5. The DeWitt Clinton Locomotive--1831.

(From Brown’s “First Locomotive”--Courtesy of D. Appleton & Company.)] One of the roads that seems to have been prolific in “first things” was between Charleston and Hamburg, South Carolina. Chartered in 1827, again in 1828. In 1829-30 it experimented with sailing cars, as did also the Baltimore & Ohio and with treadmill horse powers. But the company fortunately employed Horatio Allen, who had studied the English roads and was strongly inclined to steam power. He so convincingly presented his ideas that it was decided to strengthen construction and use such locomotives. This then, very likely, was the first railroad in the world to adopt formally the steam locomotive as its means of propulsion (January 14, 1830). The company accordingly built its lines substantially and placed upon them the “first locomotive made in America for regular and practical use on a railway.”[93] This locomotive known as the _Best Friend of Charleston_ was built in New York and shipped to Charleston by sea. After some adjustments it satisfied the demands of the contract, but distinguished itself by being the first locomotive to explode. It is said a negro fireman sat upon or held down the safety valve to prevent escaping steam from annoying him. The _Charleston Courier’s_ account closes with the gratifying information that “none of the persons are dangerously injured except the negro, who had his thigh broken.” A new locomotive, the _West Point_, was secured, upon which several improvements suggested by experience had been made; among them the safety valve was placed out of reach of the fireman, making it fool-proof. The beginning of the New York Central may be traced to a charter granted in 1826 to the Mohawk & Hudson Company, which with five or six other small lines was joined together into that company. Its first locomotive, the _De Witt Clinton_, had a rather interesting initiation. The engine was constructed by the West Point foundry, the same concern that had built the _Best Friend_ and the _West Point_. A demonstration was announced for August 9, 1831, the road having 17 miles of rails at that time. The locomotive, a small affair compared with the modern engines, is still in existence and with its train of that day was exhibited at the Pageant of Progress, Chicago, July 30, 1921, as the “pioneer American steam passenger train.” The whole engine was only about 12 feet long with large wheels, tall smoke stack and a central steam dome. Back of it were the tender and wood for fuel and two barrels of water, two passenger coaches modeled after stage coaches, and following these several small flat cars to which had been attached temporary benches for seats. The locomotive and cars were joined together with short sections of strong chain. When the engine started these jerked so badly the passengers could not retain their seats; stopping had a similar effect. On the trip it is said the passengers appropriated rails from a near fence and made braces to keep the cars the full length of the chains apart. The wood fuel produced many sparks which flying backward set fire to and ruined much of the passengers’ clothing. But according to a newspaper report[94] the train “passed over the road from plane to plane, to the delight of a large crowd assembled to witness the performance. The engine performed the entire route in less than one hour, including stoppages, and on a part of the road its speed was at the rate of 30 miles an hour.” On May 10, 1893, Engine No. 999, of the New York Central Railroad, made, traveling alone, a record of 112.5 miles an hour. The Camden & Amboy road was chartered in 1830 and was somewhat unique in that New Jersey in return for $200,000 worth of stock had granted a monopoly of the right of way between Philadelphia and Newark. Poore says:[95] “The state became a willing party to the scheme, under the idea that it could thereby draw the means for supporting its government from citizens of other States, thus relieving its own from the burdens of taxation.” He says, “the state now (1860) derives a revenue of over $200,000 annually from transit duties and dividends on the stock presented to it.” NewEngland started three railway projects about the same time: Boston & Lowell, chartered in 1830 first used in 1834, 26.7 miles long; Boston & Providence, chartered in 1831, first used in 1834, 43.5 miles long; and the Boston & Worcester, chartered in 1831, first used in 1834, 44.6 miles long.[96] These roads were chartered with the idea of using horse-drawn vehicles, except the Boston & Worcester, where steam locomotives were authorized, but it was not until about 1834 that they were used. Some of these roads, as did most of those built farther west, followed the English practice of laying track. One of them, at least, laid its track upon wooden cross-ties, thus securing the necessary resiliency for service. It was not many years, however, before several other roads were established with regular trips of locomotive drawn cars arranged both for passenger and freight traffic. The time of passenger service from Boston to New York had been materially shortened by connecting the schedules of stage coaches to Providence with those of steamboats down the Sound. When the steam railway came into existence the time of the trip was again shortened, and still again when an all rail route was opened in 1848, as shown by the following table: 1775 General Washington was 12 days en route. Early coaches required a week. 1800 Stage coaches required 4 days. 1832 Stage coaches required 41 hours. 