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Preachers railed against it: "Traveling at speeds up to 20 miles per hour went against the Lord's plan!" Doctors told their patients that traveling on it would cause serious physical and mental ailments, including the boiling of the blood. Newspapers cried out, "It is a topsy-turvy, harum-scarum whirligig!" But it didn't matter: America loved the train and the freedom of movement that came with it. Riding the Rails in America traces the dynamic relationship of America with the train, showing how the railroad was the single largest influence on the development of the nation's history and economy as it became possible to move freight and people farther and faster than ever before.
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Riding the Rails in the USA: Trains in American Life
Martin W. Sandler
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Riding the Rails in the USA Trains in American Life
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Riding the Rails in the USA Trains in American Life Martin W. Sandler
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This book is dedicated to the thousands of railroad buffs across America who, through their love of steam and rail, have kept the story of a vital part of the nation’s life alive.
Acknowledgments I wish to thank Carol Sandler, Karen Fein, and Nancy Toff for all the help and encouragement they have given me. Thanks are also due to Amy Richter for her valuable suggestions and to Alexis Siroc for her excellent design of the book. Finally I am grateful for having Nancy Hirsch as my editor. Her editing skills are but part of the many contributions she has made to this book.
Picture Credits Courtesy of Amtrak: 57; B+O Railroad Museum: 8; Courtesy of Chuck Donaldson: 58; Duke University Library: 20, 39; Library of Congress: cover, frontispiece, 1, 2, 9, 12, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 40, 41, 43, 46, 47, 48, 51; Courtesy of Thurman Naylor: 44, 49; Courtesy of Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey: 54; Sandler Collection: 11, 45; University of Washington Library: 15, 30.
1 Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright © 2003 by Martin W. Sandler Design by Alexis Siroc Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup-usa.org Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sandler, Martin W. Riding the rails in the USA : trains in American life / Martin W. Sandler. p. cm. Summary: Explores the impact of trains in the United States as they allowed settlers to move West in large numbers and get needed supplies, helped farmers to move goods to market, and provided transportation for commuters. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-513228-9 (alk. paper) 1. Railroads—United States—History—Juvenile literature. [1. Railroads—History.] I. Title. HE2751 .S26 2003 2002014155 385’.0973—dc21 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in Hong Kong on acid-free paper
train with its huge steam locomotive dominates this illustration of the variety of 20th-century transportation.
COVER: A
mid–19th century train makes its way across a bridge in Niagara Falls, New York.
FRONTISPIECE: A
Contents CHAPTER
1
The Coming of the Rails 6 CHAPTER
2
Linking the Nation 14 CHAPTER
3
The Train in the West 25 CHAPTER
4
The Train Comes of Age 34 CHAPTER
5
Workin