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Development of Railroad Transportation in United States Corliss 1945
Development of Railroad Transportation in The United States By Carlton Corliss 32 Pages A lecture at the University of Baltimore Feb 5, 1945
TRANSPORTATION is one of the basic needs of mankind. It is of fundamental importance in the social and economic life of a people. From the dawn of civilization inventive minds have constantly been seeking to improve the methods of moving persons and goods from place to place.
Of all the forms of transportation which have been developed during man's onward march, the one which has contributed most to the spread of civilization, the creation and diffusion of wealth, the expansion of industries, and improvements in the standard of living, is the railroad. No other industry so fully enters into the everyday life of the American people.
To realize how true this is we have only to consider the important part which railway transportation plays in assembling the materials which go into the production of our homes, the furniture and furnishings with which our homes are fitted, the food we eat, the clothing we wear, and the many other things we use and see about us. Many of these articles have been brought to us by rail-sometimes for hundreds or even thousands of miles-and if we should trace them back still farther, we would find that railway transportation played an important part in assembling the raw materials from which most of them were made. So we see there is a close relationship between railway transportation and the comforts and advantages which we enjoy every day and every hour of the day.
The railroads have been tremendously important also from the broader standpoint of national development. Until the advent of railroads, the nation's commerce moved principally upon navigable rivers, a few canals, and upon primitive highways which served largely as tributaries to them. Travel in those days was difficult, communication was slow, and shipping by land was often prohibitive in cost. Lack of efficient transportation impeded social progress, confined trade to small areas, and restricted the development of our natural resources.
As the rails were pushed across the country, frontier communities took on new life and a new outlook. in many parts of the country the railroads were the pioneers, the trail blazers, carrying the torch of civilization, making the vast regions accessible tc the farmer, the lumberman, the miner, and the manufacturer.
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