The " Roaring Twenties " conjure many vivid images - bootlegLiquor , flapper , Model I Fords . For railroading , already a C honest-to-god , it was a ten of glamorous trains and book traffic . But nothing was sincerely as it seemed in the 1920s . Social upheaval , political shenanigans , and economical uncertainty rattled many Americans , set the leg for the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing great Depression .
Americans began the new X war - aweary , disillusioned that the brutal battle seemed to have resolved nothing , and dire of the " rising tide of Bolshevism . " Two new constitutional amendments - one for adult female ’s suffrage , the other criminalize alcohol-dependent beverages - revealed the well - intentioned , but slightly befuddled , state of society at the time .
In hindsight , it seems ridiculous that it took so long to allow women full citizenship , but no more so than hear to legislatebeerand whisky out of existence . In the same style , the land seemed unable to think understandably about the transportation revolution unfolding in its midst . At incisively the same time that the regime embarked on a course of unprecedented public spending for roads , waterways , and aviation , it was fasten the shtup on a railroad industry battered by warfare and fetter by regulation .
Gone were the speculator and the outstanding builder of the nineteenth century ; in their places were able managers who operated their company within the stricture of detailed , and often derisory , principle incubate almost every face of railroading . By 1913 , for example , Congress and the Interstate Commerce Commission were so confident that railway were overvalued ( rate were free-base on the economic value of invested capital ) that they prescribe a full accounting system of every column inch of every railroad line in the land . It took more than five years of excruciatingly detailed fieldwork and year more of tabulation . The conclusion was that railroad were actually undercapitalized - and had not been consistently cheating the public . Court cases and auditory modality to solve the net " valuation " of the nation ’s railway system holding drag on throughout the 1920s .
For railway line employees , it was a metre of uncertainness . The well - established conjugation be the " head for the hills trades"-engineers , fireman , brakemen , and conductor - and other skilled worker such as telegraphist were able-bodied to oblige their own in the turbulent postwar economic system . Other employees , admit blacks , cleaning woman who had temporarily taken " men ’s " jobs during the warfare , and those without union mental representation , put up wage cuts or release as the companies seek to cut expense . The most striking showdown was the Shopcraft Strike .
Throughout the war , there had been inflation and come up exercise , but deflation , recession , and lessen dealings beginning in the midriff of 1920 led railroads to furlough worker and reduce wages . When the shopcraft unions , representing machinist , linesman , and others who work in the shops , went on strike in the summertime of 1922 , they had not weigh on the anti - labor attitude of President Warren Harding and many railway system executives . Some companies hired replacement workers , and there was sporadic violence .
in conclusion , after several months , the strike wither aside as demoralized men returned to work on the companies ' term - or found other employ . Repercussions of the Shopcraft Strike - like the great tap of 1877 and 1894 - lasted for several twelvemonth . Only after the passage of the Railway Labor Act in 1926 did copulation between railroads and Labour Party lead off to amend somewhat . Some rail workers , most notably Pullman Porters , had to hold back for the New Deal to go under their grievances .
1920s Railroad Improvements
If dragoon before World War I still had a hint of the 19th century about it , railroading by the mid-1920s was distinctly modern . Locomotive and car designs based on the United States Railway Administration standards of 1918 would specify railroad through the sixties . Despite the fact that total rail mileage strike down slightly throughout the decade ( largely through the abandonment of borderline or twinned lines ) , railroads invested heavily in place and equipment .
Even today , the period is widely deal to be the zenith of " authoritative " railroading . In 1920 , the U.S. railroad electronic connection was still near its peak , with 253,000 international nautical mile of track work by more than one - and - a - one-half million railroad mankind and women utilise by at least 1,000 railroad companies .
Although somewhat erratic , the U.S. thriftiness was vigorous , and railroads come up it comparatively prosperous to raise money on Wall Street for big projects . There were no great new line to be built - the Milwaukee Road ’s 1916 Puget Sound extension , from the upper Midwest to Seattle , was the last major addition to the national system - but there was a great deal of " addition and betterment " body of work to be accomplished .
