Lin wood 8th grade essays

THE HISTORY OF TRAINS By: Kamryn Danley

I know the title makes this report look really boring but please read on. It may not be what it looks like. Trains really helped the development of Lincoln. I mean, I owe a lot to trains. If it weren't for them, we would still be walking around or riding horses and in carriages. I would go as far to say we wouldn't have cars. Furthermore, Lincoln would still be a small village with 12 families living in it. And most of all I wouldn't be living here. Think about it. You should be thankful too.

In the early 1700's Lincoln wasn't even a town. It was a giant forest. The closest thing to Lincoln was a small gathering of settlers at the base of the Notch. Maybe some rich people coming up for a vacation now and then. There was some very minor logging for making houses. Another industry was beaver hunting and trapping. Beavers were known (and desired) for their pelts. So much so that they were almost hunted to extinction!

Later in the early 1800's the growth of the town starts. As I said, Lincoln started as a gathering of settlers in the Notch. But now they're starting to make hotels. Also, they're starting medium scale logging. And where is a giant forest ripe for cutting? Lincoln! That's how Lincoln started.

Trains were essential to the people of Lincoln. First they brought in food. Even if it wasn't high quality, it was food. Second they brought in supplies. Toys, clothes, and tools were all shipped in by train. This had complications. If there was a flood or a white out, they had to wait until it cleared up to let the train through. This was solved as the years went by. The trains got better and better. Not to mention snow houses, these helped both here and out west.

Now here's where trains get really helpful in the 1850's, 60's, 70's and up until the 1900's trains were the way of transport, and they really helped out in the Civil War. The Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history (to that point). But one of the only reasons we won was because of our extensive train system. Our train system allowed us to move a lot of troops and supplies (which we had a lot of) into the south. Now the south didn't have a uniform railroad. They had a whole bunch of different tracks of different gages all over the south. This made it very hard to move troops. This (and plowing through the south's forces and diminishing them) helped us win the Civil War.

During reconstruction trains were helpful again. Trains helped bring in supplies for the people. Also they brought in carpet baggers to help on their own motivation. Although the southerners thought this as bad, some were there to help the south. Also trains were helpful when the south had up risings. Trains made it easy to bring in reinforcements and supplies for the soldiers in the south. This helped them keep the south under control until they agreed to the radical republican's ideas.

Later in the 1800's, about 1890 or so, a really important thing comes to town. Trains! These really jump started Lincoln. About 21 years after they connect the east and west, they connect the north and everyone else. Now this had a very large impact. First it brought J. E. Henry. Now he was a very successful business man. He starts large scale logging in Lincoln. Henry basically created Lincoln as he had mills and factories all over the town. For example, there are old wood sheds in the middle of town that used to be a lumber storage place so they could age the lumber so it could be used as firewood. Another example is the Paper Mill Theater used to be, take a guess: it's in the name....a paper mill! Also, I don't think it's there anymore, but there was also a clothes pin mill.

Now people like J. E. Henry were everywhere, and the trains were everywhere as well. Now I know this mainly about the north but let's take a peek at the south and west. In the west, giant amounts of iron, magnesium, lead, sulfur, and coal were being mined. Before the train came to the west we could only mine gold, silver, and diamonds because we couldn't make money any other way.

Now, with trains, iron mining, and steel factories boomed. Much because iron was needed for the railroad, but it had to be steel or it would break under the pressure and weight of the train.

The cattle kingdom boomed because there was a need for beef in the north. This was because the people who fought in the Civil War came home. Also, the long horns in the south west were easy to catch because they were feral. But the cattle kingdom ended when they had some really bad winters and the cattle all died.

Also, the trains were a large transportation device. In the west, people were starting to settle. For example, people who were laughing at settlers for their foolishness were now thinking about moving to the west. One of the many reasons was it was faster. A 3-6 month trip was cut down to 3 days. Another reason was it was cheaper. For example, a three month trip in a boat around Cape Horn cost about $50. Now it cost around $15 which compelled people to go to the west. The third reason is that it was more comfortable. I'd imagine that walking across the Great Plains wasn't very fun. But now it was a lot easier. People could sit down and rest while the train whizzed you along to your destination.

Around the 1950's, 1935 to be exact, the Flying Yankee came along. It was fast. It could go 70mph, which was very fast at the time. It was the bullet train of its time. It made commuting faster. Whats more, it was quiet. You could lay on the tracks and you wouldn't hear it coming. But other than the Flying Yankee, automobiles were being made. They weren't fast, maybe 20mph, but it was better than walking. Other than being a break through it had a giant effect on the grand hotels. Automobiles put many of them out of business. The grand hotels were replaced with smaller ones.

In the 1980's through today, the automobiles kept getting better and better. They probably will replace trains (eventually), but trains in the form of subway, bullet trains, and maglevs are still going strong. Around 1990 people closed the paper mill for the final time. They did this because the lumber and paper industry went south to Mexico. Also they converted it to a tourist town. This created Loon, Cannon and many other ski areas. Now we are a tourist hot spot due to trains! Thank you trains, it was a pleasure!