The Great Railroad Revolution

by Christian Wolmar

  Nickel Plate Road. See New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad

  Nitroglycerine, 142, 167

  Nixon, Richard, 341–342, 348

  Norfolk Southern Railroad, 349

  Norfolk Western Railroad, 347

  Norris, Frank, 253

  North by Northwest (film), 266

  North Coast Limited, 302

  North Platte, Nebraska, 143

  North River Steamboat, 6–7

  North Shore Railroad, 286

  Northern Central Railroad, 98, 249

  Northern Pacific Railroad, 169, 176–177, 178, 233, 235, 250, 269, 302

  Northwestern Pacific Railroad, 175

  Obama, Barack, 20, 352, 353

  Office blocks, xxvi, 218

  Ogden, William, 69, 70

  Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad, 248

  Ogdensburg Republican, 193

  Ohio Central Traction Company, 283–284

  Oil crises, 343–344, 347

  Old Ironsides, 43

  Olmsted, Frederick Law, 93–94

  Olney, Richard, 236–237

  Opening ceremonies, 57–58

  Orange & Alexandria Railroad, 101–102, 113

  Oregon Central Railroad, 177

  Oregon Trail, 129

  Orient Express, 313

  Oriental Limited, 301–302

  Pacific City Lines, 330–331

  Pacific Electric Network, 282

  Pacific Railroad Acts, 128–129, 136–137, 148

  Palmyra & Jacksonburgh Railroad, 49

  Panic of 1837, 31, 48, 51–52

  Panic of 1857, 68

  Panic of 1873, 124, 163, 165, 233, 253

  Panic of 1893, 178, 235, 246, 249, 255, 259

  Panic of 1903, 273

  Papin, Denis, 5

  Parmalee, Franklin, 72

  Passenger services, 262–268, 306, 307, 323

  competition with freight, 350

  decline of, 229–239, 300, 324, 345

  See also under Railway travel

  Passengers

  behavior, 79

  black, 45, 73, 208, 212–213, 302

  Chinese, 208

  rich, 36, 84

  Patrons of Husbandry, 253

  Peale, Franklin, 42

  Pearl Harbor, 306

  Pearson & Hudson River Railroad, 52

  Peninsula Campaign, 106, 116

  Penn Central Railroad, 329–330, 337–338, 341, 347, 348

  Pennsylvania Limited, 264–265, 266–267, 269

  Pennsylvania Railroad, xiv (map), 8–10, 65–66, 68–70, 70–71, 168, 189, 333

  and aviation, 302–303

  and Civil War, 90, 97–98, 105, 117, 121

  commuter services, 277–278

  electrification, 286, 297, 299, 309

  financial difficulties and merger, 286, 308, 335–338

  and First World War, 290, 292

  Frankford Junction accident, 323–324

  freight services, 213–214

  and Hudson tunnels, 285–286, 287

  and interurban railways, 283–284

  labor relations, 233–234, 238, 261

  and Narragansett Pier Railroad, 210

  prestige services, 264, 265, 266–267, 301, 302–303, 315

  and Ripley plan, 296–297

  workforce, 229–230

  Pen-y-Darren ironworks, 14

  Pere Marquette Railway, 299

  Perelman, Alfred, 337

  Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railroad, 283

  Peto, Samuel, 39

  Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad, 43, 52

  Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, 97–98, 189

  Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, 235–236, 248, 299–300

  Picnic Train disaster, 195–196

  Pierce, Franklin, 193

  Pinkerton’s, 203–204, 235

  Pioneer, The, 183–184

  Pioneer Zephyr, 311

  Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, 168

  Platelayers’ carts, 110

  Plum Creek ambush, 149–150

  Plumb, Glenn, 295

  Plumbe, John, 125–128

  Pony Express, 154

  Poor, Henry, 89, 191

  Populist movement, 236, 257, 273

  Porters, 186–187, 229, 265, 301

  Postal services, 161, 302–303, 332–333

  Powder River Basin, 358

  Powderly, Terence, 234

  Powell, J. C., 165

  Power, Tyrone, 81

  Prestige services. See under Railway Travel

  Progressives, 273

  Promontory Point, xxiii, 151, 154, 155, 156

  Prospect & Coney Island Railroad, 223

  Prostitutes, 155, 172

  Public relations, 50, 169–170

  Public Works Administration, 308

  Pullman, George, xxiv, 83, 181–190, 237

  Pullman attendants, 186–187

  Pullman cars, 181–190, 206, 263–264, 267, 271, 312–313. See also Carriages

  Pullman News, 185–186

  Pullman strike, 186, 235–238, 262

  Rail network, US (2010), xvi–xvii (map)