1822 Coach to Providence, steamboat to New York, 28 hours. 1835 Coach to Providence, steamboat to New York, 16 hours. 1835 Railway to Providence, steamboat to New York, 15 hours. 1848 All railway, 10 hours. 1922 All railway, 5 hours, 10 minutes. 1922 Air plane, 3 hours. While the railroads of the East were gradually working west, the trans-Alleghany states were themselves looking toward railroad transportation. The first railway in Ohio was begun in 1835 and had completed 30 miles by 1840. It extended from Sandusky to Springfield. When it was chartered, 1832, under the name of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railway, the intention was to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio River. A locomotive was purchased and shipped to Sandusky by canal and lake. It arrived before any track was laid hence the gauge of the track was made to fit the locomotive, 4 feet 10 inches. Other roads in Ohio were laid at that gauge and in time the state adopted that as a standard. Michigan in 1832, then a territory, incorporated the Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad Company. After several years without doing anything the road was completed to Ann Arbor in 1840. Later its western terminal became New Buffalo, from which point there was steamboat communication with Chicago. This was the germ which has grown into the Michigan Central. A railroad was begun from Frankfort, Kentucky, to Lexington, a few miles from the pioneer settlement at Boonesborough. By 1840 this road had extended to the Ohio River near Louisville and was 92 miles in length. Indiana chartered not less than a half-dozen railways in 1832 and continued with a score or more in the next few years. The Lawrenceburg & Indianapolis line, chartered 1832, was opened with a Fourth of July celebration, 1834, and had laid less than 2 miles of track by 1836.[97] The Madison & Indianapolis road was opened in 1838. The report of the principal engineer, 1837, states that “the exclusive use of steam as a motive power” had been adopted, thus saving “the cost of a horse path” and avoiding “the delay and confusion arising from the simultaneous use of both steam and horse power,” as well as elevating the “character of the road by greater dispatch in the conveyance of passengers.” He thinks “in the use of the railroads constructed by the state it will probably be best for the state to furnish the motive power, leaving the cars for the conveyance of freight and passengers to be furnished by individuals or companies, from whom the state will exact the proper toll for the use of the road, and for the motive power.” The idea seems everywhere to have prevailed that a railway was a public highway to be used by and for the benefit of the public. Only for a very short time in the history of the country did the theory have prominence that a railway is private property to the extent that its owners could do as they pleased with it and the “public be damned.” At various points in the South were railways projected and built. Besides the Charleston & Hamburg, which has already been mentioned, and which by 1850 had extended across the state to Hamburg directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia, and northward to Columbia with some branches, should be noted a few others. From Richmond there was a line westward to the coal fields (1830-31) and a line which by 1840 connected the Potomac with Fredericksburg, a distance of 75 miles. It was constructed in the ordinary manner of wooden rails with strap-iron plates. In Virginia there were the Petersburg & Roanoke, about 60 miles long and other lines sufficient to total in 1840 more than 300 miles. North Carolina also took up the rail question rather early. The Wilmington & Raleigh, chartered in 1833, had laid upwards of 160 miles in 1840. Georgia was building lines in the ’thirties and ’forties from Augusta across the state to link with lines in Tennessee. The lines of these several Southeastern states were joined together later and became parts of large systems. Of the several projects authorized amounting to more than 1000 miles (1837) only one materialized, namely, the road from Springfield to Meredosia, and 58 miles had been completed by 1842. A locomotive was purchased and according to the Springfield _Journal_, March 18, “the cars ran from Jacksonville, 33¹⁄₂ miles, in two hours and eight minutes including stoppages.” On account of the unsettled condition of the country and the accidents along the way,--no doubt the track was poorly constructed,--it did not pay. The locomotive for a considerable time lay out in the open where it had jumped the track. A man bought it, equipped it with wide tired wheels and attempted to operate it on the wagon roads. This proved unsuccessful and it was finally abandoned on the prairie.