When was the real golden age of railroading from the perspective of the fan. Before WW2 was the depression. After WW2 the equipment was was in bad shape because of deferred maintenance, then they started getting rid of steam. After steam a lot of railroads were going bankrupt. Now everything has a minimal, standardized look, but they are making money. I am thinking that the NW in the 50’s is the golden age of railroading. They had new steam and diesels and were well run. Also , for a reality check, if we were to go back in time would we find it amazing how much steam engines , coal fired plants and homes, asbestos insulation and how unregulated pollution standards were back then. I remember a friend of mine telling me how he used to sweep soot off his steps in Pittsburgh. So what I am getting at is are we guilty of glossing over a lot of “inconvenient truths” because of the romance of liking trains.
I would say the late 40’s. Railroads were running flat out using anything they could get their hands on. The PRR even converted some box casr to haul people they were so short of equipment. Steam and diesels were everywhere and after the war streamliners atrted to appear and the public and most freight still moved by train.
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What are the criteria? Because we have always tended to glamorize history, one generation removed.
This question came up a couple months ago, but I don’t know if we resolved it. I would say that it is a matter of consensus. Almost by definition, you could rule out the present age or anything close to it. With railroads, the steam / diesel transition makes a very handy benchmark reference point. Some might say that transition was the golden age because for the most part, it had the most of everything. The disappearance of steam was a remarkable loss, but sometimes it is easy to forget how much of railroading has disappeared since that loss. I would say that the consensus is that the golden age includes the transition, but also extends back to right after the depression. That way it takes in the WWII boom period.
But not all aspects of railroading reached their zenith during the 1940-1955 period. I don’t have the facts handy, but I seem to recall that track mileage reached a peak considerably earlier. Certainly, the pioneering era of the 1880-1900 period had far more individual rai
Depends on your age and where you are I think.
Todays youngsters might well find todays railroading the golden age. Their grandparents the 1950’s…
For me, it depends. Todays freigth railroading in the Netherlands is incredibly varied thanks to open access. In the last 10 years volume more than doubled, we now have some 12 operators instead of 1 and locomotives from all around the northern hemisphere (diesels from Germany (east and west), Canada (GM), Russia/ the Ukraine and electrics from France, Germany and our own country (50’s design by Baldwin!).
On the other hand, as an archivist, I am drawn to old stuff. I like US Midwest railroading of the 50’ and 60’s (don’t ask why, probably because some of the first US trains I saw where from the Wabash and M&StL and they remain my favourites).
greetings,
Marc Immeker
edit: oops, as a passing freight train reminds me: and English diesels as well!
I agree with the idea of history with one generation removed, and for that reason, would suggest that the “Golden Age” would be different for each of us. For example, when I was about 10, I would go to church with my Grandmother on Sundays, downtown under the MacArthur bridge. When we arrived at the door of the church, a Pennsy passenger train, pulled by a T-1 4-4-4-4 would be departing east over the bridge. With all the moving parts and the trim lines, I always had the impression that the train would take off and fly over East St. Louis. When we came out of church, there was another passenger train arriving over the bridge, pulled by steam. I never caught the RR on this train, but you can see they were on schedule.
Having ridden downtown on a wooden Peter Witt car on the Manchester-Kirkwood line, with the wheels squealing around the corner at Fourth and Chouteau was just icing on the cake.
And my grandmother was somewhat of a railfan, and would tell me how things used to be better. I’m sure you all have similar memories and that’s your “Golden Age.”
I would argue that the Golden Age of railroading would be the Gilded Age of the Civil War to WW-I era. The end of that age would be the USRA essentially commandeering the railroad infrastructure and imposing standardized practices and designs.
The Gilded Age was one of Fisks, Goulds, and Vanderbuilts, of George Pullman and his horrid treatment of labor. That was the era in which railroads were both a growth industry, a place one could make one’s fortune, and the engine driving America’s transition from an agrarian to industrial economy. Prior to the Civil War railroads were an emerging technology and after WW-I railroads were a mature and developed industry.
This Golden Age is far from one reaching the pinnacle of technology as even steam locomotives advanced considerably along with passenger and freight rolling stock. The pinnacle of technology may have been the 1950’s – what apart from AC traction motors is new since then? Amtrak’s rolling stock is essentially the Budd Pioneer III along with the Budd Hi Level in design.
I don’t see much in the way of a fan base for Gilded Age railroading as evidenced by what modelers chose to model. Steam-Diesel transition age is a biggie because you get to mix Diesel and steam however you like. I know one local modeller who is doing the Virginia and Truckee (California Donner Pass of that era – Truckee, CA is along that route, and I believe Virginia City was or is either in California or Nevada). Even people who are into steam as railfans or railroad modellers aspire to Big Boys and the brutes of Super Power steam, although Gilded Age railroad models would better fit in most basements. I guess the 1880s are so beyond anyone’s time horizon there is not much fan interest apart from the true diehards.
