“The Great Railway Revolution- The Epic story of the American Railroad”Atlantic Books (Christian Wolmar) 11th August 2012

The Railway Chronicle and "On Shed" takes a look at this new book by Christian Wolmar

“The Great Railway Revolution- The Epic story of the American Railroad”Atlantic Books.

436 notes. Drawn from an extensive Bibliography.   414 pages.32 illustrations. 5 maps
 

Christian Wolmar ‘s latest book gives us as comprehensive overview of the history of US railroads as you would wish to read.

Before I read this volume, my own appreciation for American railroad history was minimal, apart from passing acquaintance with one or two key events (such as the meeting at Promontory Point).

Christian Wolmar writes in such a way that you almost believe that he witnessed the unfolding events himself…that is the mark of the historian…he demonstrates a grasp of all the key issues.

So, what will we find, as we read this epic story of the American Railroad?

The Railways Win Out

Charles Carroll, at the ceremonial turning of first sod for the start of Baltimore and Ohio on 4^th July 1828 said: ” I consider what I have just now done to be among the most important acts of my life, second only to my signing the Declaration of Independence,If indeed, it be even second to that.”

Of course, there is another view…and railway development , using the crucial legal precedent (notably illustrated in a 1837 New York court case) ..to obtain “eminent domain”, (which was the right to take over whatever property was needed in return for fair compensation…on the basis that the railway created wider benefits for the public, despite any damage caused to the land owners or property owners) did not always work in the best interests of unfortunate landowners - the public advantage outweighing the disbenefits to the few unlucky proprietors whose land just happened to be in the wrong place.

A Passionate Affair

Local railroads, enabling travel to the next town, were broadly welcomed. Demonstration runs were festive affairs..brass bands , parties, local celebrities on hand and given a ride on the train……

The railways were meant to be private businesses, but financing a capital hungry business was- and is -just a dream with federal or local funding also needed….somehow….

 The Railways Take Hold

According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Americans were taking to this “contrivance….as if it were the cradle In which they were born”. Yet parochial and small minded approach to development initially delayed the vision of a unifying national force….Perhaps the 450 mile Erie Railway epitomized the potential of the railroad, with its linking Lake Erie with the Atlantic Ports.

Politicians preferred local small, fragmented railroads….It would be something of a two edged sword, for now people could travel far away from their own home town, and also, goods could come in from afar, threatening the very people, and farmers, who had hope to benefit from their reaching markets farther afield.

Consolidation would later occur between smaller lines..and so by 1850 US railroad mileage had risen (tripled!) to 9,000 miles. Chicago became established as a major railway hub.  

Not all travellers were enamoured of the railroads -  Charles Dicken’s travel experiences in 1842 were not to his liking..

The Battle Lines

Southern lines were not as advanced as their northern counterparts, which would be costly in the ensuing Civil War…

In fact, the Civil War, and its outcome, despite the ebbs and flos, can partly be explained by the superiority of the railroads in the North’s areas of influence…

Harnessing the Elephant

In this chapter we are acquainted with the skulduggery and chicanery that have bedevilled similar projects elsewhere.

Outright fraud, the Credit Mobilier scam, merciless displacement of Native Americans are a not too happy legacy of these times. The pity is that the tremendous engineering achievement, especially of the Transcontinental, pales almost into insignificance when taken as a whole with the  mistreatment of contractors, workers (including Chinese immigrants) and native Americans.

Railways to go Everywhere

Lines built on the cheap using convict labour, were a particularly nasty piece of exploitation…

The Hoosac Tunnel, 4.5 miles long, was a Herman Haupt initiative, but he was forced out by claims (unfounded) that his engineering methods were at the root of the problems being experienced. Eventually completed in 1875, 23 years after being started, and 10 times over the original $2m dollar budget, and with 200 construction workers killed.

Railway company agents operating in Europe, were offering cheap land, in typical sales fashion, to try to lure settlers out west. They targeted minority groups..such as the Russian Mennonites….34 of these families were persuaded to Kansas in 1874..

And wild west was a fitting name too, since ,  undisciplined and unruly towns were left in the railway’s wake .

Dodge City was named after, and full of, crooks!

Getting Better All The Time

For some , travel became a little more comfortable. Webster Wagner’s sleeping cars- (Cornelius Vanderbilt put up the money for some of these cars)- but George Pullman is remembered best for this advance in travelling comfort….His name has become synonymous with luxury railway travel.

Still, even with increasing comfort levels, accidents were known… there were 2 serious ones in 1853

And the Picnic Train disaster (17^th July 1856) on the North Pennsylvania Railroad (with 56 fatalities….and an engineer, later exonerated of blame, who committed suicide) speeded up the use of telegraph communications.

Development of the automatic coupler, the air brake, and George Westinghouse’s “continuous braking”…some railroads slow to adopt, but Lorenzo Coffin’s zeal resulted in these safety items being made mandatory, by law. (The Railroad Safety Appliance Act –August 1900).

Then there were the issues associated with train robberies.. (the Pinkertons reputations) …hoboes….immigrant train discomforts….snobbery, segregation.. and farmers complaining about sky high prices, at a time when fierce competition between rival railroads had seen reductions in freight rates..The ensuing farmers’ campaign, painting the railroads as “monopolistic villains”, started to see the railways being turned on by the public…..

Strange, isn’t it, that the railways, which were at first seen as the height of modernity, and brought certain tangible benefits wherever they went, came to be seen, not as local business, but remote corporate affairs not really concerned with local Issues and peoples. Christian Wolmar suggests that this is part of the “natural cycle” with developing railroad companies being viewed as “rapacious monopolists”. The love affair had ended.

The railroads had a burgeoning commuter market, had opened up tourism, made national conventions possible for more people….and had to respond to the increasing interurban systems, labour disputes and more.

The Roots of Decline “started in the 1920s when the federal government dithered over what to do with the railways that they controlled”…culminating in the consolidation of the railways , not always popular , with some railroads (such as the Pennsylvania Railroad which took the view that it was above the others!) reluctantly involved.

By now, the automobile, and the airplane, were fast becoming serious threats. And the development of the Interstate Highways appeared to put the final nail in the coffin of the railroads.(Although freight increased during this period…carrying the materials necessary for the highways project!)

The speeding up of certain services was an attempt to combat road and air competition..

An article appearing in “Trains” magazine of April 1959 entitled “Who Shot The Train” (Christian Wolmar describes this article as “remarkably prescient”) gave a series of reasons for the railway’s demise..”…profitability has been frustrated by archaic regulation, obsolete labor contracts, unequal taxation, and publicly sponsored competition”.

Where has that claim been made before?

The railroads wanted to get out of the passenger business, and concentrate solely on freight, and used some underhand methods to try to achieve this...but government intervention saw the creation of Amtrak…(much better sounding than Railpax!!)

Today, there is much talk in the US about high speed trains (California.. will it? Or won’t it?) and Amtrak’s hopes to speed up its services.

Many cities operate suburban and commuter rail services, and a younger generation not so attached to the car, may  find rail travel more attractive since they can still use their electronic gadgetry whilst travelling..(an interesting observation!)

And the increasing cost of flying and environmental concerns may yet give America the opportunity to “relearn the joys of railways which have served them so well in the past”.

An excellent book which will come to define the history of the American Railroad.

An important contribution to American Railroad history.

Peter S. Lewis (Editor, The Railway Chronicle & "On Shed" )

Obtain your copy HERE