2 -- FINAL Flashcards
Gauge
Gauge is the distance between the rails of a railway track. How to choose the gauge is important for a few reasons; wider gauges made building railways far more expensive, broader gauges can carry greater loads, and gauge matters for what trains can operate on those tracks. Standard gauge was developed by George Stephenson on the stockton and darlington in the 1820’s, and was 4ft 8 1/2 in. While Isambard Brunel tried out a wider gauge on the great western, 7 ft 1/4 in, it found to have not much benefits. Many other countries that followed Britain in railway development and the industrial revolution, also used standard gauge. These countries included Germany which was becoming the heart of railways in the 1830’s-1840’s, italy, and most of the rest of europe. Spain, Ireland, and Russia. Spain and Russia build a new gauge for military reasons. They are concerned, because napoleon had invaded much of europe not long before, and they worried that they could just put their own locomotives on their railways and get into the country. This would lead to difficulty in trade, a loss of economic benefits, ect. Ireland was just not that serious. Its just an average of gauges chosen.
Double tracking
2 tracks, each track for 1 way. Single tracking is one track with trains go each way. famously that was what many tracks were like with siderails in the US. Like the transcontinental railraod to save money. Means that it takes a ton of time if you have to wait for a train going t other direction. Also, scheduling has to be even more important or you’ll deal with a head on collision.
Embankment
An embankment is when they take a bunch of land from the cutting to raise the level so that the gentle gradient can be maintained. most locomotives could only deal with a 1 ft gradient increase for every 5 feet in the 1800’s
Cutting
When they remove lots of dirt or stone to also maintain the gradient. Most locomotives could only deal with a 1 ft gradient increase for every 5 feet in the 1800’s
Tunnel
Tunnels were necessary to maintain the gradient. Difficult to build, and often used dynamite and explosions to built into them and then built brick around, to maintain the structure. Summit tunnel was a huge tunnel built for the transcontinental railroad to go through. This was extremely dangerous and many workers (either navvies, european workers, or many immigrant workers in the U.S.) lost their lives due to tunnels caving in, accidents with gunpowder, ect.
Locomotive
A powered rail vehicle used for trains. Trevithik is known as the father of the locomotive. He made the first steam engine in his off hours and then built the first steam locomotive that would be powerful enough to carry people and things but compact enough to be practical. On Christmas Eve 1801, Trevithick’s Puffer (so named because it puffed steam into the atmosphere) was ready at last. They were difficult to prove were good enough to pull things alone, instead of horses, and after the rainhill trials, the rocket made by George and Robert stephenson showed that it was good enough and practical enough to work. These locomotives used wood engines to create steam. The right amount of steam would create the right amount of pressure, as the water molecules push just enough to push the pistons but not to blow the whole engine up. A careful scheme of tubes was used along the engine to have a greater surface area for the water to evaporate. these would develop into eventually diesel locomotives in the 1900’s, in the united states GE produced 3 experimental diesel-electric locomotives. Diesel was preferable to wood because it was a liquid that did not need to be shoveled in but could simple slide down due to gravity. Last steam train used in the 1960’s. This made the job of the fireman largely obselete. There were also electric trains used, specifically in the cities, where it was easy to do because of proximity. these were very popular and also made the fireman obsolete.
Fireman
The firemans job was to shovel coal or wood into the engine. They would keep the fire controlled, not too big or too small so as to ensure that the pressure remained at the optimal level, and not too much water was evaporating. Their job became obsolete with the advent of deisel and electric trians. they still would benefit from “full crew laws” that would allow them to keep their jobs despite having not a huge role. they then would do things like inspect the trains, act as an extra set of eyes for the driver, ect.
Switchman
Operate railway switches, which would switch the track so the train could go one way instead of another. Also people who commonly prepared rails with locomotives and moved trains on and off the railway, onto sidings, ect. Dangerous job.
Brakemen
Had 2 of the most dangerous jobs on the railway. Uncoupling and coupling the trains (a job that became obsolete with “janney couplers”) and applying the brake manually on each car. Coupling trains was dangerous because you had to couple the large moving vehicle at the right time without getting squished, or losing a finger. Deploying the brakes manually on each car was dangerous, as you had to go atop the cars to do so and lean over. Often, the tops were slick with rain or ice and were in general uneven surfaces that you could easily slip off of. If you didn’t slip off, there was a huge danger that you could also be hit by an incoming tunnel and die that way.
