...The Resilience of the Railroad Industry Lindsay Millar, Jessica Settlecowski & Mike Gawel MGT 674 March 23, 2013 The history and resilience of the railway industry is rather remarkable as it has helped shape the landscape and the formation of the United States. Railways allowed colonies to settle in the West and the country suddenly became connected from coast to coast. This encouraged the exchange of goods and stimulated the development of towns and communities along track lines. Soldiers were shipped directly to the forefront of battleground lines and supplied with a constant flow of ammunition. Most importantly, trains were the steam engine that fueled the industrial revolution. The railway industry’s history is rich with experience and wise with age, as it has survived many seemingly insurmountable obstacles, including: the Great Depression, civil war, the advent of automobiles and airplanes and federal regulation. Federal regulation took the largest toll on the industry as it restricted the ability of the industry to adapt to future demands and market requirements. The growth of rail was stunted by 100 years of federal regulation and since the Staggers Act of 1980 which led to deregulation, the industry has been struggling to recover. After the implementation of the Staggers Act the industry has undergone serious reconstruction which has increased the overall performance and reliability of rail. As service levels improve the demand for low rates and large capacity...
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...class 1 railroads operating in the United States. The railroad industry doesn’t compete in a real free market. They tend to be somewhat monopolistic due to their size and scope, and for this reason they are regulated by the government. But as with any other business, the state of the economy is a factor on their profitability. With a continuingly slow economy the railroad services will remain lower in demand than CSX would like. As with mostly all of the other transportation services, the cost of fuel is a major contributing factor towards CSX’s bottom line. CSX and much of the railroad industry have implemented and continue to implement new technology to help keep their costs down, which allows them to be more competitive. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, freight moved on trains would cost shippers an additional $70 billion on standard trucks. Fuel efficiency is not the only technological advancement being made in the railroad industry. As with many other businesses in the field of logistics, GPS and other wireless technologies continue to add efficiency. New technologies are being applied to increase safety. Over the last 5 years CSX has had a 40% improvement in the rate of train accidents. Being a regulated industry, railroad is at sometimes more than others, highly connected to the political environment. When the regulations are loosened, the rail industry tends to be much more profitable. The future of railroad regulation...
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...As Thucydides once said, “The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage.” The beautiful thing about this quote is that it is short and sweet, but still hits the nail on the head. One of the main issues preventing the escape of slaves was a lack of knowledge and education. They either did not have the knowledge to escape or the courage to go through with it. Luckily, Cora had both traits and a mother who shared them with her. In The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, the literary devices of foreshadowing and imagery are used to show that Cora was predestined to run away as the pursuit of freedom is her family inheritance. As this story is about the Underground Railroad, the setting plays an integral role....
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...The Transcontinental Railroad was the first railroad that spanned the nation from east to west. The railroad was comprised of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad companies. Together these two railroads were able to bring the nation together, and the railroads contributed to the economic success of a growing nation. In 1839, the Corps of Topographical Engineers was created as a unit of the United States Army.[1] The purpose of this branch was to explore the continent with the hope of achieving the concept of manifest destiny. In 1853, Congress sent out a group of people to explore the west and to find a suitable route for a transcontinental railroad. However, there were other groups that went out on private expeditions. One of the members of this group was John C. Fremont, who made five major expeditions into the west.[2] Once California became a state in 1850, the government wanted to ensure that California did not break away from the Union.[3] One way to ensure this was to build a transcontinental railroad to provide transportation and communication between the eastern and western states. Since an effective route for the railroad had not been officially decided Congress appointed this job to Jefferson Davis, who was the Secretary of War, on March 3, 1853. Congress gave Davis the task of finding the potential route along four different lines of latitude. The people involved in the expeditions faced many problems including Indian attacks, long journeys...
