looks after three, five, or ten miles of track and a gang of from
five to twenty-five men who keep it in repair. He is not much
seen, because he is out on the road most of the time; and his
duties are not of a kind that the reader could study, on paper,
to much advantage; but he deserves mention because his place is
a really important one. Railroad tracks cannot be made, like a
bridge, five times as strong as is necessary, and thus a large
margin be allowed for deterioration; they must be constantly
watched to see that they do not fall even a little below their
highest standard. This care-taking can be intrusted only to one who
has had long experience at the work. In violent rain-storms the
trackman must be on duty night and day and patrol the whole length
of his division to see that gravel is not washed over the track or
out from under it. Though roughly dressed and sunburnt, he is an
important personage in the eye of the engineer of a fast express
train, and if he be the least bit negligent, even to the extent of
letting a few rails get a quarter of an inch lower than they ought
to, he hears a prompt appeal from the engine-runner. The latter
could not feel the confidence necessary to guide his 50-ton giant
over the road at lightning speed with its precious human freight if
he had not a trusty trackman every few miles; and passengers who
feel like expressing gratitude for a safe railroad journey should
never forget this unseen guardian.
A number of classes of men in the railroad service must be turned
off with a word for lack of space. The train despatcher, with
his constant burden of care, deserves a chapter. The locomotive
fireman, who has not been directly alluded to, is practically an
apprentice to the engineer, and, like apprentices in some other
callings, has a good deal of hard work to do. He generally has
longer hours than the engineer, as he has to clean a portion of
the polished brass- and iron-work of the engine. He has to throw
into the fire-box several tons of coal a day, and gets so black
that his best friends would not know him when washed up. Those who
begin young and are intelligent, and conserve their strength, are
at length promoted to be engineers. The fireman's twin brother is
the "hostler," who is employed at the larger termini to get the
iron horse out of its stable, lead it to the watering place and
feed-trough (coal-bin), and harness it to the train.
The clerk in the freight office has almost as much variety of work
as the ticket-seller, and is by no means a mere book-keeper. The
workmen at the freight station are not common laborers. Their work
requires peculiar skill and experience, and they have diversions
worth telling of, if there were space. The men in the shops, and
those who go out with derricks and chains to pick up wrecks, are an
important class by themselves, and bridge-builders, gate-tenders,
and various others bring up the rear.
[Illustration: A Crossing Flagman.]
In conclusion, railroad men as a body are industrious, sober when
at work, and lively when at play, using well-trained minds, in
their sphere, and possessing capacity for a high degree of further
training. The public is not without its duty toward the million
or so of men in the railroad service. The liability to death or
maiming from accident is such a real factor in railroad men's
lives that the public, and especially shareholders in railroads,
are bound to not only uphold officers in providing every possible
appliance and regulation for safety, but to demand the introduction
of such devices. Some of the State railroad commissioners have
done and are doing noble service in this direction, and should be
vigorously supported by their constituencies. The demands of the
public, re-enforced by the exigencies of competition, have made
Sunday trains in many localities almost as common as on week-days,
so that many train and station men work seven days in the week.
In addition to this, holidays oftener increase their work than
diminish it, so that there is room for a considerable reform in
this regard.
[Illustration: A Little Relaxation.]
The general moral welfare of railroad men has received much
attention in late years, and affords a wide field for work by all
who will. Many railroads have co-operated with the Young Men's
Christian Association branches, started by a few of the employees,
in building and equipping reading-rooms, libraries, etc., and the
companies give many hundred dollars annually toward the support of
these resorts, which serve to keep many a young trainman away from
loafing places of a questionable character or worse. Mr. Cornelius
Vanderbilt, whose millions came largely out of the profits of the
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, has set a good example
to other railroad millionaires in the erection of a building for
the employees of that road in New York City, whose luxuriousness
is an evidence that he loves his neighbor as himself, even if
that neighbor be a plain brakeman earning but low wages. That the
resorts provided for railroad men are appreciated is evidenced by
their records. Of the trainmen who regularly come into the Grand
Central Station in New York, 46 per cent. are members of the
Association occupying the building given by Mr. Vanderbilt, and 65
per cent. make use of the rooms more or less regularly. Rooms in
numerous other cities also make encouraging showings.
Railroad officers, with their great advantages for enlightenment,
owe it to themselves and their men to see that the thousands under
them have fair opportunities for rising in the world, and that the
owners of the immense corporations which stand as masters of such
vast armies fully understand their measure of responsibility in the
premises. Science and invention, machinery and improved methods,
have effected great changes in the railroad art, but the American
nation, which travels more than any other, still recognizes the
fact that faithful and efficient _men_ are an essential factor
in the prosecution of that art. People desire to deal with a
personality, and therefore wish to see the _personnel_ of the
railroad service fostered and perfected.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 222.