  Rail World, 354

  Railroad Bureau, 100, 103

  Railroad Safety Appliance Act, 199–200

  Railroad Temperance Society, 206

  “Railroad wars,” xxii, 94, 107, 173–174

  Railroads

  1850, xv (map)

  1880, x–xi (map)

  1916, xii–xiii (map)

  Rails

  iron-covered, 3, 45–46

  L-shaped, 3–4

  steel, 196

  toothed, 15

  T-shaped, 45–46

  Railway barons, 238–252, 255–256, 290, 298, 355

  Railway charters, 11, 12, 17, 19–20, 23, 26, 29, 48

  Railway companies

  and antitrust legislation, 274, 290–291

  consolidation, 68, 123–124, 165, 167, 200–201, 238, 248, 256, 259–262, 293–299, 347, 358

  labor relations, 231–238 (see also Labor unions)

  management structures, 229–232

  monopoly powers, 30, 65, 205, 216, 238, 255, 259, 271, 273, 294, 316

  public hostility, 119, 204–206, 216, 238–239, 243, 245, 250–257, 271, 290, 295, 355–356

  and regulation, 256–257, 272–274

  Railway company agents, 169, 172

  Railway construction, 25–50

  costs, 46–48

  labor, 38–40

  promotion, 33–36, 37, 38

  See also Transcontinental railroads

  Railway manias, 23, 85, 124, 163

  Railway travel

  collective travel, 222–223

  connections, 84

  experiences, 73–85, 161–162, 167–168, 208–213

  luxury and prestige services, 181–190, 263–268, 300–303, 308, 309–315, 324, 325, 327–328, 329 (see also Passenger services)

  nighttime, 81, 83

  and segregation, 208, 212–213

  Sunday travel, 83

  Railways

  achievements and impact, 216–230

  British investment, 124

  deregulation, 347–350

  early opposition, 27, 63, 86–87, 92

  government support, 28–34, 51, 52, 85, 129, 153, 166, 173, 233, 341–345, 356

  and immigration, 169–173

  interwar boom, 307–308

  nationalization, 291–292

  postwar expansion, 121–124, 159–165

  regulation, 192–193, 256–257, 295–296, 297–298, 311, 347

  route mileages, 68, 72, 85, 90, 123–124, 159, 174–175, 215, 259, 261, 288–289, 306, 307, 308, 318–319, 349–350