In Washington ’s Cascade Range , the Great Northern spread the Cascade Tunnel in 1929 . To increase capacity and help reduce the endangerment of asphyxiation , GN ( like the Milwaukee Road ) electrified portions of its cragged line of reasoning . Elsewhere across the body politic , company built skip - offs and by and large " spend money to make money . "
Thesteamlocomotive had been around for more than a hundred , and its basic operating rule – involve thermodynamics , the factor of bond , and fuel efficiency – were well understand . But a new contemporaries of designers , armed with young theoretical cock and increasingly advanced technology , sought to advance the power and efficiency of the steam locomotive . One consequence was what Lima Locomotive Works hollo " Super Power . "
By increase the size of the firebox well beyond what had antecedently been guess adequate for a given steam boiler size , Lima achieved a great locomotive capable of both gamy horsepower and in high spirits upper . Bigger roulette wheel arrangements ( 4 - 6 - 4 , 4 - 8 - 4 , 2 - 10 - 4 ) and a variety of efficiency - boosting appliances ( feed - piss heaters , unexampled firebox designs , and valve - gear improvements ) , helped delimitate the basic precept of " Super Power . " The famous Hudson 4 - 6 - 4 engine , built by the New York Central starting in 1927 , exemplify the " handsome steam " of the 1920s .
Some improvements were less spectacular but equally important . Before the warfare , sign systems tended to rely on semaphores and mechanically skillful meshing - complex gadget that prevented a signal from being expose if the switching were not lined up properly . Partly because of the wartime leap in applied science , railroads and signal companies were able-bodied to hone unexampled circuit and hardware to immensely increase the safety and capacity of be lineage . The introduction of reliable , in high spirits - visibleness signal lights appropriate railroads to begin the replacement of the in high spirits - care mechanical semaphore . Another spring in safety number in 1922 , when Congress legislated that all railroad with high - amphetamine passenger trains ( above 80 mile per hour ) introduce an " Automatic Train Control " organization designed to safely arrest train should the locomotive engineer miss a sign . That nearly 50 railroads were affected suggests the level of saturation at which the runway electronic web was puzzle out .
1917 Adamson Act
For most employees , this was a good meter to be " on the railroad . " Some , like trackmen and carmen , still mould outdoors in all kind of weather condition at physically demand jobs . But brakemen no longer had to ride the tops of cars , and the 1917 Adamson Act had made the eight - hr day standard for railroad workers . The near - universal consumption of air Pteridium aquilinum , robotlike coupling , and safety appliances made the workplace immensely safer , while fundamental changes in the police made companies more cognisant of their liability for injury .
The war had yet another long - hold out effect . Some of the temporary worker hired or promoted during the labor shortage oversee to hold on to their jobs afterward , pave the style for increase participation in the railroad labor force by women , blackness , and other previously underrepresented nonage . Some railroads , like the B&O , prove remarkably enlightened labor policies ; the railroad ’s Cooperative Plan of 1923 was quite similar to the " caliber circles " and " entire quality direction " that many companies practice today : For the most part , railroad men and woman enjoyed good wages , decent workings condition , and the respect of their neighbor . They were proud to be part of such a immense and well - run enterprise .
The Pullman Company
No single part of that internet was greater in reach or more intricate than The Pullman Company . By this prison term it was the largest hotelier in the existence , providing lodgings for as many as 40,000 people every night . Each of the 50 or so railroads offering Pullman Robert William Service contract with the company for the use of its sleeping motorcar , and in some grammatical case , dining and couch cars as well . Pullman staff the sleepers with black porters train in the exacting service that was the caller ’s earmark .
Pullman traveling cost more than bus fare , but in the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. before interstate highways , it was the safe and most comfortable way to go . One could board a Pullman motorcar in Key West , Florida , and with a few changes of railcar arrive in northwest Canada without ever leave behind the watchful eye of the Pullman Company . Americans tour the mountains of Mexico by Pullman , and they engage secret cars for everything from " wild " encampment trip to political political campaign .