[98] The road was sold in 1847. Several roads were reaching out for the Mississippi River and the fertile prairies beyond. The bustling young city of Chicago began its first railway toward the west in 1848. The other extremity was set for Galena on the Mississippi River. Not being financially able to buy T-rails they purchased some second-hand strap-irons. Likewise a second-hand locomotive was obtained, but when it arrived at the water front in Chicago the city authorities having refused the privilege of laying tracks on the street the company was at a loss to know how to get it to the end of their rails. After much discussion permission to lay a temporary track was given, and the _Pioneer_ finally reached her destination. The railway proved successful from the first; later it became part of the Illinois Central System. The locomotive _Pioneer_ is still retained in the Field Museum of Chicago. There is not space to trace the development of the railways in all the individual states. In all natural growths, increases at first are slow, then accelerated until a maximum is reached, followed by a gradual retardation. So with the railway growth. The number of miles of railroad constructed up to 1830 was 41; 1835, 918; to 1840, 2797; in small widely scattered locations, but from that time on to the Civil War the work went on rapidly. By 1860 about 31,000 miles had been constructed and was going on at the rate of 5000 miles per year. Seven trunk line roads had passed through the Appalachian Mountain system; at eight places they and their connections touched the Ohio River, and the Mississippi at ten.[99] By 1850 there was railway connection between Boston and the east end of Lake Erie, and from the west end of Lake Erie to Lake Michigan with steamboat connection across the two lakes; before 1860 there was a network of rails between the Atlantic seaboard and the Mississippi River. Construction lagged behind in the South. Up to 1856 the building was approximately as follows: Northeastern States 4000 miles Northern Central States 7500 „ South Atlantic States 2750 „ Southern Interior 2150 „ And the very fact that few of these were north and south roads, that travel and intercourse were east and west, that the people of the North did not fraternize with the people of the South, that they grew apart and worshiped at the shrine of different ideals, furnished at least one cause for the cruel Civil War. There are still too few north and south trunk lines of travel and commerce, too little trade and friendly intercourse to heal the differences engendered by a century of separation. There lies one of the hopes of the interchange of summer and winter automobile visitors. The building of railroads offered an opening for surplus capital; the opportunity for fortune and fame was attractive; but above all the people were crazed with the idea of improvement; every town wanted to grow bigger and a railroad was an absolute necessity; scores of companies were formed with the intention of beginning construction, then deeding the improvement to some established line to operate. Many communities subscribed stock, others voted bonds, others paid for right of way by private subscription in order to secure a railroad. Mob psychology had got in its work; the people were frenzied. The result was often overbuilding, parallel lines, too many roads attempting to occupy the same territory, with the result that branch lines often never paid interest on the cost of construction. On the other hand the gambling instinct was rampant, many roads were overcapitalized, stock was voted influential persons without money consideration, and stock sold to others for more than it was worth. As there had been for turnpikes, as there had been for canals, once again there came a popular call for governmental aid. Land was then plenty and the general belief was that the prosperity of the country demanded its settlement. If railways could be induced to go out into the open prairies and by their selling agencies bring about the occupation and tillage of these lands, other lands owned by the Government would soon be in demand. There would be no particular hardship on anyone, since Government land was sold to actual settlers for such a small sum, the railroads would be unable to dispose of their land at a much larger price. As a matter of fact the land was sold by the railroads for whatever it would bring; the prices increased as settlement became more dense. In Iowa railroad land sold from $5 to $50 per acre during the ’sixties and ’seventies. The remaining land held by the government was ordinarily increased in price from $1.25 to $2.50 per acre. Congress, evidently influenced by the demand for railroads, and falling back upon the precedent of the National Highway, heretofore mentioned, granted in 1850 to the State of Illinois a strip of land about 12 miles wide lengthwise through the state to be transferred by it to the Illinois