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...Born in Maryland, Harriet Tubman was one of the most famous black slave in the 1800's. She built the Underground Railroad and risked her life going back to the South 19 times where her slave holders were to save her family and other slaves Harriet Tubman, born a slave suffered many years being owned, when Mrs.Tubman was a teenager she got hit in the head by a heavy object and suffered the rest of her life with seizures. In 1849 Mrs.Tubman escaped leaving behind her free husband, John Tubman and her parents, brothers, and sisters. When Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 she came across a well organized railroad she used to go back and forth to save slaves. Mrs. Tubman went back at least 19 times back to slave owners property to save her family and many other slaves, many people related to her as the "Moses" of their time....
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...With the establishment of the railroad system during the industrial advancement in the 1860s, the movement west became a representation of civilization, introducing the beginning of a nation becoming one. In, The Transcontinental Railroad (AMAZING AMERICAN HISTORY DOCUMENTARY), the development of the railroad proved to be more complex and costly than had previously expected. However, the promise of an improved commerce brought hope that would motivate the continuation of the tracks, despite the obstacles faced. The potential of railroads was nothing new to the United States since they had already created success for cities in the east. Everyone wanted to be involved with the Pacific Railroad, including Theodore Judah a civil engineer, due to the realization that it would spark profit. With investments from Collis Huntington, a businessman, Mark Hopkins, Huntington’s business partner, Leland Stanford, a wholesale grocer, and the Crocker brothers, a merchant and an attorney, Judah was able to set off to conduct a survey of the land. Armed with maps and profiles Judah was able to obtain a bill from President...
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...Historical content: Harriet Tubman was famous for her involvement in the Underground Railroad and helped save slaves escape to freedom in the mid to late 1800’s. The Underground Railroad was a term for a secret network of houses where runaway slaves could stay, overnight, on their journey north by road and tunnels to freedom. Because of Tubman’s expert knowledge of the routes and different towns across the south, when civil war broke out in America, she was a great use to the Union army in their efforts to win. It was her great success in helping slaves escape to a free life that led her people to know her as the “Moses of her people.” The two main historical events that helped this to occur was Congress passing the Fugitive Slave Act (1850) and the Civil War (1861-1865). Backed by the Union army, Tubman became instrumental in rescuing many slaves from a number of plantations in the south. She quickly gained notoriety and was connected to other respected abolitionists of the time, like John Brown. She was so successful at freeing slaves that slaveholders offered money, called a bounty, for her capture. After the end of the Civil...
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...The B&O Railroad By: Jaime Lewis For: Professor Knutson November 26, 2013 CON 101 Abstract The construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad started in July of 1828. The city of Baltimore came up with the idea to build this railroad from Baltimore to Ohio because of the competition throughout the popular seaports in the United States. Baltimore was already a popular city, but adding a train that could carry people as well as goods would make more people travel to Baltimore, and other places along the train’s route, bring goods into Baltimore, and help keep Baltimore alive. The B&O railroad was always expanding. The railroad is best known for being the first railroad in the United States that used a steam locomotive. B&O Railroad Why was there a need for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad? The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was built due to competition throughout the main seaports in the United States. Due to the fact that Baltimore is at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, it had many advantages over other ports. Another way for goods to be transported from Baltimore all they way to Ohio was a great idea for Baltimore, therefore causing the plan for the B&O Railroad. During this time Baltimore was flooding with business. They constantly had ships coming into the harbor as well as trucks riding the highways. Baltimore was (and still is) such a popular and thriving city, so the railroad made sense to help keep business, and the city, alive. Baltimore had to...
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...The first steam railroad locomotive was built by a British inventor, Richard Trevithick, in 1804. A mere sixty five years later, across the Atlantic Ocean, the First Transcontinental Railroad completed assembly. Never before had a train line traveled west past the Mississippi river. This rail route connected the American West with the rest of the continent. The West was embryonic before the transcontinental railroad. The American West was thinly populated territory that was not industrially advanced. The completion of the railroad allowed for a mammoth corpus of populace and goods to be shipped to and from the West at pioneering speed. Conveyance on the train tracks launched the West’s financial system. Physically and in print the West was...