  vertical integration, 48

  Western expansion, 168–180

  Rainhill Trials, 16, 17

  Ramsey, Joseph, 247

  Raquette Lake Railroad, 224

  Raton Pass, 173

  Rea, Samuel, 290

  Redfield, William,
53, 125

  Refrigerated wagons, 179, 255, 333

  Reno brothers’ gang, 202, 203

  Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad, 23

  Reutter, Mark, 62

  Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, 106

  Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, 103

  Rifkind, Simon, 325

  Ripley, William Z., 296

  River transportation, 6

  Roads, 10–14

  “corduroy roads,” 10

  and government funding, 12, 332, 343, 356

  interstate highways, 304–306, 308, 321, 332

  plank roads, 69, 70

  safety, 318

  “shunpikes,” 12

  turnpikes, 8, 11–13, 26–28, 29, 31, 48, 217, 303–304

  Robber gangs, 202–206

  Robinson, John and Lester, 132

  Rockefeller, John D., 225

  Rocket, 16

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 308, 322

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 272

  Rosecrans, William, 113

  Roulette, 4

  Royal Blue, 264–265

  Royal Gorge, 173–174

  “Runners,” 84

  Russia, 171–172, 294, 357

  Russian Revolution, 294

  Ruth, Babe, 227

  Sacramento Valley Railroad, 128, 129, 132

  Safety, 48, 80, 190–200, 251, 256, 318, 323, 351, 354

  Saint, Eva Marie, 266

  Salamanca, 15

  San Francisco Examiner, 237

  Sand Creek massacre, 148

  Sandboxes, 45

  Santa Fe Railroad. See Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad

  Saudi Arabia, 357

  Saunders, Richard, Jr., 253, 290, 294–295, 324, 325, 329, 345–346

  Saunders, Stuart, 336–337

  Savage, Charles, 143

  Savannah, Albany & Gulf Railroad, 92–93

  Schenectady & Troy Railroad, 67

  Schmidt, Carl, 171

  Scott, Thomas, 98, 234

  Seashore, 263

  Sebastopol Avenue, Battle of, 283

  Second World War, 306, 317–318, 321–324

  Seven Days’ Battle, 116

  Seymour, Silas, 137–138, 140

  Sherman, William, 114–115, 116, 118, 138, 147, 149, 150, 176–177

  “Sherman hairpin,” 115

  Sherman Summit, 147

  Sherwood, Lorenzo, 31

  Shin Hollow, 56

  Signaling, 47–48, 49, 270, 354

  Skyscrapers, xxvi, 217

  Slave labor. See under Labor

  Sleeping cars, 4, 46, 181–188, 242. See also Carriages

  Snow sheds, 144

  Sodus Bay & Southern Railroad, 248–249

  Some Like It Hot (film), 184

  Sorrel, Gilbert Moxley, 113

  South America, 155, 226

  South Carolina Railroad, 22

  Southern Pacific Railroad, 175–176, 205, 250, 253, 323, 348

  Southern Railroad, 248, 346

  Southern railways

  and Civil War, 90–94, 99–105, 111–113, 115, 122–123

  and convict labor, 164–165

  fares, 93, 161

  gauge change, 201

  postwar reconstruction, 160–165

  and segregation, 208, 212–213

  Sparkcatchers, 43

  Spielberg, Steven, 331

  Sports, 226–227

  St. Lawrence Seaway, 333

  St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, 177

  Stagecoaches, 15–16, 27, 44, 62, 73, 84, 154

  Staggers Act, 348, 349–350

  Stanford, Leland, 131–133, 141, 146, 152–153, 155, 156

  Starrucca Viaduct, 57

  Station agents, 78

  Station clocks, xxv, 218–219

  Station restaurants, 209

  Station wagons, 211

  Stations, 218–219, 220–221

  depots, 76–78

  Grand Central Station, 245, 286–287, 358

  Penn Station, 260, 285, 358

  Union Station, 219, 260, 344

  union stations, xxiv, 200–201, 260–261, 344

  Steam road carriages, 13

  Steam shovels, 38

  Steamboats and steamships, 5–7, 10, 13, 240

  Stephenson, George, 15–16, 59, 74

  Stephenson, Robert, 41

  Stevens, John, 17, 45

  Stevens, Robert, 45–46

  Stevenson, Robert Louis, 207–209

  “Stock watering,” 239, 246, 257

  Stockton & Darlington Railway, 15–16, 18, 48–49

  Stourbridge Lion, 17–18, 21

  Stover, John, 103, 117, 133, 178, 237–238, 251–252, 255, 259, 319

  Streamlining, 313, 314

  Streetcars. See Tramways

  Strickland, William, 18

  Strikes, xxv, 231–238, 251, 262. See also Labor unions

  Strobridge, James Harvey, 141, 144–146, 151–152

  Strobridge, Mrs. James Harvey, 145

  Subways, 278–279, 285

  Summit Tunnel, 142, 144, 147

  Sunset Limited, 345

  Super Chief, 313, 328

  Surrey Iron Railway, 4

  Sweden, 171

  Switzerland, 286

  Sylphorama of America, 169

  Taft, William Howard, 272

  Tallahassee Railroad, 33

  Tanfield Way, 3

  Taylor, George Rogers, 6, 9–10, 11, 47

  Telegraph, 49, 63–65, 78, 80, 145–146, 195–196, 217

  Texas, US annexation of, 89–90

  Texas & Pacific Railroad, 234

  Thomas, Philip E., 18

  Thompson, William, 149–150

  Thomson, John Edgar, 65–66

  Ticketing, 78–79, 267–268

  Time, standardization of, xxiv, 219–220

  Timetables, 78, 181, 255

  Todd, W. Parsons, 277

  Tom Thumb, 21–22, 41

  Tourism, 223–226

  Track bed, 45–46

  Track gauge, 14, 59–62, 85, 92, 201, 256. See also Loading gauges

  Train, George, 136

  Train speeds, 80, 84, 264–265, 311

  Trains magazine, 320, 344

  Tramways (streetcars), 274–275, 278–279, 286, 330–332, 353–354

  Transcontinental Air Transport, 302–303

  Transcontinental railroads, 38, 54, 57, 86, 117, 175–180, 201, 215

  and Central Pacific Railroad, 128, 130, 131–158

  construction of first Transcontinental, xxiii, 124–158 (see also Railway construction)