[34] The New York elevated roads run 3,500 trains a day, each
one passing signals (likely to indicate danger) every hundred
rods, almost. Who can expect engineers never to blunder in such
innumerable operations?
[35] Mr. Porter King, of Springfield, Mass., who has run an engine
on the Boston & Albany road for forty-five years, and who served on
the Mohawk & Hudson, the Long Island, and the New Jersey Railroads
in 1833-44, when horses were the motive power and the reverse lever
consisted of a pair of reins, ran until December, 1887, before his
engine ever killed a person.
[36] See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 204.
STATISTICAL RAILWAY STUDIES.[37]
BY FLETCHER W. HEWES.
Railway Mileage of the World--Railway Mileage of the United
States--Annual Mileage and Increase--Mileage Compared with
Area--Geographical Location of Railways--Centres of Mileage
and of Population--Railway Systems--Trunk Lines Compared:
By Mileage; Largest Receipts; Largest Net Results--Freight
Traffic--Reduction of Freight Rates--Wheat Rates--The Freight
Haul--Empty Freight Trains--Freight Profits--Passenger
Traffic--Passenger Rates--Passenger Travel--Passenger
Profits--General Considerations--Dividends--Net Earnings per
Mile and Railway Building--Ratios of Increase--Construction and
Maintenance--Employees and their Wages--Rolling Stock--Capital
Invested.
Although the United States was the second nation to open a line of
railway, it operates to-day nearly half the mileage of the world,
and it has so many miles of double, triple, and quadruple track
that, were the data of trackage available, such a comparison would
undoubtedly show it to more than equal all the rest of the world
combined.
Below is given a chart comparing the mileage of the principal
railway countries. The list contains all countries having a mileage
of over ten thousand kilometers.
Principal Railway Countries, 1887.
+-------------+-------+
| Countries. |Kilo- |
| |meters.|
+-------------+-------+ 25,000 Kilometers
|Italy | 11,759|»» | 50,000
|Australia | 15,297|»»» | | 75,000
|Canada | 19,883|»»»»| | | 100,000
|British India| 22,665|»»»»| | | | 125,000
|Austria- | | | | | | | 150,000
| Hungary | 24,432|»»»»| | | | | | 175,000
|Russia | 28,517|»»»»|» | | | | | | 200,000
|France | 31,208|»»»»|»» | | | | | | | 225,000
|Great Britain| 31,521|»»»»|»» | | | | | | | |250,000
|Germany | 39,785|»»»»|»»» | | | | | | | | |
|United States|241,210|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»» |
+-------------+-------+
The most prominent fact is impressed by the very long line
representing the mileage of the United States. A second impressive
fact is that the United States has more than six times the mileage
of any other country. A third, that there are but five other
countries that have even a tenth as much railway.
RAILWAY MILEAGE OF THE UNITED STATES.
_Total Annual Mileage and Increase._--On page 429 is given a
chart which, beginning with the 23 miles of 1830 and ending with
the 156,082 miles of 1888, delineates our ever-increasing total
mileage. It also portrays the fluctuations in the number of
miles built annually. This latter study is the more interesting,
especially during the last twenty-five years, which cover the
periods of extreme activity.
_Mileage Compared with Area._--The shaded map on the same page
pictures the railway mileage of each State as compared with its
total area. The eleven States bearing the deepest shade (5) are
those having the larger proportions of mileage to area. Of these,
New Jersey stands first, having almost exactly one-fourth of a
mile of railroad for each square mile of land. The proportion of
total area occupied by this mileage is measured to the eye by the
accompanying diagram.
[Illustration: Mileage to Area in New Jersey.]
The entire square stands for one square mile of land, and the space
at the upper left-hand corner stands for that part of the square
mile which the railroad occupies, counting from fence to fence
on each side of the road. This comparison is made on the basis
of one hundred feet for the "right of way" (the width allowed in
government grants), and is useful in connection with the study of
the historical maps, especially those of 1880 and 1889, on which
the area of some of the States seems to be nearly all taken up with
roads, owing to the small scale of the maps. Iowa has the smallest
proportion of any in Group 5. The figures show her proportion to
be a little over one-seventh of a mile of road to one square mile
of area. (Nevada has the smallest proportion of all the States and
Territories, viz., a trifle over 1/117 of a mile of line to one
square mile.)
That part of the map bearing the deepest shade shows at a glance
that an unbroken belt, averaging some two hundred miles wide,
stretching from Cape Cod to beyond the Mississippi River, is that
part of the country best supplied with railways.