Conductor
Hated the driver. Both felt that they “owned” the trains which was a barrier to collective class conciousness. Conductors had a hard job. They had to collect tickets, keep the people on the train in order and had a lot of power. they also played a huge part in lots of racism on the rails where they had thrown people off the trains due to their skin color, or forced them to go to other train cars based on racism. A very famous case of this was with Ida B. Wells, who in 1883 was thrown vicously from the ladies car by a white conductor after she refused to go to the car reserved for black passengers.
Trade union
there were little to no protections for workers in the late 1800’s so strikes were common. The largest of them, the strike of 1877 drew in hundreds of thousands of workers after the B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) railway company instituted additional pay cuts during a deep recession. The strike was chaotic and violent and was crushed after 3 weeks with help from the state militia that killed many of the strikers. The government often stood with the railway companies at this time and prosecuted strike leaders. The railroads therefore could impose whatever conditions on their workers that they saw as profitable, specifically, long working hours. Additionally, in Britain and the U.S., workers were divided into separate grades and subdivisions. The strict grades created hatred and deep divisions between the different jobs on the railway. For example, there was common hatred between conductors and enginemen who both felt that they “owned” the trains. This animosity between workers undermined many attempts at larger unionization, as many enginemen felt that they were too good to join unions with unskilled workers. Despite this, the U.S. in the 1880s saw the rise of the Knights of Labor, which allowed anyone, even women and African Americans to join. At its height, it had 700,000 members. This union would, unfortunately, fail to cement worker bargaining power and would fall apart during to a strike in 1885 due to lack of funds which resulted in its steep decline in power and membership. While in 1887, the government passed the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate the railways, in 1894, they would show that worker protections were still far off. A Pullman strike in 1894 set off a chain reaction, which resulted in a huge strike of 250,000 workers. Unlike the strikes of the past, initially, it was very peaceful and publicly supported. Unfortunately, the federal government moved against the strikers, resulting in violence, and the courts re-applying the Sherman Antitrust Act to say the workers were infringing on “market competition”. The strike failed and ended with the strike leaders, notably Eugene Debs, in prison and a dangerous legal precedent set. The growth of unionism and public favor shifted until finally, in 1916 when the Adamson Act established the 8-hour workday and 94 percent of railway workers were represented by a union.
Nationalization
Railway nationalization is the act of taking rail transport assets into public ownership. Several countries have at different times nationalized part or all of their railway system. RUSSIA: Railroads in the Russian Empire were built by both the state and capitalists. After communist takeover the whole railway system was brought under the state control and remained so after fall of the communist rule. Nowadays the Russian Railways state-owned company holds monopoly on this sphere of transportation. FRANCE: In 1938, the French state took 51% ownership of the newly formed SNCF merging of France’s five main railways (100% in 1982). BRITAIN: In 1914, the railways were taken into Government control - but not ownership - due to World War I, but were returned to the original owners in 1921, three years after the war had ended. However, in that same year, the government introduced the Railways Act 1921. This forced the 120 railway companies then operating to merge into just four. After World War II, the railways were taken into State control in 1948. They were re-privatised in between 1994 and 1997. UNITED STATES: The railways were nationalised in many parts of the world with the advent of WW1. 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson nationalized most American railways under the Federal Possession and Control Act, creating the United States Railroad Administration (USRA). In 1920, control of the railways was returned to their original owners. Freight operations and most of the track have remained private enterprises, even as the railroads were forced to restructure by changing markets in the post-World War II years. On December 27, 1943, President Roosevelt nationalized the railroads for a few weeks to settle a strike.
