The great Iron Horse

Not long ago my wife went and saw The Lone Ranger in the theater with my sister, M, and her husband, Moose. The discussion since has been varied, and I will say that I enjoyed it. No, this will not be a review. I will mention a few things about it here, but I don't consider it spoiling it because anybody who has seen the trailer should know these things. First, it features trains. Second, there is a train wreck. It is on trains that my musing takes me.

One of the scenes in the film is outlining the significance of the railroad and steam power. If you think about it, before steam power, the most efficient way to move goods and people was via water. Over land you had to use people (which required large amounts of people and food) or animals (which required people to watch the animals, and consequently food). There is also a very strict weight to speed ratio for animals and people. Increase the weight and you decrease the speed. Increase the speed and you have to decrease the weight. So if you had goods you could either move them quickly in small amounts or more slowly in large amounts. In the book Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman describes the difficulty in dealing with packing food for a trip:

The object of the expedition was to place two men on the summit of Rum Doodle. This necessitated the establishment of a camp at 39,000 feet stocked with a fortnight's supplies for two, so that in the event of adverse weather conditions the party could wait in comfort for an improvement. The equipment for this camp had to be carried from the railhead at Chaikhosi, a distance of five hundred miles. Five porters would be needed for this. Two porters would be needed to carry the food for these five, and another would carry the food for these two. His food would be carried by a boy. The boy would carry his own food. The first supporting party would be established at 38,000 feet, also with a fortnight's supplies, which necessitated another eight porters and a boy. In all, to transport tents and equipment, food, radio, scientific and photographic gear, personal effects, and so on, three thousand porters and three hundred and seventy-five boys would be required..."

While this statement is made in humor, it does demonstrate some real things to consider when it comes to traveling.

Ships require men as well, but the size of the load that a group of nautically trained men can take with them is vastly bigger then a Sherpa's. Even the Volga boatmen and their equivalents in other cultures could move more than if they didn't have the boat or raft to store the stuff in. This is one reason why civilization tends to stick to rivers and coasts. Not just for the fresh water, but also the transportation. Also, look at the difference between cultures that existed with water transportation verses overland. Arabia, the American Midwest, and Siberia were not known for their large, inland cities. So, what do you do when there are no rivers, seas, or lakes, or oceans?

The steam powered locomotive was an answer to that question. Like boats the ratio between the amount of goods and the number of people required was high. Also, they could travel at speeds that exceeded people's or animal capabilities (early engines were between 13 and 29 MPH without a load). It took a number of years to go from the early commuter train "The Best Friend of Charleston" to the transcontinental railroad project, but rail had an effect on the country unlike any other. Instead of towns forming next to large rivers where the paddle boats could bring supplies, they began to pop up everywhere. Many of these towns began as support for the railroad. Often these towns were full of "weekend entertainment" and were called "Hell on Wheels." To this day many "railroad" towns are considered to have unsavory reputations and being known for being rough around the edges. This also meant that if the railroad changed, the town often dried up. I've camped at Terrence, UT which was a town that was bypassed with the Southern Pacific Railroad cut across the Great Salt Lake. I was there 15 years ago all we found was broken china, building supplies and some holes in the ground that were old foundations, root cellars, etc. It is amazing how quickly things can change.

Interestingly enough trains are still one of the most efficient ways to move goods. I as fascinated to learn that diesel locomotives use diesel engines to power electric generators for toque motors and as such are really hybrid vehicles. In Russia I saw a lot of electric trains used for both commuter and freight. I believe this picture is from Russia showing power poles put in between the rails. I say it's Russia because of the prefabricated concrete ties and the general situation. .You kind of have to be there to get it. You can see the lack of use on the rails, so don't get bent out of shape about the people doing it being idiots.

In addition to how trains are powered, you have the different kinds of trains. I've personally ridden on cross country passenger, commuter, light rail, and even a cog train. Cog trains are fun because they have a third rail (not the electric kind) that has places for a cog wheel to fit. They use cog trains to climb steep inclines and mountains. I took the cog up Pike's Peak with a school trip and I remember them saying that the train could literally stop in a very few seconds. This is simply because if they lock that cog wheel there is no slippage on the rail. You can see the third, crenelated rail in this picture of the Pike's Peak cog train.

Trains have always been fascinating to me and I wish I could spend more time on discussing them and researching them more indepth, but this blog has go on long enough. I would like to end with what is considered on of the greatest silent movies which also is considered a fabulous train movie - The General, featuring Buster Keaton. One of the things that makes this movie so incredible is that, like The Lone Ranger, there is a train crash. However, unlike its modern want-a-bees, Buster Keaton actually crashed an honest-to-goodness, fully-working, legitimate steam locomotive into a river. It was obviously done in one take and is impressive by any standard.