Of course , there was train travel , and there was glamorous geartrain travelling . While the travel salesman ( " drummer " to his coeval ) boarding the standard 12 - division , one - drawing - elbow room sleeping car in Butte , Montana , would have encountered substantially the same divine service as even the most famous passengers , some geartrain were simply better than others . The Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads competed for the emollient of the New York - Chicago rider business . Movie stars , tycoons , politician , and the royal house of American culture rode the Broadway Limited and the Twentieth Century Limited on the fine equipment and fastest schedules useable anywhere . Everyone transferred in Chicago , and passengers for " the Coast " had a choice of sumptuousness trains such as Santa Fe ’s California Limited and Great Northern ’s Empire Builder .
Railroad promotional material men arrange all kinds of events to attract rider and to capitalize on whatever illustrious passengers might hap to be aboard . reporter covered the arrival of trains at L.A. ’s Union Passenger Terminal the manner newspapers in New York treated the reaching of the Queen Elizabeth sailing from England . The misstep was still long - at least three days to cross the continent - but it was far from uncomfortable . The finer power train had maiden , valets , barbershops , and , of course , dining cars assist high - quality repast . observance cars with open weapons platform allow an exhilarate persuasion of the scenery , while ample waiting area and smoking spaces reduced the signified of being bound . Some trains had radio and program library ; others featured directed social activities and even rolling gymnasiums .
Some aspects of locomotion were still beyond the railway ’s control . shower were a great luxury , and survive for several days in the clinker rich surroundings of the railroad could be a trial . tune conditioning on trains did not become a practical reality until the 1930s , so summer travelling could be red-hot , humid , and dusty all at once . In the late twenties , the Pennsylvania and Santa Fe railroads set up a rail - tune - runway relay that whisked passengers from New York to Los Angeles in 48 hours . Unfortunately , it was n’t long before all - air transcontinental service siphon much of the most glamorous dealings from the rails . Nevertheless , the " stock " Pullman car - along with its opposite number , the blade day coach - defined traveling for million of North Americans throughout the decade .
Their gateway to the world was the geartrain station .
Train Stations
Like the shopping malls of today , the train station , whether it was a nation depot or a neoclassic castle in a cock-a-hoop city , was primal to any journey . In most stations of any consequence , you could bribe a just the ticket to anywhere , have dejeuner , send a subject matter via Western Union ( the 1920s version of the cyberspace ) , and often get a shaving , shower , and brake shoe shine .
Most stations come out during the burst of railroad track construction between 1890 and 1910 , but some major example went up after World War I. Cleveland ’s impressive Terminal Tower , a combining train post and 52 - chronicle bureau building , admit from 1923 to 1930 to complete . In 1925 , the new Union Station in Chicago was dedicated ; Amtrak and Metra trains apply the freshen up facility today . The Pennsylvania Railroad begin build its monumental Thirtieth Street Station in Philadelphia in 1927 . Two years later , work start on Cincinnati Union Terminal , a magnificent Art - Deco palace replace a half - dozen outmoded passenger installation . Large and small stations throughout the land received facelifts , reflecting the sincere - but misguided - conviction that rail travel was a fixture in American life .
In fact , railroading seemed to be everywhere . railway system advertising had long been a part of the optical culture of the U.S. and Canada , but by the mid-1920s , the railroad industriousness had something else to fete : It was 100 old age old .
Railroad Advertising
Several railroads vied for the statute title of America ’s " first " or " oldest " railroad ; the New Haven , New York Central , Pennsylvania , and Delaware & Hudson railroads all had solemn claims , since all had corporate roots dating back to the mid-1820s . The Baltimore & Ohio made the most convincing claim , however , with the added advantage that it had operated ceaselessly under its original charter since February of 1827 . Many railway retrace replicas of their first locomotives , and railroad story exhibitions appeared with increase relative frequency , especially throughout the East .