Hobo
A hobo was someone that would jump on trains and illegally get train rides. The term “Hobo” originated, it came into common usage by the end of the 19th century. But the history of hobos began decades earlier. Though not called hobos, but frequently referred to merely as tramps, men had long been traveling around picking up work. Most modern hobos, however, trace their lineage to the building of the railroads and the end of the Civil War. This was extensively covered by ted conover in his book “Riding the rails with America’s hoboes”. He discovered a difficult life. Famous railway hobo person. Discusses his experiences as he goes through being a hobo. discovers the romanticized life that is actually very terrifying and difficult. Meets a hobo named Lonny who really intrduces him to a lot of things; hiding on the rails before they start, how to protect himself (never look scared), the rapes that occured with men and his love of women. He also meets mexican hobos who are also terrified of deportation police coming for them. comes back totally different and thinks that the people he knows have such tiny problems and complain about such bad things, compared to not having any food or a jacket. Perfect study in learning how people live by doing it.
Conrail
Conrail history starts with Penn Central’s bankruptcy in 1970, a collapse that upset the entire railroad industry. Something had to be done — Penn Central could not simply be liquidated. It operated one-third of the nation’s passenger trains and was the principal freight carrier in the Northeast. United States Railway Association, a federal government corporation, was formed to attempt a rescue. The USRA planned to parcel out portions of the Reading and Erie Lackawanna to Chessie System and Penn Central’s lines along the DelMarVa Peninsula to the Southern Railway. A new railroad, Consolidated Rail Corporation, would acquire the rest. In October 1980 U. S. president Jimmy Carter signed into law the Staggers Rail Act, which gave railroad companies freedom to set prices. Not long afterward the United States received a new president, Ronald Reagan, who intended to dismantle Conrail. Congress, however, allowed Conrail to discharge redundant employees and transfer its commuter services to state and regional authorities, giving Conrail a two-year reprieve. Freed of commuter services and able to set its own rates and abandon track it no longer needed, Conrail started to become a profitable freight railroad. L. Stanley Crane assumed the presidency of Conrail at the beginning of 1981, about the time the Reagan administration proposed selling the railroad. By 1995 the Super Seven had become five: Burlington Northern & Santa Fe and Union Pacific west of Chicago, CSX and Norfolk Southern in the Southeast, Conrail in the Northeast — and CR, CSX, and NS between the Allegheny Mountains and Chicago. The result was that CSX and NS together together acquired Conrail.
Amtrak
In 1970, President Richard Nixon signs the Rail Passenger Service Act (RPSA), creating the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, later known as Amtrak, to take over the intercity passenger rail obligations belonging to private railroads. This occured to the massive decline in passenger services offered by private railways that much of the public still needed that couldn’t afford cars. Virtually all railways, with the exception of a small handful, signed contracts with Amtrak. The corporation pays the railroads to run their passenger trains and also compensates them for the use of certain facilities, including tracks and terminals. It bears all administrative costs, such as those incurred for the purchase of new equipment, and manages scheduling, route planning, and the sale of tickets. Issues: the companies for a long time would prioritize their own freight on their lines INSTEAD of amtrak which they would force to wait on a siding. The trains speeds were also reduced significantly due to the slow freight trains they had to wait for. Often still operates in a deficit. However, For over 50 years, freight railroads have been required by law to provide Amtrak with “preference” to run passenger trains ahead of freight trains. However, many freight railroads ignore the law because it is extremely difficult for Amtrak to enforce it, and as a result, people and the American economy suffer.
Powder River Basin
The Powder River Basin is a geologic structural basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming. There is a ton of special coal there that is low in sulfur, and so is a very important coal store because the goal does not release sulfur dioxide which is a horrific GHG. This saved freight movement as the coal production began to boom in the 1970’s and has been the primary freight for railways to carry as coal has been significantly phased out due to environmental concerns.
Containers
1984 invented in the U.S. Double stack trains would carry 2 intermodal containers ontop of one another. This would magnify the amount of things that they could carry which was especially important to railways in the late 1900’s when they had largely phased out commuter travel entirely, and were very focused on freight travel. These containers had been proliferated in the 60’s and 70’s on ships to prevent stealing goods, and keep them from being touched by lots of different people, loading and unloading them. Very large and very heavy, and had to go slower to prevent tipping over.
