Railroads played a crucial role in America's development and in its wars. Here is a list of ten interesting and important details about the role railroads played in American history.
Fact #1: The first American railroads relied on horsepower, literally.
The first American railroads relied on horses to drag cars down the rails. Using rails reduced the amount of friction between the wheel and the ground, making it easier for horses to pull larger loads. These horse-drawn railroads were used before the development of small steam engines let companies phase out the horses.
Fact #2: America’s first railroads were small and usually connected rivers or canals to nearby manufactories.
Railroads were initially built to help improve existing methods of transport rather than acting as their own. Companies constructed small branch railroads, often animal or gravity-powered, to bring their goods to waiting boats that would bring them to markets at America’s major ports. In 1826, the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was built to connect the Erie Canal at Schenectady, New York, to the Hudson River at Albany, reducing the time it took to transport goods between them by water. This was America’s first chartered railroad to reach completion.
Fact #3: America’s first major railroad was the Baltimore and Ohio.
In 1827, the state of Maryland chartered the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to connect the port of Baltimore with the Ohio River. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal already connected the two, but a steam-powered railroad offered a potential much faster route for these goods. Upon the completion of the first 13 miles of track in 1830, the B&O became the first American railroad to offer regularly scheduled passenger services and would continue to rapidly expand. The B&O’s success inspired a railroad boom in the 1830s with many other companies springing up to take advantage of the lucrative market.
Fact #4: Railroad gauges varied wildly across the country.
With so many companies building railroad lines across the country, no railroad gauge (distance between the rails) was ever settled upon between them. In 1860, railroads across the country used more than half a dozen different gauges, preventing locomotives and cars from one line being used on another. This posed a major problem for both sides during the Civil War, making railroad logistics a headache for planners on both sides. The Pacific Railway Act of 1862, which funded the construction of the transcontinental railroad, also stipulated what gauge it would be. This gauge, 4’8”, became known as the “Standard Gauge,” and in the years following the Civil War, almost all railroads in the United States adopted it.
Fact #5: Railroads caused the Panic of 1893.
During the Reconstruction Era, investors—both private and public—funded a rapid expansion of the railroad network in the United States. This created a speculation bubble which burst in 1893, causing the worst financial panic the United States would see until the Great Depression 35 years later. This panic increased government scrutiny of railroad business practices, leading the Interstate Commerce Commission, founded in 1887, to exert greater regulatory control over railroads.
Fact #6: The peak of American railroad construction was in 1916.
Despite the Panic of 1893, railroad construction continued as railroad demand grew until in 1916. On the eve of America’s entry into World War I, the United States had 230,468 miles of railroads.
Fact #7: In World War I, the government took control of the railroads.
When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson lobbied congress to pass a bill giving the U.S. government powers to control the operations of the railroads during wartime. The private companies continued to operate the railroad lines, but under the direction of government agents and at government-mandated prices. Government control of railroads helped the U.S. to rapidly mobilize and deploy millions of troops to France, but would ultimately hurt the businesses, making them less profitable. The government did not relinquish this control of railroads fully until 1920, two years after the Armistice.
Fact #8: Passenger rail use declined between the world wars as people bought cars.
Just as railroads were beginning to recover from wartime oversight, the auto industry boomed. Americans bought millions of cars and family car ownership skyrocketed. Alongside this boom in auto sales, the government funded the construction of many miles of new roads and other pieces of infrastructure designed for cars. Passenger volume declined precipitously as a result, as people preferred to use cars for shorter journeys instead of the railroads.
Fact #9: American railroads saw their greatest use in World War II.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States reactivated many of the same controls over railroads as it had during World War I. Railroads played a major role in the US war effort, transporting a record amount of people and goods across the country. In addition to carrying 97% of all military personnel traffic in the US mainland, railroads saw a major increase in passenger volume. This was due to gasoline rationing, which prevented people from using their cars for all except required trips. As a result, railroads saw their peak usage during the war years.
Fact # 10: Interstate highways and passenger air travel doomed passenger service.
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in 1953, he worked for the passage of what became the Interstate Highway Act. Eisenhower, in his army days, participated in a cross-country car journey in order to test how long such a trip would take. Sixty-two days after setting out from Washington D.C., the team arrived in San Francisco. That was in 1919. Even thirty years later, traveling across the country rapidly by car was difficult. Eisenhower, inspired by the German autobahn, envisioned a similar system of major roads across the United States, the idea maturing into the interstates we know today. At the same time, the invention of passenger jet aircraft, in particular the Boeing 737, saw the rapid boom of domestic air travel. These two coinciding events practically killed the passenger rail market, with air travel being more practical for long distances and cars for shorter journeys.
