The Golden Age of the American Railroad

For a hundred years the American railroad was the iron spine of the country it tied the two oceans together, carried the mail and the immigrants, and hauled the coal and ore everything else was built from. Here's its golden age. Earl here. I spent 44 years around Detroit's factories — and every pound of steel that came into my city, and every car that rolled out, moved on a railroad. The whole arc: a nation that couldn't move (the Erie Canal, mud roads); the first lines (the Baltimore and Ohio) collapsing distance; the great dream — the transcontinental railroad, the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 signed by Lincoln, Theodore Judah and the Big Four (Stanford, Huntington, Crocker, Hopkins), the Central Pacific over the Sierra Nevada built by Chinese laborers, the Union Pacific across the plains built by Irish and Civil War veterans, and the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, May 10 1869. What it did: knit the continent into a country (and, honestly, carried the conquest of the plains too); the railroads inventing standard time and the four time zones in 1883; the Railway Post Office. The barons — Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, James J. Hill — and the great lines (Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central, Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, B&O). The workers: the deadly brakeman's job and Westinghouse's air brake; the legends of John Henry and Casey Jones; the Pullman porters, A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; the Pullman Strike of 1894, Eugene Debs, and the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The golden age of glamour — the Twentieth Century Limited and its red carpet, the Super Chief, the California Zephyr, the Harvey Girls, Grand Central Terminal (1913), ~250,000 miles of track at the 1916 peak; the steam giants like the Big Boy and the diesel that replaced them. Then the fall — the automobile, the Interstate Highway Act of 1956, the airplane, the Penn Central bankruptcy (1970), and Amtrak (1971). Honest about both sides — the car gave a freedom the train couldn't, but we let the greatest railroad on earth rust while other countries built bullet trains. Did your family work the rails? Tell me your line in the comments. 1. A nation that couldn't move before rails: mud roads, the Erie Canal (1825) 2. The first lines: the Baltimore and Ohio (1828) collapsing weeks into a day 3. The great dream: Pacific Railway Act 1862 (Lincoln); Theodore Judah; the Big Four — Stanford, Huntington, Crocker, Hopkins 4. The build: Central Pacific over the Sierra Nevada (Chinese laborers, 10,000+); Union Pacific across the plains (Irish and Civil War veterans) 5. Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah — May 10 1869; coast-to-coast in under a week 6. The cost: settlement of the West and the conquest of the plains and the buffalo on the same rails 7. The railroads invent standard time and the four time zones (1883); the Railway Post Office 8. The barons: Cornelius Vanderbilt (New York Central), Jay Gould, James J. Hill (Great Northern); the great lines — Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central, Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, B&O 9. The workers and the danger: the brakeman; George Westinghouse and the air brake; the legends of John Henry and Casey Jones (1900) 10. The Pullman porters; A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (first major Black union); a seedbed of civil rights 11. Labor and regulation: the Pullman Strike 1894, Eugene Debs; the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 (first federal regulation of an industry) 12. The age of glamour: the Twentieth Century Limited (the red carpet), the Super Chief, the California Zephyr, the Harvey Girls, Grand Central Terminal (1913) 13. Scale and machines: ~250,000 miles of track at the 1916 peak (more than all Europe); the Big Boy steam giant; the diesel-electric that replaced steam 14. The fall: the automobile, the Interstate Highway Act of 1956, the airplane; Penn Central bankruptcy (1970); Amtrak created (1971); freight survives, passenger rail withers #AmericanRailroad #Railroad #TranscontinentalRailroad #SteamLocomotive #GoldenSpike #PullmanPorters #Vanderbilt #Amtrak #IronRoad #LostAmerica ⚠️ Disclaimer & Sources: This video is for educational and investigational purposes only