.
The first innovation, the unit train,
is simply one where all cars carry the same kind of load such as coal. All the
loads are from the same source and are going to the same place. This allows
for faster and better scheduled service. For many railroads, unit coal trains
are a major part of their business. Other bulk items, like iron ore, potash,
and grain are shipped in this same way.
The second innovation is actually something
of a revolution in how freight is carried. Intermodal is a new word. It means
carrying or moving a container by more than one kind (mode) of transportation
during a single journey. The container can be in two forms: either a regular
semi trailer loaded on a flatcar, or a box with about the same dimensions as
a semi trailer that fits on a trailer frame.
The unit train idea makes sense if you
remember that each trailer requires a driver and a truck on the highway. If
your company has 100 drivers and 100 trucks to keep in operation, this could
turn out to be a very expensive job. It would be cheaper and more efficient
if the 100 trailers were loaded onto a single train.
The intermodal concept is even more
flexible. It involves a container that fits on a rail car, rubber tire trailer
frame or ocean going ship. The container is loaded at the factory. A truck brings
the container to the railroad yard. A large machine then picks it off the trailer
frame and places it on a rail car. The container is taken to the destination
city where another truck picks it up for delivery or it is loaded onto a ship.
Imported or exported freight is transported
more easily with the intermodal system. Under the old way, freight had to be
physically handled every time it changed transportation modes. Freight was loaded
onto the truck, unloaded off the truck and onto a ship, unloaded from the ship
into a warehouse, then loaded into a boxcar or truck for delivery. With intermodal
it never leaves the original container until it reaches its final destination.
THE FUTURE
In many ways railroading today looks
similar to railroading thirty years ago. Diesel locomotives still pull trains
over the same routes. There are still boxcars, gondolas and tankers. But behind
those familiar objects there has been a revolution. Thirty years ago many people
felt the railroad was going out in the same way the covered wagon did. Today
some people talk about the railroad as the wave of the future. Three decades
ago railroads were struggling to compete with trucks, but today more and more
highway trailers are riding on trains.
Forecasters now see a much brighter
future for the nation’s railroads. They are carrying more freight than
at any time in their history. High speed passenger trains like the BART system
in San Francisco, California, attract many riders. While some issues like customer
service need to be addressed, American railroading at the dawn of the 21st century
is a renewed industry that can grow and prosper for many years to come.
Written and edited in 1998 by Kristine
Moodie and Heidi Meissner of the Green Bay Christian School. The original guide
was prepared by the staff and volunteers of the National Railroad Museum and
University of Wisconsin Green Bay interns.
GLOSSARY
RAILROAD QUESTIONS YOU MAY
HAVE
This is one of the least understood, and most dangerous
parts of the railroad. A train cannot stop as quickly as an automobile. 7. WHY DO TRAINS OFTEN GO BACK AND FORTH WHEN I AM WAITING
AT THE CROSSING FOR THEM?
SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Watch how steam can be used, and imagine
what happens when coal is burned to fuel an engine with this fun experiment.
You will need:
Step 1. Step 2.
Step 3.
Step 4.
What happens:
Questions
From: Parker, Steve. The Marshall Cavendish Science
Project Book of Water, 1986, page 23.
MATH PROBLEMS
READING LIST
Beebe, Lucius. Trains in Transition. New York:
Bonanza Books 1941.
Black, Robert. The Railroads of the
Confederacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1952.
Botkin, Benjamin & Alvin Harlow,
editors. A Treasury of Railroad Folklore. New York: Crown Publishers,
Inc. 1953.
Clarke, Thomas & others. The
American Railway. New York: Arno Press 1976.
Dorin, Patrick. Chicago and North
Western Power. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company 1972.
Ellis, Hamilton. The Pictorial Encyclopedia
of Railways. New York: Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited 1968.
Gray, Walter & John Hankey. Pictorial
History of North American Railroads. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications
International, Ltd. 1996.
Holbrook, Stewart. The Story of American
Railroads. New York: American Legacy Press 1967.
Hollingsworth, Brian & Arthur Cook.
The Great Book of Trains. New York: Portland House 1987.
Jensen, Oliva. The American Heritage
History of Railroads in America. New York: American Heritage Publishing
Co. 1975.
Klein, Maury. The Life and Legend
of Jay Gould. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press 1986.
La Fountain, Julie editor. Empire
State Railway Museum’s 33rd Annual Guide to Tourist Railroads and
Museums. Waukesha: Kalmbach Publishing Company 1998.
Licht, Walter. |
