Few things are on the for front of our minds. Who really thinks much about trains and railroads anymore? As we speak there are trains running. Mostly carrying bulk products. Heavy loads such as coal, automobiles, oil, agricultural products.
Now there is a lot of speak of starting rail as public transportation. I think it is a good idea as Europe and the rest of the world still use trains for public transportation. But you have to realize that the United States already had one of the best rail systems in the late 1800s. The rail system was the main transportation throughout the United States. Every city and small town have a rail line. The food you ate, the clothes you wore, the products that were available at the hardware store, the factory you worked at, the US Mail, and everything else rode on the rails.
The railroads provided perhaps millions of people jobs. As there were not just the obvious trains going past. The infrastructure was immense. The amount of skilled workers involved in the running of the trains is almost breathtaking. Electricity was in use far before the appliances and light bulbs we know now. First the telegraph which was used a great deal by the railroads. The New York Central Railroad was the leader having their own generating stations and having an electronic signaling system in the late 1870s. As train wrecks were rampant in this time. The major thing was not knowing where the next or last train was.
During World War 1 the government took over the operation of the railroads. They are came up with some of the most hot rod steam locomotives that would run the rails till the diesel locomotives would take over. During this period the government dictated that all railroads would cooperate and ship each others freight in the most efficient manner meaning they would share their cars among themselves. So it did not matter which railroad the car belonged to, if was here and now that would be the next one used. This added to the faster opperation of rail service. It remains today as you see different railroad company names on most freight trains. Except for some unit trains which are an entire train hauling one product.
Now lets more to passenger trains. By the 1920s and 1930s American passenger trains had air conditioning, heat, dining cars, club cars and a great deal of luxury. Not all by far. But many of the top line trains. As this was the way the wealthy traveled too. The best trains could run at 80 to 100 miles per hour. Especially the western trains in the flat areas in the deserts and Great Plains. As they had no inclines or turns to deal with. The very rich could have their own private cars. Which could tag along with a passenger train or have their own locomotion.
I do not know of any President before FDR flew in an airplane. He flew in 1932 to Chicago to accept the nomination for President at the Democrat delegation there. He took his entire family. It was a long trip with bad weather. And as I understand it never flew again until 1943 or 1944 to get to Northern Africa. Always preferring a train in the US and a Navy cruiser for international travel.
Passenger service extended to every city, small town, and rural area of the United States. When people had to go a long or reasonably long distance then had to take a train. There was also a lot of local trains in the early 1900s (read light rail). When I lived in the Evansville, Indiana area there were the remains of an electrified rail system that ran about twenty five miles east of Evansville and went the same amount west. Los Angeles, California had a very good rail system. It was purchased by General Motors Corporation and completely dismantled. Chicago and New York City still have and use their rail systems started in the 1880s. The passenger rail reflects a time when every working individual could not afford a private car.
Model railroads are an attempt of individuals to create a duplication of a real or realistic railroad. Most of us just make an oval track that can just run around for hours. But the best make a working railroad that is actually performing a task that is tantamount to what a real railroad does. I however am not that skilled, ambitious, wealthy enough or motivated to do much with my model railroad. So I will just fire it up every few weeks or months to delve into the little fantasy of my own train going to where I want it to go.
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