Central Railroad. The act gave six sections per mile on each side of the track, amounting, as certified to later, 2,595,053 acres. In consideration of this and in lieu of all other taxes, the company agreed to pay the state an amount equal to 7 per cent of the gross earnings from freight and passenger traffic. The company had received from the sale (principal and advanced interest) of 2,250,633 acres, up to January 1, 1873, $24,296,596;[100] an average of about $11 per acre. Other companies were quick to take advantage of this precedent. Each had its representative in Congress. For over twenty years there was scarcely a Congress that did not make one or two such grants. More than a hundred such grants[101] were made between 1850 and 1872, aggregating 155,000,000 acres.[102] Several roads did not comply with the conditions of the grants hence the donation lapsed. Up to June 30, 1880, grants amounted to 155,504,994.59 acres, according to Donaldson, of which there had been patented to the same date, 35,214,978.25 acres. =Pacific Roads.=--The most gigantic land grants made by the Government were for the benefit of the trans-continental or Pacific roads. The idea of a transcontinental railroad has been traced back practically to the beginning of railroad building in the United States.[103] During the ’fifties the debates in Congress waxed strong. Should the states’ sovereignty idea prevail and federal aid be first granted to the states and dealt out by them to the builders as had been done with the Illinois Central and numerous other cases, or should the National Government undertake the work itself or grant the aid to a company for that purpose? Where would the road be built: in the North, which would give an advantage to the abolitionists, or in the South, with corresponding advantage to slavery partisans? The two classes were absolutely antagonistic to each other’s desires. Then there was a middle class, who desired to prevent separation and war who refused to vote upon either side for fear it would create trouble with the other. As a compromise a bill was passed in 1853 to have the country west of the Mississippi River surveyed to determine the most feasible region for building the transcontinental railroad. The report of the survey is contained in eleven volumes, and was made by the War Department, of which Jefferson Davis was the Secretary. This cabinet officer reported in favor of “the route of the 32d parallel” as the “most practical and economical from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.”[104] A line this far south, of course, was not acceptable to the North. The election and Civil War coming on changed the status of affairs and on July 4, 1862, President Lincoln signed the bill by which the first transcontinental road should be constructed by two companies: the Central Pacific working from the west, and the Union Pacific working from the Missouri River at Omaha westward. A grant of land of approximately 35,000,000 acres was made, namely, the odd sections lying contiguous to the line on either side. This was not quite a return to the position of the Government when it built out of the funds from the sale of public lands the National Road westward from Maryland, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, into Illinois. Then the construction was done under the direction of the federal Government and the road remained the property of the Government. Now federal aid was given to private companies to be operated for their own benefit. What might have been the result in this country had the Government taken a firm stand for national ownership is problematical, but the fact that it has made a success of the construction and operation of the Panama Canal leads many to believe that the railroad question would have been handled as easily if that system had grown up from the beginning. Opponents of government ownership point to the roads of continental Europe as being less efficient than those of England and the United States under private ownership. And more recently the fiasco of Government operation under war emergency is considered a strong argument against public ownership. In addition to the land granted to the Union Pacific for the “purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and to secure the safe and speedy transportation of the mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores thereon, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of five alternate sections per mile on each side of said road,”[105] the company was given for “right of way” 200 feet each side of the track,[106] “including all necessary grounds” for stations, side-tracks and various other purposes enumerated, also to take from the public land “adjacent to the line of said road” (afterwards limited to 10 miles on each side) “earth, stone, timber, and other materials, for the construction thereof.” Further help was also granted by the provisions of the act (Section 5): “That ... the Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon the certificate in writing ... of the completion and equipment of forty consecutive