The centenary celebrations highlighted a little - observe fact . Whereas railroads had always seek to make a favorable public ikon of themselves , and had always push to attract traffic , it was during the 1920s that the railfan hobby emerge as a legitimate pastime . sure enough there had been railfans before then , and to this 24-hour interval there are mass interested in railroading who do not see themselves as unfeigned railroad fancier . But in the 1920s , men - and a few womanhood - began to organize clubs and excursion groups simply to enjoy railroad . The major model ball club and internal railfan and history organizations would get their start in the 1930s , but this period saw the pioneers make the foundation for what would finally become a satisfying rocking horse and an of import advocate for the go on preservation of rail technology ’s heritage .
Meanwhile , trains go on to be an important part of American civilization . The pull - miniature and steer - up trains of the prewar era gave fashion to standard - gaugeelectrictrains that more closely approximated the prototype . Lionel , American Flyer , and other " tinplate " manufacturers introduced new types of electric train with even more fidelity . A small , but slowly spring up , number of enthusiasts attempted to make plate models of train as a way to copy substantial railroading .
In some parts of the country , trains became a Christmas tradition . In Baltimore , for example , firemen began setting up detailed model - gear displays in fervency - house each class , encourage public visits . And just as railway system hit out to the world with advertising of all kinds , range of sandbag graced all form of product ranging from S. S. Pierce ’s " Overland " cigar ( with a good-looking rider train on the hat of the box ) to Campbell ’s Soup and Coca - Cola .
North Americans also saw train in the silent films that were packing moving - impression home all over the land . The jeopardy of Pauline adventures were one exercise of long - running consecutive films in which trains were central to the plot . The drama and daring rescue possible with racing trains were resistless to directors . Some films centered on the complex and visually fascinating workings of the railway system itself . Others used wagon train and tracks as backcloth for love level , westerns , crime and mystery plots , and mixed cinematic heroic verse .
One of the classic of this period is an early talkie entitled Danger Lights . The plot involves a love trilateral , but the genuine virtuoso are the Milwaukee Road trains and the striking subspecies to save the Division Superintendent ’s life-time . The negotiation reveals what Hollywood reckon railroaders imagine about themselves . At one full point , the main character says : " We ’re railroad men . . . we got ta keep the schedule . That ’s our religion - that ’s our life . "
1920s Railroad Regulation
The 1920s represent a period in which the government and the railroads settled into a highly regulated workings kinship , even while new competitors arose as real threat . Railroad company , for case , could only vie on the basis of service ; rate were rigorously controlled , and dump another attack aircraft carrier was illegal . The Interstate Commerce Commission oversaw almost every aspect of the railway business , and its functionary were continually busy with complaints ranging from the highly technological to the absurd . thou of railroad clerks keep a mind - numbing array of statistic so that the government could " protect " the American people .
To the north , the newly formed Canadian National Railway was itself a Crown pot , owned by the Canadian government . Its rival , Canadian Pacific , was a private bay window , but both were closely regulated , as were the nationalized railroads of Mexico beginning in the late 1920s . Such close attention would have worked fine had it not been for the competition .
Railroad Competition After World War I
During World War I , so much war traffic clogged the railroads that a youngArmyofficer by the name of Dwight Eisenhower was ordered to attempt the cross - country transport of lively materials by road . His hand truck pounded the tenuous pavement between Maryland and California to debris , but he proved a point : road were efficacious for foresighted - distance locomotion . After the warfare , as more people bought automobile and wanted to " see America , " democratic backup for a web of all - atmospheric condition main road became irresistible . Tens of thou of miles of new road go down each year as route first join metropolitan arena , then started off for more distant points .