The lighter shades grouped on either side of this belt show how the
mileage grades away north and south.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF RAILWAYS.
On pages 430 to 433 is a series of historical maps showing the
location of railway lines at each census-year from 1830 to 1880,
and in 1889. Charts comparing and ranking the mileage by States
accompany the maps of 1870, 1880, and 1889. These maps and charts
give a better idea of the location and extent of progress than
could be given by a dozen pages of description and a hundred
columns of figures.
_Centre of Mileage and of Population._--The space for notes on the
maps permits the bare mention of the meaning of the series of stars
in the 1889 map (page 433), which mark the centres of mileage and
of population. It is well to state the manner of determining the
centres of mileage, that it may have its proper bearing in any
study of the subject into which the showing may enter.
The locations are necessarily approximate. Each centre was
determined by selecting, on the proper map, a line running east and
west which seemed, to the eye, to nearly divide the mileage into
equal parts. The sum of the mileage of the States north, was then
compared with that of the States south of the line. By this means
the position of the line chosen by the eye was corrected and the
right parallel determined. The meridian dividing the total mileage
into equal parts was ascertained in like manner. The point of
intersection of the parallel and meridian is marked in the map by a
star, having the proper date printed to the right of it.
The upper series of stars locates the centres of railway mileage,
and the lower series the centres of population, as given by the
returns of the census of 1880.
The following table describes the several locations thus
ascertained:
_Centres of Railway Mileage._
-----+----------+----------+--------------------------------------------
Date.| Latitude.|Longitude.| Approximate location by towns.
-----+----------+----------+--------------------------------------------
1840 |40° 50′ N.|76° 10′ W.|Twenty miles west of Mauch Chunk, Pa.
1850 |41° 30′ N.|77° 27′ W.|Twenty-five miles northwest of Williamsport,
| | | Lycoming County, Pa.
1860 |40° 40′ N.|82° 30′ W.|Ten miles south of Mansfield, O.
1870 |41° 10′ N.|84° 35′ W.|Paulding, Paulding County, O.
1880 |41° 05′ N.|86° 50′ W.|Thirty miles northwest of Logansport, Ind.
1888 |39° 50′ N.|88° 40′ W.|Pontiac, Ill., about ninety miles S. S. W.
| | | of Chicago.
-----+----------+----------+--------------------------------------------
The remarkable movement of the centre of mileage from 1850 to
1860 is easily understood when one turns to the maps of those
dates (page 430) and locates the fields of activity. The wonderful
increase in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa gave the
Western impulse, while the growth in Tennessee and the States south
of it furnishes the principal explanation of the southerly motion.
Although the study of this period is the most interesting of the
series, in the space passed over, yet each period has its points of
special interest, which the reader will easily solve by referring
to the proper maps on pages 430 to 433.
_Railway Systems._--The consolidation of separate lines under
central controlling interests has resulted in several "systems" of
great extent. Five such are mapped on pages 434 and 435. The roads
controlled by them are printed in broad lines, while all others
are printed in narrow lines. It needs but a glance to see whether
any of them has so far absorbed the roads of a given region as to
be able to control rates. The systems selected are believed to be
representative ones, and the mapping of a dozen others would not
tell the story any more plainly.
TRUNK LINES COMPARED.
_Compared by Mileage._--At present there are twenty-four
corporations reporting over one thousand miles of line each. A
comparison of these roads by mileage is profitless, as it furnishes
no just clew to their importance in point of business transacted.
Several of the shorter of these twenty-four lines largely exceed
some of the longer ones in the volume of business transacted. As
an example of the little value of comparison by mileage, the New
York Central & Hudson River Road, with but 1,421 miles of line,
reports $63,132,920 receipts, while the Union Pacific, with 6,288
miles, reports but $19,898,817. Two of the twenty-four roads, viz.,
the Southern Pacific Railroad (5,931 miles) and the Richmond, West
Point & Terminal Railroad (6,869 miles) report neither gross or net
earnings. The remaining twenty-two report both, and these reports
furnish a satisfactory basis for study.
[Illustration: Railway Mileage of the United States.
Compared with Area, 1888.
=Explanatory.=--The horizontal black lines below interpret the
right-hand column of figures, and therefore picture the annual
total mileage of railways operated.--The color below interprets
the left-hand column, and therefore pictures the fluctuations in
the number of miles built annually.
The =Key= explains the shades on the map. The lightest shade
indicates an average of less than one-fiftieth of a mile of
railway for each square mile of land. The second shade, from
one-fiftieth to one-twentieth of a mile of railway, for each
square mile of land, etc.
