The+Rail+Road+Industry

= The Railroad Industry = //By:JOE STANEK & JOHNNY SWOGGER//

The milestone that jump started the railroad industry was the completion of the transcontinental RR. It opens the nations ability to transport and sell more goods for more money. Most of all the golden spike as it is referred to sparked the railroad production industry. Two companies that formed from this were of course the Union and Central Pacific railroads, which still exist today.
 * Birth of the Industry**





Who: Cornelius Vanderbilt When: 1867-73 Where:New York What: Cornelius Vanderbilt connected the Chicago railroads all the way to New York Why: The civil war started and they needed a faster source of transportation How: He bought the Hudson river line in order to connect the paths Effect: Made people realize it was a faster way of transportation which made more railroads

-Innovations of the Railroad Industry- **Standard Time**- All current standard American time was adapted on November 18, 1883.
 * Air Brake**- Invented in 1872, this brake used compressed air to help stop trains. It was invented by George Westinghouse, who started the first brake manufacturing company for brakes, Westinghouse Air Brake Company.
 * Pullman Sleeping Car-** Invented by George Pullman, this railroad car was built for overnight passengers to sleep in. Invented in 1857.
 * The Standard Gauge for Railways**- Copied from the English standard rail gauge, and was adapted around 1840.

__**Labor Relations**__ -The working conditions were standard they had proper work space over all. -The towns that were pretty much ran by the railroad industry was mainly Chicago and outlying states. -The union that was established during this time was (ARU) The American Railway Union. This union was used to argue for higher pay because of the constant decrease in payment -The Pullman Strike began May 11, 1894 with a walk out from the Pullman Palace car company. After several failed negotiations the ARU gave notice that the workers would not work on trains with Pullman labeled on the side of any of the train cars. __**Cause and Effect:**__ The lack of cars being made caused less money for the industry and everyone lost money which made a small economic drop.

__**Evolution of the Railroad industry**__ The Railroad industry evolved over the years through a broad spectrum of ideas. The industry evolved by many young inventors creating better and safer railroad tracks, cars, and better fuel for the trains other than coal. This industry has become one of the worlds most used resources through travel and shipping. -There were also quite a few improvements formed from different work acts. There was the Elkins act which This act made it so the rates of the workers couldn't be cut.This was favored because there was no loss of revenue. Also there was the Interstate commerce act which was more for the workers protection of how much the carts could carry and to avoid abuse of any worker. There was also the Hepburn act which was made to support the interstate commerce act on the wages and protection of the employees.

-The industry was run by Cornelius Vanderbilt who controlled over 95% of the railroad industry. -The government responded by passing the acts listed above so that so the workers had better rights.

__**Railroads Today**__

-Over the years, railroads seem to die down with the creation of automobiles. They quickly replaced trains as the most common notion of transportation, as well as becoming the carrier of choice for freight. However according to the Association of American Railroads, in recent years trains have been making a come back. Over the past 3 years alone, we have seen a 7% increase in traffic with passengers and freight, and customer satisfaction is up to about half, which is way better compared to years past. - The Union Pacific Railroad still exists today, and it is a major railroad supplier. Many jobs are availble from them and other companies, anywhere from working on the railroads, to making the parts in factories, to operating the trains. -Railroads have a bright future ahead. Many new innovations are already being used, such as Magna Trains, which are suspended of the rails with the use of magnets that push it above the tracks. The new age of Railroading is here.



Questions- 1. Name one major strike in the industry. 2. Based on what you read, which was a better innovation, the Pullman sleeping car or the Air Brake? 3. What does ARU stand for? 4. What year was the Air Brake invented? 5. Do you think the Railroad Industry was successful?

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