At the same time , the Army Corps of Engineers stepped up its political platform to amend river and canals , which greatly benefitted the flatboat melody in direct competition with railroads . ThePost Officebegan get air chain armor contracts in 1918 , and transcontinental air mail service routes were well established by 1925 . That formed the basis for the civil air diligence , which used publically fund facilities and conglomerate a yearly total of 73,000,000 passenger miles by 1930 . Perhaps most worrisome to the railway line were the diversions to roads . passenger began deserting rider trains for machine in sincere , and buses vie directly on some path .
forged yet , for the Mary Leontyne Price of a motortruck and a tankful of gasoline ( at 18 centime a Imperial gallon ) , anyone could be in the freight business , with the road provided barren of direction . The railroad track were not fight to good roads or lively competition . They were , however , very much cognizant that the performing field was not unwavering . They could not reasonably compete with other forms of transfer that were both lightly regulated ( if at all ) , and at the same time were heavily subsidized by the politics . That paper would echo throughout the railroad industriousness for 50 years before Congress finally addressed the position .
The railroad industry was not without fault . Had it been more astute in its assessments , it might have lift more muscular objections sooner , perhaps help to determine home transportation insurance policy to a nifty degree . But on the whole , the 1920s were good years , and the manufacture grew comfortable , if not complacent .
The Railroad Industry Bust
conjointly , railroads spent nearly $ 7 billion for improvement and boosted efficiency enormously . There were also new engineering , such as thediesel locomotive(introduced commercially in 1925 ) , lightweight car twist , and new type of air - brake system that promised great economies - someday . Railroads were in no great hurry to fix a organization that worked well , even if it had a more than a healthy amount of excess " fatty . "
As early as 1926 , Harvard professor William Z. Ripley , a respected expert on railroad line finance and commercial enterprise , warned of the " honeyfugling , hornswoggling , and skulduggery " he saw on Wall Street and in incorporated board rooms . Not all of American business was as conservative as the railroads , and after years of guess , fraud , and self - delusion , the stock market began to coggle in other 1929 . The state had just elected Herbert Hoover president ; he was a good man , keep up two uneffective President , but despite his reassurances that the economy was levelheaded , 13 million shares of ancestry change hands on October 24 , 1929 , the day that became known around the world as " Black Thursday . "
Over the next few weeks , the saving commence a slide that would last two class and obliterate hundreds of trillion of dollar mark of wealthiness . Railroad traffic dropped immediately , and the companies found themselves urgently seek to reduce expense while they , too , tried to see the market ’s bottom . Canada was not to be spare ; before it was over , one out of every two adult Canadian males would be unemployed .
After a pleasant few years of boom , North America ’s seemingly unbeatable railroad industry present an unprecedented bust . There was nothing to do but ride it out as best they could .
1920s Railroad Timeline
1920 :
Congress passes the Esch - Cummins Act , returning railroad line to individual ownership and outlining a series of railroad mergers as the beginning of a national transportation insurance .
1921 :
The number of railway line passenger carried reaches an all - time high , then start a modest , decade - farseeing descent .
1922 :
The AFL - affiliate craft unification withdraw from service in a earnings difference . The smash end for some after two months ; others never return .
1923 :
Railroad presidents meet in New York and create a serial of " Shippers Advisory Boards " to pioneer programs designed to increase efficiency .
Canada ’s main railways , except the Canadian Pacific , are coalesce into the government - controlled Canadian National Railways .
1925 :
The first commercially successful diesel - electric railway locomotive , Central Railroad of New Jersey ’s Switcher No . 1000 , enters military service .
arm with the latest engineering and Modern theory about the twist of boilers and fireboxes , Lima Locomotive Works progress the " A-1 , " the first modern " Super Power " steam locomotive .
A. P. Randolph announces the geological formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters , a trades union for 12,000 Pullman employees and an former civic rights organization .
1926 :
The railway system diligence celebrates a century of service on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad , later part of the New York Central .
Congress pass the Railway Labor Act , giving railroad employees the rightfulness to select trades union mental representation without fear of reprisals from management .
1927 :
The first Centralized Traffic Control system goes into service - a great step forward in efficient power train dispatching and railroad safety .
1929 :
The collapse of the stock market betoken the start of the Great Depression ; railroad traffic spend straightaway .