miles ... issue ... bonds of the United States of one thousand dollars each, payable in thirty years after date, bearing six per centum per annum interest ... to the amount of sixteen of said bonds per mile.” The act provides that this loan shall constitute a first mortgage lien on the property, but the act of 1864 allowed the company to issue bonds to the same amount and subrogate the Government bonds to those issued by the company making the Government claim a second mortgage instead of a first. The Government gave similar grants and privileges to the Central Pacific, although it was a purely state corporation and, at first, was only to build to the east line of California. Apparently the last vestige of the traditions of Madison and Monroe, of Jackson and Buchanan had disappeared. There was danger that other lines would be built. A line was preparing to go west from Leavenworth, lines were converging on St. Joseph and Sioux City, any of which might become rivals of the Union Pacific, so the act provides that they shall unite with the Pacific not farther west than the one hundredth meridian of longitude, and if they do so grants of lands and subsidy bonds will be given to them. However, the demand for transcontinental lines was so great that three other lines were authorized. In 1864 the Northern Pacific Railroad to connect Lake Superior with Puget Sound, with a land grant of 58,000,000 acres; in the Atlantic & Pacific to follow the old 32d parallel route, now a part of the Southern Pacific, with a grant of 42,000,000 acres; and last, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé received also a large grant. The total Congressional grants certified or patented to railroads and military wagon roads from 1850 to 1880 were as follows: To States 35,214,978.25 acres To Corporation and Pacific Roads 10,435,048.08 Military Wagon Roads 1,301,040.47 ------------- 46,951,066.80 Deduct lands forfeited 607,741.76 ------------- Grand Total for Railroads and Military Wagon Roads 46,343,325.04 Acres necessary to fill grants providing all roads are constructed 155,504,994.59[107] =Construction of Pacific Roads.=--It would be interesting to take up in detail the work of constructing these roads, but space will not permit. Nothing can be said of the intense interest throughout the United States; of the romance and adventure of penetrating 1700 miles of wilderness and desert with hostile Indians ready at any time to attack; with worse than hostile Indians in the rough-necks, gamblers, and prostitutes who followed the camps; of the magnitude of the work employing 2000 graders to go first, 1500 wood choppers and tie-getters spreading their labors over thousands of miles of Government forests; of the engineers and their feats of searching out easiest passages; of the track layers; of the boarding houses; of general camp life; of the exciting race with the Central Pacific ending in the union of the two lines and the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point on the north shore of Great Salt Lake, 1086 miles westward from Omaha and 689 miles eastward from Sacramento, on the 10th day of May, 1869; and of the crowds in Omaha, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Washington, New York, San Francisco, and every other place of importance in the whole nation, who patiently waited the sounds of the bells rung in unison with the sounds of the strokes upon the spike, transmitted instantaneously through the intervening space by the electric telegraph. There is no doubt but that the benefits that have come from the railways through the increased facilities for transportation and the corresponding gain to civilization has amply repaid the Government for all its bounties, notwithstanding some of them were unnecessary, in fact, a willful waste and led to an orgy of financial and political corruption a little later. =The Crédit Mobilier.=--Perhaps the most widely noticed scandal connected with the railroads was the scheme known as the Crédit Mobilier. This was made much of by the Grange and other anti-monopoly movements which reached their height in the ’seventies. Charges having been made that many congressmen had been bribed by an organization known as the Crédit Mobilier, a Congressional investigation was made,[108] Thomas Durant, vice president, and other leading stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad, secured a controlling interest in the stock of the Pennsylvania Fiscal Agency in 1864 and had its name changed to the Crédit Mobilier of America. One of the ostensible functions of the company was to loan money for railroad construction. The same men were instrumental in awarding the contract for the building of the Union Pacific Railroad to one of their number, Oakes Ames, a member of the United States House of Representatives, for stipulated amounts per mile for the different sections ranging from $42,000 to $96,000, amounting in the aggregate to $47,000,000. The contract was right away transferred to seven trustees composed of the same controlling stockholders, who were to execute it receiving therefor $3000 