Show railroads prepare to meet new competition seek traffic lost to buses manes and autos wa washington sh I 1 agton nal roads out to recapture passenger traffic lost to buses airplanes and motor cars are emphasizing speed beauty and comfort in developing radically different types or of train equipment geared to present day needs two western lines have produced stream line trains one of which recently attained miles per hour on a test run hundreds of thousands of persons including the president of the united states displayed boyish enthusiasm in these lightly built mo tor driver trains wherever they have been on exhibition othet other enterprising railroads are trying to entice riders through electrification leation automatic train control air conditioning and the use of motor conches coaches and rail mobiles says a bulletin from the national geographic society this summer american railroads are arc adding air cooled passenger and dining cars doubling the number now in operation night club cars A now england angland railroad Is building turtleback turtle back day coaches with ovall zed bottoms and all moldings mol dings eliminated to cut air resistance nil night h t club cars with hostesses and music made their appearance on florida trains last winter and pullmans pull mans composed entirely of bedrooms are now in general use one western road la Is using green window glass in club cars making desert runs to cut down light glare and give a cooling effect indirect lighting reclining seats beats in day coaches and radios are also making their appearance the history of railroad transportation la in the united states Is a story of amazing development at the outbreak of the civil war the country had less than miles of line of which only about 2000 wore were west of the mississippi it was not until february 22 that sod was turned for the first transcontinental line on the pacific end nt at sacramento not inot until december 2 of the same year did work begin in the mississippi valley six years later after many delays and after 22 miles of overlapping line had been built an agreement was reached whereby the two companies joined forces and the file gold cold spike which tied together the east and west was driven at promontory utah west of corinne on may 10 1869 the railroads indeed con constitute statute the key that unlocked the treasure sure house of american resources the story of the nations rise to greatness and power Is an account of 0 a succession of frontiers push back frontiers at the beginning the frontier stopped at the alie blue ridge mountains the turnpike and the canal finally pierced these heights and lot let it move on to the alleghenies these became an isolating influence that held the pioneers in the eastern half of 0 the mississippi valley almost a separate people from those on the atlantic seaboard until the railroad builders faith removed these mountains as far as the flow of commerce and communication was concerned in turn the mississippi river became the frontier what was the good of the land west of the father of waters it if that stream remained even as late as the early eighties our people thought thit INA it was useless to build railroads through western minnesota and the dakotas arguing that the region was a desert in summer and a wilderness of snow in winter it took custers Ou campaign against the indians to persuade the public that the northern pacific extension beyond the mississippi at st paul could be kept open more than five months a year during the civil war the south had much less than a third of the nations railways these linked up distant communities rather than industrial centers comparatively few 0 of them were strategic whereas the north had rail connections admirably fitted for the movement of men and munitions in europe the history of railway construction has been that of roads laid down to meet the demands of traffic already there in this country tens of thousands of miles of line have been built through virgin territory which it was hoped would grow up to their facilities |