railroads essays

railroads essays The post-civil war age was one of great industrialization, urbanization and growth in our country. None of this could be possible, however, without the amazing progress in the system of railroads throughout the continent. Before the end of the 19th century, more than 190,000 miles of track spanned across our country, making the west available to the wave of urbanization that swept the nation at this time. Before the 1865, the west was sparsely populated and contained few significant towns with which to entice the population. With the creation of the western railroads, however, it seemed that everybody was eager to get out and see the west. New towns sprung up and old towns were modernized to keep up with continual flow of people. Luxuries on the trains such as the Pullman sleeping car were devised to make the journey comfortable, and it seemed that the progress in technology and industrialization could not be stopped. As expected, there were many faults with the system, but most of them were human and had nothing to do with the actual efficiency of the railroads. For example, towns that were lucky enough to host a station became booming cities, while those that were bypassed withered away. This often led to severe competition in the system, and many a railroad promoter was made rich by the monetary gifts made to them by towns that wanted to be along the rails. Also useful in supplem enting small town business were the railroad workers themselves. After a long day of working on the rails, they would flock to nearby towns and indulge in alcohol and prostitutes. These towns were appropriately named hells on wheels, and catered to as many as 10,000 workers at a time. But human shortcomings related to the railroads were a small price to pay for the expansion that resulted in the western portion of our nation. Sacramento became a relative metropolis because of its location on the end of the rail line, and several ot...