Hi, new to this forum. I am currently building an exhibit about trains that will travel to museums around the country. A fun and educational element is a section we call “factoids”. I would like to know what is your favorite, not so well known fact, about railroads?
Thanks for your help!
-UT
President Lincoln, who made his career as a railroad industry lawyer, identified the need for - promoted - and signed into law the commission of the first transcontinental railroad while he was president and conducting the American Civil War.
Railroads had their peak mileage in 1916, when over 250,000 miles of track were in operation in the United States alone, composing over two-fifths of all rail mileage in the world.
Before the railroad was invented, most people spent their whole lives within 20 miles of where they were born.
How many miles are there now.
about 188,000 miles left. The term “abandonment” is getting to be very common these days, but it remains a curse word in my book.
-Brian
The same city was the northernmost point for two of the biggest railroads of the east and midwest, the PRR and NYC. It was Mackinaw City, Michigan.
The largest intermodal customer for US railroads is UPS - United Parcel Service, and UPS has held this position for many years. The US Postal Service is the number two intermodal customer for many railroads.