…Golden Age…?? I have to agree with just about all of the above. My opinion would put that age roughly between WWII’s beginning and right prior to the 50’s. Dangerous work and conditions started much earlier…Polluting…all thru the steam age. Yes, soot was everyplace if one was around industrial works and or railroads. Hardly any regulations in place then for ones health.
Johnstown, Pa. was a major industrial works area, steel mills, coal mines, railroads…all producing pollution. Remember black smoke pouring out of the smoke stacks there just north of the Pennsylvania Passenger station that would blacken the sky at times…That is just not allowed anymore.
Remember boarding a passenger train there and heading east and as far as Harrisburg the black soot accumulated on the window sills. Then, switching to the GG-1 power that stopped as we continued to NYC. {By the way this was early, time wise, in WWII}.
This has the makings of a very interesting thread. However, I do feel, in support of Poppa Zit, that we should perhaps identify what the criteria should be. Should the question be answered with respect to when the most railroads reported the most black ink, or when the most numbers of track miles were in use, or when the greatest tonnage was hauled, or when the most locomotives were produced and delivered (maybe rolling stock?), or would our passenger train buffs want those figures included?
There is so much to do about the topic that we would be much more focused with a definition to the question that is not currently accepted by the respondents so far.
DICTIONARY DEFINTIONS:
Golden Age-
The most flourishing period in the history of a nation, literature, etc.
Flourish-
To be in its or one’s prime; be at the height of fame or excellence.
Since Golden Age has a definition, it cannot be simply in the eye of the beholder. However, even with a definition, it is impossible to define the most flourishing period in the history of railroading. I think by the definition of flourish, you could narrow it down by excluding the incubation period from the beginning up to about the Civil War era. After that exclusion, the definition of flourish is broad enough to include history of railroading up to the present moment. So, for that span of time, I guess it is in the eye of the beholder.
I’ll take the definition of flourish that puts the golden age circa 1880-1910. To me, this is the never-never land of railroading (whatever that means). However, when it comes to railfan popularity, this pioneering era is a lonely land indeed. I have seen polls that indicate less than 2% interest in anything prior to 1900. At least somewhat logically, magazines like TRAINS base their content on that polled interest. But nobody will be interested in what they do not know, and I think the lack of interest is largely the result of the time remoteness of the experience of the pioneering era. So while TRAINS may be justified in reflecting subject interest in their content, I would think that at least part of the mission is to teach rather than to just reflect. It is a pity to see the pioneering era slip away for lack of interest when it has so much to offer. And the further away it gets, the harder it is to interpret.
When? It ended forty years ago or just before you turned six, whichever is farther back in time. [:-^]
If the definition of Golden Age incorporates expansion (in terms of trackage, carloadings, ton-miles, locomotive rosters), we’re in it!
But, based upon PZ’s criterion, it’ll be the next generation that realizes this. I hope to be vindicated in my statement before I pass on.
I think today is the Golden Age… The railroads are busy and profitable. The locomotives and rolling stock are as interesting as they’ve ever been…and the future looks bright.
I like today’s scene from a shareholder perspective and as a fan…the new diesels look great, and a fast moving double stack train behind a couple or three SD70s or ES locomotives stirs the soul as much as steam did in its day.
Hear hear![bow][bow]
You have to be careful to define what we mean by “Golden Age” of railroading.
If we’re talking passenger trains, it’s the 1930’s to 1950’s, the age of the trains such as Southern Pacific’s Coast Daylight, Union Pacific’s City of… trains, Santa Fe’s Super Chief, New York Central’s 20th Century Limited, and several others.
If we’re talking freight trains, it’s right now, with the rapid growth of unit trains and advanced diesel-electric locomotives such as GE’s Evolution series and EMD’s SD70M-2 and SD70ACe models.
Since the parameters are so nebulous and mutli-faceted, I’ll say 1839 to 1863 was the most impressive to me, when we went
…Yes, I think the new diesel’s are the finest locomotives that’s been on the rails and very impressive as they pass.
On the other hand…those of us that have experienced {as a fan}, the passing of 2 or so steam engines blasting for all their might pulling coal up grade and not moving very fast and another steam engine doing the same thing on the rear as it passes…Very difficult to imagine the awesomeness of their passing and immensity. I was there to experience that and it’s difficult to put it in words. Did I say the ground shook as they passed too.
Classic Trains defined it as period 1945-1971. That probably was correct. I recall being a lil crum cruncher growing up along the SF in KS and watching SF psgr trains, black & white switchers, 40 foot boxcars hauling grain,& stock cars passing by the house. The good ole days no doubt. Glad i was atleast able to recall part of the final decade of the period
From a railfan’s perspective (the condition given in the original post), I would say the era with the most variety. For me that would be the late 40’s- early 50’s when steam and diesels roamed the land. You could find 4-4-0’s through Big Boys, first generation diesels from several makers were around. Electrics were there also. Heavyweight passenger, streamlined, and a few open platform cars were around along with gas electrics. Freightcars from all wood with trussrods through all steel. The last of the narrow gauges were still going. While other eras have their charms, I think the transition was the most interesting for the fan.
Enjoy
Paul