per year each, and the profits were to be divided among those stockholders of the Crédit Mobilier of America who would comply with certain conditions. The Crédit Mobilier agreed to furnish the necessary money at 7 per cent per annum and 2¹⁄₂ per cent commission, not to exceed the amount provided in the contract to be paid by the Union Pacific company. These same leading stockholders of the Union Pacific being also controlling stockholders of the Crédit Mobilier were thus, because the contract prices were said to be twice the actual constructing prices, making a big profit, practically all of which was coming from the United States treasury. Complaints were being made and adverse legislation was feared. Stock in Crédit Mobilier was offered to members of congress at a very low figure on which it is said they made dividends of 340 per cent. It amounted to this: The men entrusted with the management of the road let the contract for its construction to themselves at a figure double its real cost, and pocketed the profits, estimated at about $30,000,000. These same men started the scheme, which afterward became common, of watering the stock, that is increasing the outstanding stock, and distributing it as dividends, upon the plea that the property had increased without any new outlay of money. It also appears to be a method of earning dividends upon money never invested. =Railroad Consolidation.=--It has been shown that at the beginning railroad building consisted of short stretches from town to town, or from the end of one water communication to the beginning of another. It was but reasonable that these would join for the purpose of through traffic. The result was also better efficiency as the equipment could be used to better advantage; the terminal costs were reduced as there were not so many of them; and, what may have been a leading cause, the control, and perhaps prevention, of competition. Unrestricted competition caused rate wars; rates once down it was difficult to get them back and frequently bankruptcy occurred. Government regulations were made prohibiting rate agreements and pooling. Such apparently hastened consolidation. One objection to consolidation was the concentration of vast financial powers in the hands of a few, and since money had much influence in Washington and in the state capitals, political power as well. This and combinations of other industrial concerns were causes which brought about the enactment of the Sherman Anti-Trust law of July 2, 1890.[109] This law did not come in time to stop consolidation and it may be doubtful if it would for the Supreme Court has decided that combinations are not unlawful unless they exercise an unreasonable restraint upon trade.[110] The methods of consolidation are: _merger_ or outright purchase, in which case the individual lines lose their separate identity; _stock purchase_, wherein a controlling share of the stock of another road is held by the purchasing line or by a holding company; _lease_ usually for long periods, a rental being paid periodically for the use of the line; and, _community of interest_, that is the establishment of friendly relations. The consolidations are more often financial than physical. When two roads physically combine under one management it is customary to reorganize and assume the same name. In the consolidations given in the table below many of the roads are operated separately and almost independently but are dominated by common financial interests with common policies or very friendly relations. Some of the principal consolidations prior to 1912 are:[111] _Vanderbilt Interests_ Mileage Boston & Albany 392 New York Central 3,591 Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 1,663 Michigan Central 1,805 New York, Chicago & St. L. 561 Lake Erie & Western 886 Big Four 1,979 Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 215 Chicago, Indiana & Southern 329 Other affiliated eastern lines 1,759 Western Maryland[112] 575 Chicago & North Western Systems 9,827 ------ Total 23,582 _Morgan Interests_ Erie Railroad 2,565 Pere Marquette 2,334 Southern Railroad System 8,667 Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific 335 Mobile & Ohio 1,114 Atlantic Coast Line 6,818 Louisville & Nashville 4,590 Chicago & Great Western 1,495 ------ Total 27,918 ====== _Harriman Interests_ Oregon Short Line 1,646 Oregon Railway & Navigation Company 1,737 Union Pacific System (remainder) 3,791 Southern Pacific 10,257 Illinois Central System 6,340 Central of Georgia 1,915 Baltimore & Ohio 4,555 Delaware & Hudson 875 San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake 1,105 Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton 1,015 ------ Total 33,236 ====== _Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé_ 10,472 _Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul System_ 9,657 _Seaboard Air Line_ 3,084 _Pennsylvania Railroad Interests_ Pennsylvania Lines 11,197 Norfolk & Western 1,990 ------ Total 13,187 ====== _Gould Interests_ Wabash System 2,663 Wheeling & Lake Erie 457 Missouri Pacific System[113] 3,920 