The Great Railroad Revolution (33 page)

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Authors: Christian Wolmar

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1. The Atlantic, built by Phineas Davis at York, Pennsylvania, was introduced on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1832, pulling cars based on stagecoach designs. (The photograph is undated but is clearly from a much later period, suggesting it depicts a celebratory run marking an anniversary.) © U
NDERWOOD
& U
NDERWOOD
/C
ORBIS.

2. In December 1830, the Best Friend of Charleston, the first locomotive built in America to haul a passenger train, began operating on the Charleston & Hamburg railroad, which was briefly the world's longest line. Not long after, the locomotive met with an unfortunate end when a fireman closed a safety valve and was killed in the subsequent explosion. G
ETTY
I
MAGES.

3. The most famous picture in American railroad history: the rather chaotic ceremony to mark the completion of the first transcontinental by the Central Pacific and Union Pacific rail in May 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah. © B
ETTMANN
/C
ORBIS.

4. The arrival of the iron road changed the landscape of America in various unpredicted ways, such as helping to speed up the virtual extinction of buffalo. G
ETTY
I
MAGES.

5. Until the First World War, agents were widely used to sell train tickets, often offering a discount on the normal price. © B
ETTMANN
/C
ORBIS.

6. The railroads used advertising and even speaking tours in order to attract settlers onto their land. © B
ETTMANN
/C
ORBIS.

7. Of the many opponents of the railroads in the later stages of the nineteenth century, the farmers proved to be the most effective and vociferous, helping to bring about regulation of the industry. © C
ORBIS.

8. The completion of major railroads was a cause for celebration and, sometimes, innovative publicity campaigns. © M
INNESOTA
H
ISTORICAL
S
OCIETY
/C
ORBIS.

9. The railroads did much to hasten the demise of the Native American culture both directly, through land grabs, and indirectly, by encouraging settlement. © C
ORBIS.

10. As this 1904 picture of Houston, Texas, shows, freight was key to the profitability of many railroads. © C
ORBIS.

11. 1885: At times the railroad companies struggled to keep up with demand for their services. C
LASSICSTOCK
/A
LAMY.

12. The railroads were used extensively to take vacationers to resorts such as the one served by this typical small station in the Catskills in upstate New York, shown here in 1905. © B
ETTMANN
/C
ORBIS.

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