U.S. History A.P.The Gilded Age – Part I

The Growth of American Railroads

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The first “rail” roads were build in England in the 17th century as a way to

reduce friction in moving heavily loaded wheeled vehicles. The first “rail” road was

built in America in 1764 .

These railroads were aka “gravity roads.” The rail was installed on a downhill slope. Loaded cars traveled down the slope with

the force of gravity. Mules returned empty cars up the slope.

John Stevens is considered to be the father of American railroads. The first railroad charter in North America was granted to

Stevens in 1815.

John Stevens locomotive and circular track

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• difficult and costly to build

Early Railroad Problems

Early railroads required surveys, maps, planning and expensive construction.

Wrought iron rusted, and had to be replaced.

• short lines (< 50 miles) leading “nowhere to nothing”

Early Railroad Problems

• lack of standard gauge

• single tracks

• constant threat of collision

The “DeWitt Clinton”

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The Bessemer Process, patented by Henry

Bessemer of England, was the first inexpensive

industrial process for mass producing steel.

This revolutionized the railroad industry.

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Addressing the Problems: Expense

Steel rails were stronger than iron rails and could bear more weight.

They also did not rust.

Bessemer Process

In the Bessemer process compressed air is blown into the bottom of a converter, a furnace shaped like a cement mixer, containing molten pig iron. The excess carbon in the iron burns out, other

impurities form a slag, and the furnace is emptied by tilting.

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George Westinghouse invented and

manufactured a compressed-air braking system, later inventing a reverse-acting fail-safe

system that remains standard on railroads

today.

Addressing the Problems: Safety

George Pullman introduced luxury into railroad travel with his sleeping car in 1864 and his separate dining car

in 1868.

Addressing the Problems: Comfort

Pullman Luxury

Comfort Car Pullman Sleeper

The first transcon-tinental railroad was planned before the Civil War through the territory acquired via the Mexican War and the Gadsden Purchase. The location of choice was more “flat” than any other, and appeased the Southern states. These plans were “scrapped” by the Civil War.

Transcontinental Railroad

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The wartime Congress pursued plans for a transcontinental railroad to connect Omaha,

Nebraska and Sacramento, California.

Transcontinental Railroad

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Transcontinental Railroad

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The Union Pacific Railroad moved westward from Omaha, employing mainly Irish laborers.

The Central Pacific Railroad moved eastward from Sacramento and employed over 7,000 Chinese immigrants at $1.00 each per day.

Transcontinental Railroad

The job was harsh and brutal. There were over 1,200 deaths due to accidents alone.

Chinese workers

Transcontinental Railroad

The federal government provided loans of money and grants of land for each mile of railroad built.

-$16,000 to $48,000 per mile for each mile of track laid (based upon the terrain)

- up to 20 square miles of land per each mile of track laid

Transcontinental Railroad

Transcontinental Railroad

The tracks were joined at

Promontory Point, Utah on

May 10, 1869.

Transcontinental Railroad

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Society changed.

The building of other “transcon-tinental” railroads rapidly

progressed.

Transcontinental Railroad

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• lands west of the Mississippi river.

Societal Effects of the Railroad

The railroads led to the development of …

• the area and population of towns and cities along the new rail lines.

• a transportation network for people and goods.

• a flow of economic activity between raw materials, growing industries and growing cities.

(Related industries grew at a phenomenal rate. Productivity increased x 12 in 50 years!)

• the U. S. Mail service (goodbye Pony Express).

Societal Effects of the Railroad

The railroads led to …

• the mail order industry (Sears-Roebuck, Montgomery-Wards, J.C. Penney)

• a stronger western military presence.

• increased conflicts between whites and native Americans.

Railroad Standard Time was adopted by the railroad in

1883 (by the nation in 1918) creating

the four time zones used on the

mainland today.

Societal Effects of the Railroad

The railroads changed our concept of time!!!The railroads changed our concept of time!!!

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