St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern[113] 313 St. Louis, Southwestern[113] 1,675 Texas & Pacific[113] 1,991 International & Great Northern[113] 1,159 Denver & Rio Grande[114] 2,778 Western Pacific[113] 979 ------ Total 15,935 _Moore Interests_ Rock Island System 8,144 Delaware, Lackawanna & Western[114] 1,052 Lehigh Valley[115] 1,431 ------ Total 10,627 ====== _Hill Interests_ Great Northern 7,397 Northern Pacific 6,281 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 10,443 Colorado & Southern 1,249 ------ Total 25,370 ====== _New Haven Interests_ New York, New Haven & Hartford 2,887 Boston & Maine 3,594 ------ Total 6,481 _Hawley Interests_ Minneapolis & St. Louis 1,027 Iowa Central 559 Toledo, St. Louis & Western 451 ’Frisco System 7,147 Chicago & Alton 1,025 Chesapeake & Ohio System 2,232 Missouri, Kansas & Texas 3,393 Hocking Valley 350 ------ Total 16,508 ====== _Philadelphia and Reading_ 2,137 Grand Total of above Groups and Systems 198,638 Total milage of railways in the United States, Dec. 31, 1916 397,014 For a more extended discussion see “National Consolidation of Railroads,” by George H. Lewis. =Mechanical Development.=--There is not space to follow in detail the mechanical development of railroads. The rail, for instance, was at first a mere plank placed in the cart track to prevent rutting; this evolved into a rail of timber about 4 x 6 inches held in proper position by cross-ties not to be considered as sleepers or supports especially. On top of the rail was later placed a strap iron. Since this strap iron under the wheel loads curled up, thicker plates began to be used. Then cast-iron rails some 4 or 5 feet long from tie to tie, cast deeper at the middle for greater strength. Then the rolling mills were becoming sufficiently improved to roll out wrought-iron rails, at first rectangular plates, then T-rails held up by chairs and finally through a dozen or more forms to Bessemer, then open-hearth steel rail shapes as at present used. The fastenings and fish plates have gone through a stage of evolution. The track soon assumed a standard form and has retained it with little variation notwithstanding attempts to use steel and concrete ties. The freight cars, at first boxes with wheels on them, have gradually developed into monsters of steel with draw bars, automatic brakes and couplings. Passenger cars at first very variable were developed from stage coaches and Conestoga wagons hitched together. In Europe they remained short, like stage coaches with side doors. In the United States they lengthened out with seats through the interior and doors and platforms at the ends. Platforms were eventually housed in with vestibules. Both types have their advantages and disadvantages. Sleeping cars seem to be a development of the canal and steamboat sleeping quarters. Here a single company early obtaining a working, if not a legal, monopoly of the business of making and operating sleepers. As a result no improvements of note have appeared in them for years. For financial efficiency the monopoly seems to be a good thing; for mechanical progress it is not. Locomotives have shown a continual progress. One reason perhaps is their short lives; new ones must always be coming along and there is ample opportunity for experimentation. From the _Tom Thumb_ to the powerful Mountain Type is a long climb, but as each step was taken the individual changes were not very noticeable. Like the hour-hand of a watch only by observing its position at times quite separated can it be noticed to have traveled. In fact the entire railway system with its millions of cars operating on hundreds of roads has grown complex and yet standardized. To get a common gauge that cars from one road might pass to another required an act of Congress. At first companies adopted diverse gauges that their cars could not go onto another road, but when transcontinental roads were to be built and through lines of traffic established President Lincoln was called upon to set a gauge. He “side-tracked” the matter and threw it onto Congress, who established the distance 4 feet 8¹⁄₂ inches as the standard width between rails. Without the telegraph the present amplification of railroad business could not have taken place. The early trains traveled by time schedule. No extra train could be added, although looking-posts were established at the stations up which the train men could climb to watch for the smoke of an approaching train. Now every division point must have its coterie of dependable dispatchers. Each wire carries multiple messages. Electric signals and other safety devices to lessen accidents are universal, while the bewildering network of tracks in the ordinary city yard are operated easily from distant towers by interlocking switches. That railroads have brought about an industrial and social revolution, that they have increased enormously the country’s transportation, that they have thus been very instrumental in bringing the present civilization to its high and uniform state of attainment, cannot be denied. [Illustration: © _Underwood and Underwood_ MODERN LOCOMOTIVES