Double Stack trains
1984 invented in the U.S. Double stack trains would carry 2 intermodal containers ontop of one another. This would magnify the amount of things that they could carry which was especially important to railways in the late 1900’s when they had largely phased out commuter travel entirely, and were very focused on freight travel. These containers had been proliferated in the 60’s and 70’s on ships to prevent stealing goods, and keep them from being touched by lots of different people, loading and unloading them. Very large and very heavy, and had to go slower to prevent tipping over.
Rust belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and cities primarily in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S., including Allentown, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Jersey City, Milwaukee, Newark, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Toledo, Trenton, Youngstown, and other areas of New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Upstate New York.
Beginning in the late 20th century, the Rust Belt began experiencing the elimination or outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. In some cases, it is a trend that persists in the 21st century. The term Rust Belt refers to the impact of deindustrialization, economic decline, population loss, and urban decay on these regions attributable to the shrinking of the once-powerful industrial sector especially including steelmaking, automobile manufacturing, and coal mining. The term gained popularity in the U.S. beginning in the 1980s[2] when it was commonly contrasted with the Sun Belt, which was surging.
This was part in parcel with the decline of railways during the 60’s and 70’s. That would have killed railways when they have no passenger travel AND NO FREIGHT?? they are literally obsolete. Saved by the powder river basin coal.
Staggers Act (1980)
By the 1970s, decades of increasingly stringent government regulation — together with intense competition from other modes of transportation — had brought the U.S. freight railroad industry to near ruin. The Staggers Rail Act eliminated many of the most damaging regulations, allowing railroads to take a smart, customer-focused and market-based approach to railroading. Under Staggers, regulators retained authority (which they still have today) to protect shippers and consumers against unreasonable railroad conduct and unreasonable railroad pricing. It allowed them to close unprofitable short lines, allowed it to reject unprofitable freight and price to demand among other things. It considerably increased efficiency and productivity on lines.
Traqueros
there were more Mexican railway workers, also known as Traqueros, who faced unique difficulties due to racial discrimination. Traqueros often worked on the frontier as trackmen. They were known as “common laborers” and were also paid less and did more difficult work compared to their white counterparts. They shoveled dirt, dug ditches, graded roadbeds, laid ties, and rails, and removed snow and ice from the tracks, all of which were very physically demanding. This work also required a lot of skill to be done correctly and safely, although their knowledge often went unappreciated and ignored by their white foreman who viewed them as “childlike” and unintelligent due to racial stratification. {FOR EXAMPLE: López:
waiting for an engineer to arrive so that he could insert a frog
(a unit of track which allows the train to cross). After waiting
for about an hour, he volunteered to “eyeball” the operation.
His foreman questioned the wisdom of installing it without the engineer, but said to “go ahead” and agreed to back up López when questioned. By the time the engineer arrived, López had the job done. He recalls that the engineer looked puzzled and asked who had installed it. López nonchalantly admitted that it was he. The engineer then measured the track to double check that the frog had been installed properly, to which he said he had never seen anything like it. “It’s perfect”.} Despite being skilled in their work, trackmen were killed the most on the job out of all the grades in the railroad hierarchy (causal or common workers and were paid a ton less) and the stereotypes of Traqueros as “docile” and good physical workers, led to them almost being worked to death. They often engaged in lower level strikes against abusive foremen by straight up walking off the job. Also often worked in full families, although the work was very dangerous, and you could accidentally crush hands with huge hammers, ect. Many foremen learned to treat the traqueros with respect and they developed close relationships as a result.
The interstate commerce commission
Was created in 1887 and was ended in 1995. Carefully regulated the railways and the act that created it gave it legs. That law limited railroads to rates that were “reasonable and just,” forbade rebates to high-volume users, and made it illegal to charge higher rates for shorter hauls. It would be cited as a reason for the decline of railways later, as it forced them to maintain short lines and accept unprofitable business.
The Esch-cummins act
The Transportation Act, 1920, commonly known as the Esch–Cummins Act, was a United States federal law that returned railroads to private operation after World War I, with much regulation.[1] It also officially encouraged private consolidation of railroads and mandated that the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ensure their profitability. Granted authority to the ICC to set minimum shipping rates, oversee railroads’ financial operations, and regulate acquisitions and mergers.