KEY TO SHADES
ON THE MAP.
Less than 1/50 m. to 1 sq. m. =1=
1/50 m. - 1/20 m. " " " " =2=
1/20 m. - 1/15 m. " " " " =3=
1/15 m. - 1/8 m. " " " " =4=
1/8 m. and over, per " " =5= ]
Total and Increase.
+------+------------------+
| | Miles. |
| Years+--------+---------+
| | Built | Operated|
+------+--------+---------+
| 1830 | -- | 23 |
| 1831 | 72 | 95 |
| 1832 | 134 | 229 |
| 1833 | 151 | 380 |
| 1834 | 253 | 633 |
| 1835 | 465 | 1,098 |
| 1836 | 175 | 1,273 |
| 1837 | 224 | 1,497 |
| 1838 | 416 | 1,913 |
| 1839 | 389 | 2,302 |
| 1840 | 516 | 2,818 |
| 1841 | 717 | 3,535 |
| 1842 | 491 | 4,026 |
| 1843 | 159 | 4,185 |
| 1844 | 192 | 4,377 |
| 1845 | 256 | 4,633 |
| 1846 | 297 | 4,930 |
| 1847 | 668 | 5,598 |
| 1848 | 398 | 5,996 |
| 1849 | 1,369 | 7,365 |
| 1850 | 1,656 | 9,021 |
| 1851 | 1,961 | 10,982 |
| 1852 | 1,926 | 12,908 |
| 1853 | 2,452 | 15,360 |
| 1854 | 1,360 | 16,720 |
| 1855 | 1,654 | 18,374 |
| 1856 | 3,642 | 22,016 |
| 1857 | 2,487 | 24,503 |
| 1858 | 2,465 | 26,963 |
| 1859 | 1,821 | 28,789 |
| 1860 | 1,846 | 30,635 |
| 1861 | 651 | 31,286 |
| 1862 | 834 | 32,120 |
| 1863 | 1,050 | 33,170 |
| 1864 | 738 | 33,908 |
| 1865 | 1,177 | 35,085 |
| 1866 | 1,716 | 36,801 |
| 1867 | 2,249 | 39,250 |
| 1868 | 2,979 | 42,229 |
| 1869 | 4,615 | 46,844 |
| 1870 | 6,070 | 52,914 |
| 1871 | 7,379 | 60,293 |
| 1872 | 5,878 | 66,171 |
| 1873 | 4,097 | 70,268 |
| 1874 | 2,117 | 72,385 |
| 1875 | 1,711 | 74,096 |
| 1876 | 2,712 | 76,808 |
| 1877 | 2,280 | 79,088 |
| 1878 | 2,679 | 81,767 |
| 1879 | 4,817 | 86,584 |
| 1880 | 6,712 | 93,296 |
| 1881 | 9,847 | 103,143 |
| 1882 | 11,569 | 114,712 |
| 1883 | 6,743 | 121,455 |
| 1884 | 3,924 | 125,379 |
| 1885 | 2,930 | 128,309 |
| 1886 | 8,100 | 136,409 |
| 1887 | 12,872 | 149,281 |
| 1888 | 6,801 | 156,082 |
+------+--------+---------+
[Illustration: Railways in the United States, 1830-1860.
(From Scribner's Statistical Atlas.)
=Note.=--These maps are reductions of larger maps referred to
in the titles. This makes it possible to bring them within
very convenient space for comparison, and compensates for any
indistinctness of lettering in the maps.
The railways of 1830 are pointed out by red arrows. Those of the
other maps are easily seen. The growth by decades is thus quickly
located. In 1840, one continuous line stretched from New York
to Washington, D. C. Another considerable line was that from
Fredericksburg, Va., to Wilmington, N. C. In 1850, one could not
go by direct railway from New York to either Albany or Boston. In
1860, several direct routes stretched from New York to far west
of the Mississippi.
_=Note.=_--In 1860 there was also in California, a railway from
Sacramento to Folsom City (22 miles).]
[Illustration: Railways in the United States. 1870
(From Scribner's Statistical Atlas.)
Railway Mileage by States, 1870.
