TRAINS, RAILROADS, AND HISTORY  By:  Dan O'Connor

The trains have been around since the early 1800's and have been impacting lives ever since.  The first trains weren't so good.  Now with newer technology trains have advanced.  Now in modern times we have fast bullet trains.  Back then trains were much slower.  They went around 18 to 20 miles an hour.  Over the years the trains advanced.  There was essentially the "bullet train" of back then.  That was the Flying Yankee.  Trains and Rail Roads grew and became more popular.  they were almost everywhere in the U.S.  Thew were in the west, south, and north.  Trains were everywhere:  I'll talk about where the trains were and all about the trains.

I'll start in present day Lincoln.  When Lincoln was settled it was split into two.  Henryville (which is now present day Lincoln), and Lincoln which is up by the Notch.  All the hotels like the Profile House would be up by the Notch.  The logging and timber industry would be in present day Lincoln town square.  Oxen or other animals would take awhile, but at the time it would get the job done.

Passenger trains like the Yankee would make travel faster.  The Yankee could go to Boston in about 1-2 hours, just like today.  Wagons would take much longer.  Other passenger trains would take longer than the Yankee but would still cut down the time compared to the wagons.  At a regular speed the Yankee could go about 75mph!  Cars don't even go that fast on a highway!  travel time would be cut down tremendously.  People would want to travel to see the Yankee.  It was like a tourist attraction.  Then they would go to fantastic places like the Notch.  They would hike and see the Old Man of the Mountain.  The Yankee had lots of cool features, for its time.   It was heated and cooled, it was extremely aerodynamic!  It was like the bullet train of its time!  It accelerated easily and fast.  Tourist would definitely want to see the Yankee because it was the only train of its type.  Towns would pop up because people would move places and buy stuff.  The Yankee was great for daily life!  The Yankee was only for people and would bring the both to Lincoln and Henryville.  Before, if you were trying to get to places in NH, you would have to use your wagon or a Concord Coach.  If you were from the south, that would be a long trip.  It made it easier to discover new towns and make them bigger. Trains, like the Yankee, were basically a necessity for traveling at the time.

In Lincoln, other trains were used.  They were the logging trains.  The logging trains would take the wood that got cut and bring the wood to the mill.  Then at the mill they would be processed into different things.  Timber definitely grew in the north because of the trains.

In Lincoln there was one other type of train being used.  Those were the freight trains.  They would take what is produced (from mills) and export it.  Mostly the goods consisted of clothes pins, paper, wood chips, and saw dust.  Those would be shipped on freight trains and taken to where they needed to go.  The trains helped these businesses a lot.  Transportation of goods was faster and easier.  Industries like timer were getting lots of help from the trains.

Trains also impacted other regions, one was the north.  The north has a lot of people and a lot of industries.  Passenger trains could take people where they needed to go.  Freight trains would carry goods to where they needed to go.  Since the North had a R.R. before the South and West it was able to export and import goods easier.  The north could transport much easier than the other regions.  They could also transport people fast and easy.  The railroad alone would make money and would be cheaper to ship goods.  The north had a lot of business advantages themselves.  Transporting goods and people was a huge advantage; it was easy rather than hard everywhere else.  The north also grew from the R.R.  The industries grew and were able to cheaply ship goods.  Industries like steal and textiles saved money by shipping goods with the R.R.  The trip would be longer if it was shipped by boat, so it ends up being more expensive, and longer.  So the R.R. was more efficient.  They could ship more goods at a time and produce more.  Cities also got impacted by the R.R.  The R.R. got more people traveling.  The people also might have been leaving.  If they did not want to live in the north, they could take a train some place else.  People wanted to live in the north could go to a station and ride to their destination.  Overall, more people were coming in than leaving.  Business got better between the railroad and the businesses there.  The railroad helped the north grow, and expand cities.

The south soon built a network of Railroads.  This was around the time of the Civil War.  The problem that they had is it wasn't close to a network of Railroads.  They built railroads all different lengths apart, and then they built a standard gauge.  The problem was one railroad was a different length apart then the another.  Then they built them all the same lengths apart.  Some engines would have to be rebuilt to fit the tracks.  The other problem they had is they weren't connected.  They had to build tracks to connect to each other.  One railroad would end, but another may not continue.  So, at first they weren't like a network of tracks.  At the time of reconstruction they made a standard gauge, they made them all the same length apart.  Then eventually they connected more tracks together.  They would hire temporary workers to move the track over to the right length and then re-spike them.  Then the tracks became a network of rails.  The south soon had a Railroad system.

The south would use their network of railroads for passengers and freight.  The trains would carry people where they needed to go, carry freight and logs where they needed to go.  The system (of trains) would carry people to places they needed to go.  It also helped expand cities.  The cities would have railroads going in and out.  If people wanted to leave or enter, they would use the R.R. Some people left but there were more people coming in than out.  Freight would be shipped much easier.  Boats took too long and costly, to travel and to ship.  Back then to travel from New York to San Francisco the price would be 2-4 hundred dollars.  That would include them to feed you.  Trains are faster, cheaper and efficient.  The south had a lot of industries.  They mined logged, produced cloth, textile, and etc.  The train could take more and do it cheaper.  Trains impacted the south's industries, and transportation of people..

 The trains also impacted other events.  One was the Civil War.  At the time the north had a system of railroads.  The south didn't have a railroad network.  All their railroads were spread out.  This affected the north's ability to transport goods and to move troops.  The south couldn't transport much by railroad.  The south would have to march everywhere because the north took control of rivers.  This helped the north transport quickly, move troops, and keep them one step ahead.

The last region to talk about was the west.  T.C.R.R. (Trans Continental Rail Road) was built in the middle of reconstruction.  The Railroad spread all the way across the nation, coast to coast.  The T.C.R.R. tremendously impacted the region.  Before it would take about 3-6 months to travel to the west, depending where you start, and if you have any traveling problems.  (Broken wagon wheels, axles, animals, etc.).  The railroad would take a couple days.  So moving out there travel wise was way easier and faster.  It's less hassle.  If you worked out there, like for mining, you could ship goods faster, and cheaper.  You could also get more in a train load than you could a wagon.  So, ultimately, for business and for traveling, the train was better.  If you mined in the west you could ship all your goods in large quantities.  You could go where you needed to go faster and safer.  If you were in a wagon, Indian attacks would happen same in a train, but you're more protected in a train.  The horses of Indians would not be able to catch the speeding train.  A wagon going 5 miles per hour could easily be caught by a horse.  The rail would help create towns.  People would take the trains out west and live there.  Towns would pop up.  Then they'd get enough people to make a state.  the train helped to create all these towns.  If you were in the animal business you could ship the animals you slaughtered.

Trains impacted all the regions of the U.S. at the time.  They were used to carry goods and people where they needed and wanted to go.  The trains cut transportation time down tremendously.  More and more people used trains.  Today some trains are still in use.  They are used less and less because of cars and airplanes.  In some regions trains are still used for a variety of uses.