When you hear “Phoenix” many things may come to mind. The heat, the large suburban population, the Suns. Trains, however, are something that most people don’t think about when they hear Phoenix. By all means, Phoenix is not a railroad city. However, while Phoenix may not be the railroad capital of the country, we do have a very rich history with the railroads.
The picture to your right may be new to you. It might be a familiar sight. What is it? Well, it’s obviously a train station, but which one? It’s not San Diego’s Union Station. It’s not the Tucson or Albuquerque Amtrak stations. Although it might be surprising to think about, this station is the Phoenix Union Station! To those who have lived in Phoenix before 1996, when Amtrak discontinued service, this may not be all too surprising. However, for us post 96’ transplants, the thought of an Amtrak train, and for that matter any passenger train, traveling through the Phoenix Metro is a weird and humorous thought. Yet, for twenty years now, Phoenix has been the largest city in the United States without passenger service. Amtrak had rerouted the Sunset Limited after the Union Pacific
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The Sunset Limited was leaving the metro area, passing Buckeye, at about 1:30 in the morning, when the passengers were suddenly awoken by the derailment of the train. Emergency services from the city of Buckeye raced to the wreck. As emergency crews arrived they found nearly a hundred people injured and one dead. Spotted along the tracks were several notes, signed by a group called the “Sons of Gestapo”. The derailment was sabotage. The FBI was called to the scene. Investigators had found several ties were pulled up and that the track’s circuit system was tampered with so it wouldn’t alert the trains in the area of damaged track. Twenty years laters, and the investigation is still ongoing. It is said this incident may have contributed to the rerouting of the Sunset
It has been called the worst train disaster in U.S. history. The wreckage of the Sunset Limited on September 22, 1993 took 47 lives. There are many circumstances surrounding this wreck that affect the many stakeholders involved.
Established in 1842, the US House & Senate Committees have looked back at the railroad and used it to advance the ways and means of transporting goods, supplies, mail, and people. Look at what it has done; it has served as an artery, moving what is needed throughout the entire nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From giving jobs to those minority groups and once former slaves after the Civil War, throwing the stock market and economy left and right, assisting Abraham Lincoln in winning elections and also winning the Civil War, helping rebuild the South and the nation’s economy from the bottom up during the reconstruction era, taming the Wild West (which has a major direct influence on the American Government System), serving as one of the best ways of getting mail to citizens across the US, and expanding intercontinental trade to have its own manifest destiny. This railroad had a significant affect in the growth of this nation and its government. It’s relationship and way it impacts the government is a result from multiple chain reactions that originated from the 1860s, 70s, 80s, etc. and I strongly believe, after all of my research, that our nations governmental system would be many decades behind if it wasn’t for the transcontinental
The transcontinental railroad was the most influential innovation of the United States, that brought a revolution of how people traveled. One year after the Civil War ended the people of the United States were looking for a way to unite their country back together. This helped mold the United States as to what it has become today. It helped people cross the country and improved how goods were transported. The man that was forming the transcontinental railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney. He had asked the government for funding to construct one of the greatest innovation of the United States. “Two railroads, the Central Pacific starting in San Francisco and a new railroad, the Union Pacific, starting in Omaha, Nebraska, would build the rail-line.” (ushistory.org). One fear of building the railroad was the danger of the “Great American Desert” because of the lack of resources. The Central Pacific was primarily made by Chinese immigrants. The Union Pacific was primarily made up of Irish immigrants. By spring of 1866 the Central Pacific had only build 68 miles of track from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific going west from Omaha built 200 miles of track in less than a year. Therefore the Union Pacific made millions more. The next three years the railroads would continue to try and make history.
Trains can offer an efficient way to transport goods over very long distances, it's not a surprising fact in the 1850’s T’was a time of westward expansions for the united states, as the gold rush’s of both california and nevada pushed Americans further right into the heart of the west to have them prosper into a super power.
On May 10, 1869 as the “Last Spike” struck by Leland Stanford now connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads across the United States at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory. The transcontinental railroads now complete and America is now destined to move to the forefront of the world’s stage. This new railroad system encouraged the growth of American businesses and promoted the development of the nation’s public discourse and intellectual life.1 At the same time, this new railroad affected many people positively
Inventions like the iPhone have paved the road for social, economical, and political improvements. It allowed many opportunities for people to capitalize on whether it be economically like amazon, or socially like youtube as did the railroad that connected the states together. The transcontinental railroad most impacted America economically through encouraging imports and exports amongst the states, making transportation cheaper, and opening up cities along the railroad itself.
