Rail: Past, Present and Future

choi

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(1) The Past.

John Steele Gordon, Tracks Across America. Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576361331013796182.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_6
(book review on (a) Richard White, Railroaded; The transcontinentals and the making of modern America. Norton, 2011 and (b) Maury Klein, Union Pacific: The Reconfiguration; America's greatest railroad from 1969 to the present. Oxford Univ Press, 2011)

Note:
(a) doughty (adj): "marked by fearless resolution : VALIANT <a doughty warrior>"

All definitions are from www.m-w.com.
(b) New York Central Railroad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad
(Erastus Corning got the above railroads together into one system: the New York Central Railroad on May 17, 1853, with the main line from Albany to Buffalo)

* Erasus Corning (1794-1872)
* Named for Erastus Corning, City of Corning, New York is headquarters of Corning Inc, which Amory Houghton, Sr. founded in 1851 as Corning Glass Works.
Our Heritage. Corning Inc, undated.
http://www.corning.com/about_us/inside_corning/our_heritage.aspx  

(c) Wall Street
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street
(section 1 History:  the Dutch-named "de Waal Straat"; a buttonwood tree)

* For buttonwood, see Platanus occidentalis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_occidentalis
(called Sycamore in North America, a name which can refer to other types of tree in other parts of the world)

(d) Union Pacific Railroad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Railroad
(headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska; is the largest railroad network in the United States; section 1 History)

* Missouri River
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River
(see the map: Council Bluffs, Iowa is across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska)
* Central Pacific Railroad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Pacific_Railroad
(from Sacramento, California to Promontory Summit, Utah; now part of the Union Pacific Railroad; section 1 Authorization and construction: Chinese)

(e) JP Morgan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan
(1837-1913; section 2.3 Railroad battles)
(f) EH Harriman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Harriman
(1848-1909)
(g) stultify (vt; Late Latin stultificare to make foolish, from Latin stultus foolish):
"to impair, invalidate, or make ineffective : NEGATE"


(2) The present.

Shelley Shan, Minister warns on high-speed rail line subsidence. Taipei Times, June 15, 2011 (available now)
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/06/15/2003505820
("The earth is sinking under the nation’s high-speed rail line, new Public Construction Commission (PCC) Minister Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) said yesterday, warning that it could become inoperable in 10 years if nothing is done")

* Public Construction Commission, Taiwan   
行政院公共工程委員會
http://www.pcc.gov.tw/pccap2/TMPLfronted/ChtIndex.do?site=002


(3) The future.

Daniel Machalaba, The Future of Rail; Freight railroads have made a strong comeback in recent years. Can they stay on track?  Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834804576301230350030512.html

Quote:

Francis P. Mulvey, a commissioner of the federal Surface Transportation Board: "Since Staggers [the 1980 law that partly deregulated railroads], the rail share of intercity ton miles has grown from just over 30% to over 43%. But much of that has been due to declining shares of barge, Great Lakes and pipeline traffic—as opposed to shifts from truck to rail.

"WSJ: Why do the French, Chinese and Germans have such wonderful high-speed passenger trains and we don't?

Note: Staggers Rail Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staggers_Rail_Act
(The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 is a United States federal law that deregulated the American railroad industry; named for Congressman Harley Staggers (D-WV), who chaired the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee)
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