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...Transcontinental Railroad Introduction How long was the transcontinental Railroad? How much did it cost to get built? Much did a first second and third class ticket cost? Who was the owner of the Transcontinental Railroad. Conclusion Introduction In 1863 something started, something which was much faster travel, it was the Transcontinental Railroad. It was a 1,776 mile colossal railroad. Theodore Jutah had the idea of the brilliant railroad. How long was the transcontinental railroad? The Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,776 mile colossal railroad constructed by 1863 to 1869 across the western united states. How much did it cost to get built? The transcontinental...
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...• The government wanted to gain wealth from the natural resources and land in the West. • The Transcontinental railroad was a major motivation for the government to encourage settlement (need builders, workers, farmers, etc. out there) • People of all classes, race, and background were enticed to head West in search of a new start and to increase their wealth. • In particular, farmers, miners, and ranchers made up the majority of the people heading west. Why these professions? • Homestead Act: This act gave away free land to individuals and family willing to migrate West and stay there. The downside was most land had few resources on it. • Many settlers build their homes out of parts of their wagon and dirt/sod. • The railroads were vital in...
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...In the 1800 there were tons of railroads but none of them connected the pacific ocean to the atlantic ocean. Tons of people tried to connected the pacific ocean to the atlantic ocean but there plans never came threw. In 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed the pacific railroad act. That's when they started building the transcontinental railroad. The transcontinental railroad would connect the two oceans. With the help from the central pacific railroad company and the union pacific railroad company they started the build for the railroad. Leland Stanford got a lot of credit for starting the build for the Transcontinental railroad. He was the president of the central pacific railroad company. His company would work west from Omaha Nebraska. The union pacific railroad company would work east from sacramento,california. The two companies worked at different side of the country and met together in the middle of the country to build the transcontinental railroad faster....
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...Railroad Essay The Northern Pacific Railroad has affected many things that we do today. It has shaped Washington into what it is. It has created countless technological advancements. It impacted and improved the businesses that make up Washington and most importantly it showed us the potential of the things we can do and opened many different pathways to the opportunities available today. It was built in 1864 thanks to Henry Villard who raised over 16 million dollars and was the president of the NPRR. It was mainly supported by the federal land grants where the government sold them cheap land within one square mile of the railroad. The railroad then continued to sell the land to other settlers, which is how they made most of their money to...
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...For much of America’s earlier history, there was only one oceanic coastline, the east remained vastly unsettled. This was due to many reasons, but more than anything it was due to the difficulty of journeying across unsettled, untamed land; there was no easier way than walking. Although there were existing railroads as early as 1830, there was no standardization between all the competing enterprises, nor was there any single unified track between numerous regions of the nation. It was not until May 10, 1969, the completion of the transcontinental railroad, that true unity was present across the country (The Pacific Railway). It may have been the same nation, but with the completion and expansion of the railroad, the west became a new land. The railroad connected seemingly two different parts of the world; material could be transported with ease, information could be actively shared from ocean to ocean, and people could easily migrate across the nation. This propelled economic...
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...The Railroad Era and Economic Growth Stacey Moore HIS/305 February 8, 2016 Charlotte Lopez-Schermer The Railroad Era and Economic Growth The Central Pacific Railroad was originally meant to make it easier for people from the East Coast to travel to the West Coast. In reality the Central Pacific Railroad made it easier for four men, Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins, to be greedy and deceitful, while trying to control the government. Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad was the vision of Theodore D. Judah but he could not finance it himself so he went looking for financial backing in both San Francisco and Sacramento. In Sacramento there were four men that were interested in Judah’s idea but were afraid to invest until the project had Congresses backing. Those four men were Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins, and they came to be known as the “Big Four”. The “Big Four” were willing to finance the Central Pacific Railroad by any means possible. There were a total of 1530 stocks sold at $100 a share to get the railroad started. Huntington, Stanford, Crocker, Hopkins and Judah bought 150 shares each and were able to start their company with only ten percent down which equaled $15,800. Thanks to the help of Judah the Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 and President Lincoln signed it. Just two short years later the Act was amended so that it would be even more...
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