For many American settlers, the Great Plains area didn’t spark much interest. But many were beginning to change their minds in the years leading up to the Civil War. As the Continental railroad was beginning to move westward, many were beginning to realize how wrong they were. “Settlers in Kansas found no desert, but millions of acres of fertile soil.”(DOC 1) Many settlers raced to the west to try to snag a plot of land in the west to hopefully start a new chapter in their lives. The transcontinental railroad also helped businesses boom by transporting goods much faster by the railroad. Also, the transcontinental railroad didn’t only transport goods to businesses, it also transported settlers from coast to coast. “After the transcontinental railroad was completed, it cost $150 and took one week. For the first time, U.S. Americans could freely travel from coast to coast. This radically changed both business and pleasure travel.”(How the Transcontinental Railroad Changed America) For many settlers, the transcontinental railroad was revolutionizing transportation. From delivering goods, to transporting people across the coast. We can all agree the transcontinental railroad
The construct of the Transcontinental railroad began in 1863 and ended in 1869. After it was complete people used it very much to travel across the country and people still it today to travel to places. People offend only believe the railroad was one of the most amazing that happen to our country and it only caused great things to happen. However, this is not all true. The railroad did cause great things like it helped increase westward expansion in the United States of America but it also caused a lot of horrible things like causing the removal of many Native American tribes in the west. So, after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, there were positives effect but also negative effects that occur in the US.
Have you ever seen a railroad? Well, there was a time when railroads were desperately needed. This was the time of the Transcontinental Railroad. In my paper I will explain the purpose of the railroad, challenges the workers faced, and the results of the finished railroad.
The Texas Revolution and The Mexican Cession are both significant events in our Nation’s history because it increased the size of the United States by about 500,000 square miles. It also united two different cultures and people into one unified nation. The causes of the Texas Revolution were that Texas wanted to be able to have slaves as well as representatives in the Mexican government.
Railroads became extremely popular in America in the 1800’s. The railroad industry itself began to boom; it was supported by its reputation for speed and efficiency. But, along with the booming industry of railroads came the strong debate that
“Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, it cost nearly $1,000 dollars to travel across the country. After the railroad was completed, the price dropped to $150 dollars.”(History.com Staff). Prior to the railroad the average citizen of America could not afford to travel across the country cheaply. America waited for a means of transportation which would connect them from the Western to Eastern states. The responsibility of creating the railroads were left up to construction companies. Once this invention was created, traveling became quick, easy and affordable. The Transcontinental Railroad could be defined as the most significant change in America, during the 19th Century.
For citizens all throughout the United States. By traveling via train passengers could reach their destination in 90% of the time compared to the travel methods before. This also caused a large increase in Western Settlement. Now, families did not have to worry about the harsh and long travel they would have had to make to go West just a few years before. People did not have to worry about weather, supply shortage, disease, and more, as railroad travel helped all of those situations. However, every good thing has a bad side, and it is important to note that the increase of Western Settlement forced more Indians out of their land, which began to cause violence between white men and Indians.
There are many things that you need to be aware of as a driver in the state of Utah. One of these things is railroads. All the information from this essay is credited to Unit 5 Lesson 07 - Railroad Crossing of Drivers Education. You will no doubt come across a railroad sometime in your driving career and you need to know what to do when approaching this hazard.
Second, the development of new public transit systems, was important in shaping the design of our cities and the growth of our cities by enabling people to move further away from the inner city. Early on, large cities didn’t really have public transportation. Their main source of transportation were horse drawn wagons and walking. In conclusion, most people lived near on in the downtown area, where most of the working establishments were located. Because of this, it made big cites crowed and congested. With the breakthrough of the “el”, electric streetcars, and subways, around 1867, cities began expand more. Those who were fortunate enough to move out of the dirty cities and into better neighborhoods surrounded outside the city, did so. The new transit systems in most cities allowed people to escape the chaos of urban life and provided potential for growth of our cities.