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RailFannning Pages
Chicago, geographically, is uniquely positioned to be the center of American railroading. It is on the west end of the Great Lakes, within a temperate agricultural climates. It represents the eastern edge of agricultural grain belts. On three sides, it is surrounded by flat, arable, fertile land. Railroad construction through this territory was cheap. Chicago has a deep port which made it a transportation long before the for railroads -- the city owes much of its economic growth to this cheap access to lumber from northern forests and other agricultural commodities. The civil war guaranteed that the main transcontinental railroad route would be in the North. Less well understood are the economic incentives that prevented the eastern roads from building west through Chicago. Railroad construction in this country flourished in the 1850's -- while Chicago's first all-rail connection with the eastern seaboard was complete in 1652 via the Michigan Central (later absorbed by he New York Central), it was by then becoming the center for granger (primarily agricultural based) railroads that radiated out to the west. While the mighty and profitable eastern roads could have absorbed the granger lines, they chose not to. Doing so would give them all the traffic from one line, but ensure that they were cut-off from the all the traffic from the others. Economically, it made more sense for the major eastern "trunk-lines" to merely connect with the less profitable granger roads at Chicago. Every major eastern railroad had connections with Chicago, but the traffic was dominated by NYC, Pennsylvania, Baltimore & Ohio, and Erie. Today, more than 170 years later, these same connections dominate east-west traffic, but the lines are now consolidated under CSX and Norfolk Southern. Railfanning in the 1930s and 1940's must have been exciting -- the railroads still dominated our economy, but were innovating to protect their markets from the developing threat of trucks. Steam engines had reached the epitome of modern, powerful, efficient designs; yet "teakettles" from the turn of the century still worked on many lines. Railroading from this era was big, fast, and dominating. Most of us will never know what it was like to stand by and watch a parade of steam locomotives haul a diverse variety of carload traffic -- one train after another. The great passenger trains are gone. Many try to recreate these scenes in miniature or with computer simulations, but it is not possible to recreate the inspiration and awe Chicago area railroading must have instilled on the youths of that era. Some compare today's railroading to watching a conveyor belt -- the locomotives all look the same and, increasingly, so do the cars. Few have any reason to ride a passenger train and even fewer would describe the remaining service as anything more than basic, minimal, and sparse. While we can get pictures, sound recordings, and video; it cannot possibly compare to the rich memories from that era. I am grateful that my father has shared those memories with his family and inspired his children with that wonderment and awe for that bygone era.
RailFannning Pages[ Top ] |
Chicago
has been the railroad capital of the world for many years now. Dad
talks fondly of taking his bike out to watch the railroading -- the 1930's
and 1940's would have been an exciting time to watch railroads. Many
would say this was railroading's "golden years."