Streamlining
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor “bullet trains”. Example: Zephr, 20th century limited (1939)
Short lines
Short lines are smaller railroads that run shorter distances and connect shippers with the larger freight rail network. Often in more rural areas. Example:Twin Cities and Western Railroad
Pools
Railroad companies colluded with each other to protect their profits. “Pools” were agreements to divide the business in a given area and share the profits. Small farmers often paid the highest railroad transportation rates, while big customers paid low rates. Classic economic collusion. There were often agreements in which these different companies would help each other with revenue when times were difficult (i.e help one when there was a flood, and another when there was a snowstorm). There was always an incentive to cheat though, by paying less of a percent of their profits to other railways during times of hardship or to charge a lower rate on the side to certain shippers. This caused these pools to degrade quickly. Pooling agreements were eliminated in 1887 with the formation of the interstate commerce commission. Pools also were so politically unpopular that people were very upset by them. helped to lead to books like the the ocotpus that depicted railway companies as evil.
Monopoly
Many railroad companies had a monopoly over the area that they ran lines, because, really, it was the only thing that made sense in many cases. Areas really only needed 1 railway, and while 1 may be profitable, 2 would likely drive them both out of business. Some states even enforced that there be monoplies, and this was somewhat common throughout the world, that companies often had few companies with monopolies. Railroad companies heavily abused their monopolies though, as they would charge higher rates, especially on smaller farmers and much of the public was very upset by their abuse. This led to careful regulations from the
The sherman anti-trust act
The sherman antitrust act was passed in 1890. It was legislation that prevented companies from colluding, or from creating monopolies that would disrupt free market operations. Railways had a horrible public perception from collusion, and monopoly rights that they had used and abused for decades and this helped to spur a nationwide hatred for abusive companies. While it was intended to be used against abusive companies, and it was, throughout “trust buster” teddy rosevelts presidency, but it was also used AGAINST railway employees. This occured in the Pullman strike in 1894 in which 250,000 workers striked against railway companies. The federal government moved against the strikers, resulting in violence, and the courts re-applying the Sherman Antitrust Act to say the workers were infringing on “market competition”. This resulted in a legal injunction against many of the strike leaders, notably Eugene Debs, who ended up in prison for violating the injuction as the strike continued. This was an awful reapplication.
Featherbedding
Comes from practices largely in the 1950’s and 1960’s, in which trade unions on the railways were so strong that they were able to prevent the railways from firing railway workers that were no longer needed. The trade unions and the companies had an agreement where there would be 5 workers on the train, importantly including the fireman and the brakemen. Both of these positions became obselete with the advent of airbrakes and diesel engines.
Wooden or Steel cars
All-steel cars were introduced by about 1896 and within 30 years had almost completely replaced the wooden variety. Wooden cars were commonly used throughout the 1800’s but they were bad in the advent of train crashed. They would literally splinter and if they set on fire they would burn everyone inside. 1837 –Suffolk, Virginia collision: The head-on collision occured when an eastbound lumber train coming down a grade at speed rounded a sharp curve and smashed into the morning passenger train from Portsmouth, Virginia. The first three of the thirteen stagecoach-style cars were smashed, killing three daughters of the prominent Ely family and injuring dozens. Steel cars are more durable and less likely to set on fire.
Airbrakes
On April 13, 1869, George Westinghouse received a patent for what has since been called, “the most important safety device ever known” – the air brake. With Westinghouse’s remarkable air brake, an engineer could control all braking instantly from the train’s cab. These would not be huge until later, but by 1905, over 2,000,000 freight, passenger, mail, baggage and express cars and 89,000 locomotives were equipped with the Westinghouse Quick-Action Automatic Brake. The Railroad Safety Appliance Act of 1893 made the railway air brake invention mandatory on American trains. It was passed on March 2, 1893, and took effect in 1900 after a 7-year grace period. Railways dragged their feet because it was expensive. It made brakemen obsolete.
Janney Couplers
They are automatic couplers. there is a spring that locks them together as they hit each other. these made brakemen more obsolete. Invented in 1873 and are currently widely used by trains today!
