Building for the Future - or Not

 American technology was a for a land of the future, but Americans seldom thought they were building for that future.  They viewed technology in present-tense.  The British were the ones who build for the future, but not Americans.  They built for the present.

Americans were too worried about making a little capital go a long way - both monetarily and in regards to distance.  There was little thought to durability.  It was about how to get there as fast as possible rather than building for their grandchildren.  It was better to extend the system of railroads as far as possible at once and be satisfied with that initial construction, than to postpone the benefits of better quality in the future.

Building rapidly and in a flimsy way, were uniquely American practices.  Americans refused to be "beholden" to the future.  The techniques of railroad building would change they knew, just as everything in America changed.  These railroads were not the final improvement in rail travel.  

In the years to come, travel would indeed change most radically, from horses and the "iron horse" to the personal automobile.  Finally travel would take to the skies, making railroads almost obsolete in a 100 years.  Until then traveling by rail developed a society all its own...

Next time...the "class system" of the passenger rails

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Today in Pioneer History: "On October 5, 1892, the notorious Dalton Gang attempts a daring daylight robbery of two Coffeyville, Kansas banks at the same time.  After nearly 18 months of terrorizing the town, nearly all of the gang were killed by the quick-thinking townspeople. In the end, four townspeople were dead and only Emmett Dalton was left of the infamous Dalton Gang.

Shoddy Early Rail Construction

Early on,  American railroads were constructed in the quickest way, with little regard to safety, comfort or durability. Single tracks, steeper grades and sharper curves - no time to level inclines, cut tunnels or build up embankments.   America experimented with cheaper and quicker ways of laying tracks - with narrow gauges, wooden trestles in place of earthen or stone embankments, unballasted roadbeds and every kind of substitute material and short-cut methods.  

By mid-century American railroad wrecks due to flimsy construction and speed, over poorly constructed tracks caused numerous accidents.  The poorly graded sharp curves and unfenced track in rough terrain were the cause of western railroad mishaps as notorious as steamboat explosions in previous decades.  The need for speed driving people to get there faster was costing lives.

In 1842, Charles Dickens, who was not a man easily shocked, on his first American railway ride on the Boston and Lowell line, found it a terrifying experience.  Charles Richard Weld recorded his experience in 1855 on a train out of Cumberland, West Virginia bound for Washington, DC.  Departing late, the train was determined to make up time by increasing its speed.  Weld records his train car swaying around sharp curves to the point of having to hang on to the seat in front of him, and having a glass lamp fall from over his head.  

A fellow passenger who was experienced in railroad accidents, began to instruct him on how to prepare for a crash.  Weld, along with three ladies,  moved to the last car as that was said to be the safest car. After the crash did indeed happen, that move was credited with the reason they survived.  When Weld crawled from the wreckage, all the cars except half of the middle car and the engine were destroyed.  

Surprisingly, only Weld was willing to file a formal complaint against the conductor for excessive speed and reckless regard for passengers.  Most of those who survived were praising the conductor's efforts to get them to their destination on time!  

Next time...More on rail accidents

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Today in Pioneer History: "On September 21, 1938, without warning a powerful Category 3 hurricane slams into Long Island and southern New England, causing 600 deaths and devastating coastal cities and town.  Called the Long Island Express, the great New England hurricane of 1938 was the most destructive storm to strike the region in the 20th century.  It was expected to make landfall in southern Florida, but the storm suddenly changed direction and began moving northward parallel to the eastern seaboard, coming ashore two days later in New York.

 

Building the Rails

 Unlike the steamboats that followed routes of nature, railroads were man-made routes.  Western railroads made settlements wherever they were laid along those routes.  Where the railroad went, so did the people.  As one traveler recorded in 1856, "the prairies and the railroads were made for each other.  For hundreds of miles you didn't need to do anything but raise the turf and lay the rails...in one level unwavering line your road passes through the plain."

The technology of progress and haste defined the Western rails.  Great prizes were received for the first to complete the railroad as in the building of the first transcontinental railroad.  Under the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, the Central Pacific Railroad was to build eastward from California to join tracks with the Union Pacific in Nevada.  However, the act was amended by Central Pacific lobbyists which allowed both railroads to build as far as they could until they met - with the reward of between $16,000 and $48,000 for each additional mile laid.