  and corruption, 128, 132–138, 144, 147–148, 150, 155–158

  government funding, 129, 153

  meeting of railways, 150–152

  and Native Americans, 127, 128–129, 147–150

  opposition to, 95, 96

  purpose of, 154–155

  and Union Pacific Railroad, 124, 128, 133–158, 175

  workforce, 139–149, 150, 151–152

  See also Railway construction

  Trans-Siberian Railway, xxiii, 176

  Travel passes, 254, 272

  Trespassers, 191–192, 317

  Trevithick, Richard, 14–15

  Trollope, Anthony, 96

  Trucking industry, 296, 303, 304–305, 317

  Tunnels, 47, 79, 139, 142, 144, 165–167

  and electrification, 286–287, 310

  Hudson River, 285–286, 287

  Turner, George Edgar, 107

  Turner’s Station, 64, 65

  Tuscarora & Cold Run Tunnel & Railroad, 49

  Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur Railroad, 23

  Twain, Mark, 159

  Tweed, “Boss,” 243

  Twentieth Century Limited, 265–266, 301, 302, 309

  Twin Cities Hiawatha, 312, 328

  Twin Cities Zephyr, 312

  Union News Company, 74

  Union Pacific Railroad, 207, 224, 234, 244, 288, 348, 349–350

  construction methods, 139

  coop
eration with Burlington Northern, 353, 358

  and corruption, 128, 135–138, 156–158, 178

  death toll, 142–143

  diesel services, 312

  financial difficulties and consolidation, 235, 250, 259

  gas-engine trials, 310

  and Hell on Wheels towns, 143

  and meeting of railways, 57, 150–152

  and Native Americans, 147

  and Transcontinental railroad, 124, 128, 133–158, 175

  workforce, 139–141, 150–152

  United States Military Railroads, 98, 100, 114, 118, 122

  United States Railroad Administration, 291

  USS Michigan, 57

  Utica & Schenectady Railroad, 67

  Uys, Errol Lincoln, 317

  Van Sweringen brothers, 298–299

  Vanderbilt, Cornelius, xxv, 68, 81, 182, 224, 233, 238, 240–245

  Vanderbilt, William Henry, 245, 248

  Verne, Jules, 136

  Villard, Henry, 177

  Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, 162

  Virginia Central Railroad, 32, 115

  Virginian Railroad, 347

  Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, 257, 289, 308

  Wagner, Webster, 182

  Wagon trains, 146, 154

  Wagonways, 2–3, 4, 15, 18

  Wall Street Crash, 298–299, 300, 307, 308

  Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad, 210

  Walters, Mrs., 191

  Ward, James A., 36, 44

  Washington, DC

  and Civil War, 97–99

  Union Station, 219, 260, 344

  Washington, George, 220

  Watlington, Charles, 174

  Watt, James, 5–6, 14

  Wayne, John, 111

  Webb, Walter Seward, 224

  Weld, Charles, 193

  West River Railroad, 210

  West Side and Yonkers Patent

  Railway, 278

  Western & Atlantic Railroad, xxii, 32, 103, 109, 114, 115, 195

  Western Emigrant, 125

  Western Maryland Railroad, 108, 347

  Western Pacific Railroad, 288, 335

  Western Railroad, 30, 34, 49, 73

  Western Union, 65, 218

  Westinghouse, George, 198, 199, 200

  Westinghouse company, 286

  Wheels, flanged, 3–4

  White, Richard, 155, 215

  White Train, 265

  Whitney, Asa, 126–128, 153–154

  Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (film), 331

  Wilder, Billy, 184

  Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad, 49

  Wilson, Harold, 326

  Wilson, Woodrow, 289, 291, 304

  Windsor, Duke of, 187

  Work trains, 139, 145–146

  World’s fairs, 221

  Yellowstone Park, 269

  Yonah, The, 110

  Young, Brigham, 148, 152

  Yulee, David L., 103

  Yutang, Lin, 324

  “Zulu trains,” 208

  Christian Wolmar is a writer, broadcaster, and railway and transport expert. He has written for major British newspapers for many years and has contributed to many other publications, including the New York Times and Newsday. His most recent books are Blood, Iron, and Gold and Engines of War.