The first transcontinental railroad went from an engineering project to a race in which the construction practices of the competitors became a national scandal.  The Credit Mobilier Scandal came to light in 1872 and involved the illegal manipulation of contracts by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier construction company.  An extensive inquiry was made into charges of bribery when the head of Credit Mobilier gave stock to members of Congress in exchange for construction favors.  Nothing definite could be proved and the matter was dropped, but not before the scandal was the hottest news of the time.

Next time...Construction Practices

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Today in Pioneer History: "On September 16, 1893, the largest land rush in history begins with more the 100,000 people pouring into the Cherokee strip of Oklahoma to claim valuable land that had once belonged to Native Americans.  With a single shot from a pistol, the mad dash began and the pioneers on horseback and in carriages raced to stake their claim of the best acres.

Railroad Problems from Outside

In building the railroad there was one thing more uncontrollable than the weather - Indians.  The Plains tribes were becoming increasingly hostile as the "iron horse" approached.  Sioux and Cheyenne had every reason to fear the white man.  He was destroying their food supply for feeding the railroad workers, taking over their lands for the rails. 

The Indians attacked the railroad with increasing frequency - the grading crews and surveying crews, even locomotives as they approached.  At one time they spread a rawhide rope across the tracks thinking they could stop the approaching locomotive.  Without any concept of the impact of a moving train, they stood holding the rope taut in the face of the oncoming train and were swept under the wheels.

In August of 1867 the Cheyenne carried out a more serious attack near Plum Creek, Nebraska.  They tore down telegraph lines, ripped up the rails and used them as a barricade and waited in ambush.  A handcar of six telegraph repairmen were attacked and scalped.  A freight train then approached and not seeing the barricade of rails, collided against them seriously injuring the engineer and fireman.  The Indians attacked the wounded and killed them, then ripped open cars of supplies.

Even though the Indians were generally no match for the mighty "iron horse" other problems plagued the railroad.  Armies of prostitutes, gamblers, and thugs followed the railroad.  In towns along the line, they were a threat.  Jack Casement knew of these threats, he knew the railroad life was tough and the men needed diversions to keep the railroad progressing westward.

After several men were killed in these "diversions", Casement decided to get tough himself.  In Julesburg, Nebraska, he armed a group of iron men, seized some of the more serious gamblers, and hung them.  When Dodge asked him if his men were behaving and quiet,  Casement allegedly replied, "You bet, General.  They are out there in the graveyard."

Next time...Problems from Within
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This Day in Pioneer History:  "On May 3, 1469 the Italian philosopher and write Niccolo Machiavelli was born.  A lifelong patriot and proponent of a unified Italy, he became one of the fathers of modern political theory. 

Building a Railroad

Grenville Dodge took the position of chief engineer of the Union Pacific in 1866 totally aware of the troubles ahead.  The railroad was still basically a pipe dream, with only 100 miles of track laid west of Omaha.  No sure route was even known and problems like recruiting labor, transporting supplies, holding the Indians at a distance, even finding the lumber for building were just becoming known.

The track was to be laid under the supervision of two brothers, John ("Jack") and Daniel Casement.  They made good overseers, tough and resourceful and they had the full support of Dodge.  Dan searched the country for labor and supplies, while Jack supervised hundreds of Irish, Civil War veterans, and former slaves who were doing the actual building.  Although Jack was a physically small man, he became a ruthless driver of the human machine that built the railroad.

The Union Pacific was in danger of losing its government support unless 100 miles was completed by July 1866.  With Dodge at the head and the Casement brother driving the operation, construction began to proceed at amazing efficiency.  Several hundred miles west of the workers, surveyors were mapping out the precise route to follow.  Beyond that, the grading crews with their picks and shovels (as well as rifles against the Indians), were preparing the route chosen.  Then came the actual track layers, the iron men - all of them advancing the line westward rail by rail.

As the railroad advanced into the open plains, the hardwood for the ties became impossible to find.  Soft cottonwood had to be treated with chemicals to improve its durability until the rails moved back into mountain country and hardwood was once again available.  Following the railroad ties, the iron rails were laid.  Each rail required five men to lift each rail, another group to place it across the ties and then "spikers" to drive the spikes into place. 

The workers labored labored in all weather, in all seasons for the completion of the Union Pacific.  By the end of 1866, 265 miles were laid and by December, the railroad was near Nebraska's western border, and the team of Dodge and Casement was thought to accomplish miracles.

Next time...a real threat to progress
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Today in Pioneer History: "On April 30, 1789  George Washington, the great military leader of the American Revolution, is inaugurated as the first president of the United States in New York City.