+----+--------+-------+
|Rank| State | Miles |
+----+--------+-------+
| 41 | Dak. | 65 |»
| 40 | R.I. | 136 |»
| 39 | Colo. | 157 |»»
| 38 | Oreg. | 159 |»»
| 37 | Del. | 197 |»»
| 36 | Ark. | 256 |»»»
| 35 | Utah | 257 |»»»
| 34 | W. Va. | 387 |»»»» 1,000 Miles
| 33 | Fla. | 446 |»»»» |
| 32 | La. | 450 |»»»» |
| 31 | Wyo. | 459 |»»»» |
| 30 | Nev. | 593 |»»»»» |
| 29 | Vt. | 614 |»»»»» |
| 28 | *Md. | 671 |»»»»»» |
| 27 | Nebr. | 705 |»»»»»»» |
| 26 | Tex. | 711 |»»»»»»» | 2,000
| 25 | N.H. | 736 |»»»»»»» | |
| 24 | Conn. | 742 |»»»»»»» | |
| 23 | Me. | 786 |»»»»»»» | | 3,000
| 22 | Cal. | 925 |»»»»»»»»| | |
| 21 | Miss. | 990 |»»»»»»»»| | |
| 20 | Ky. | 1,017 |»»»»»»»»| | |
| 19 | Minn. | 1,092 |»»»»»»»»|» | |
| 18 | N.J. | 1,125 |»»»»»»»»|» | | 4,000
| 17 | S.C. | 1,139 |»»»»»»»»|» | | |
| 16 | Ala. | 1,157 |»»»»»»»»|»» | | |
| 15 | N.C. | 1,178 |»»»»»»»»|»» | | |
| 14 | Mass. | 1,480 |»»»»»»»»|»»» | | | 5,000
| 13 | Va. | 1,488 |»»»»»»»»|»»»» | | | |
| 12 | Tenn. | 1,492 |»»»»»»»»|»»»» | | | |
| 11 | Kans. | 1,501 |»»»»»»»»|»»»» | | | |
| 10 | Wis. | 1,525 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»» | | | |
| 9 | Mich. | 1,638 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» | | | |
| 8 | Ga. | 1,845 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | | | |
| 7 | Mo. | 2,000 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | | | |
| 6 | Iowa | 2,683 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» | | |
| 5 | Ind. | 3,177 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»» | |
| 4 | Ohio | 3,538 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»» | |
| 3 | N.Y. | 3,924 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | |
| 2 | Pa. | 4,658 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» |
| 1 | Ill. | 4,823 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» |
+----+--------+-------+ | | | | |
* Includes District of Columbia.
In 1850 Chicago had one short road. In 1860 she had several main
lines, reaching hundreds of miles.--east, west, north, and south.
In 1850, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were open fields. In 1860
they were crossed and recrossed many times A similar change had
taken place in the south east. The 1860 map marks the condition
at the breaking out of the Civil War.--In 1870 there does not
appear to have been much change except in the north-west, and the
completion of the first Pacific line, and yet there were 22,296
more miles than in 1860, nearly 700 miles more than the 1850-1860
growth, but being spread over a wider area it does not appear
as clearly. A little careful study shows that many States had
added considerably to their mileage.--The names in the maps are
given mainly to mark terminal points.--While the map locates the
mileage, the chart at the left accurately measures and compares
it State by State.
Before turning to the 1880 map, let the eye go carefully over the
1870 lines, that the comparison may be the more properly made.]
[Illustration: Railways in the United States. 1880
(From Scribner's Statistical Atlas.)
Railway Mileage by States, 1880.
+----+-------+-------+
|Rank| State | Miles |
+----+-------+-------+
| 47 | Mont. | 106 |»
| 46 | Ida. | 206 |»
| 45 | R.I. | 210 |»
| 44 | Del. | 275 |»»
| 43 | Wash. | 289 |»»
| 42 | I. T. | 289 |»»
| 41 | Ariz. | 349 |»»
| 40 | Oreg. | 508 |»»»
| 39 | Wyo. | 512 |»»»
| 38 | Fla. | 518 |»»»
| 37 | La. | 652 |»»»»
| 36 | W. Va.| 691 |»»»»
| 35 | Nev. | 739 |»»»»
| 34 | N.Mex.| 758 |»»»»
| 33 | Utah | 842 |»»»»»
| 32 | Ark. | 859 |»»»»»
| 31 | Vt. | 914 |»»»»»
| 30 | Conn. | 923 |»»»»»
| 29 | Me. | 1,005 |»»»»»»
| 28 | N.H. | 1,015 |»»»»»» 2,000 Miles
| 27 |*Md. | 1,040 |»»»»»» |
| 26 | Miss. | 1,127 |»»»»»» |
| 25 | Dak. | 1,225 |»»»»»» |
| 24 | S.C. | 1,427 |»»»»»»» |
| 23 | N.C. | 1,486 |»»»»»»» |
| 22 | Ky. | 1,530 |»»»»»»» |
| 21 | Colo. | 1,570 |»»»»»»» |
| 20 | N.J. | 1,684 |»»»»»»»» |
| 19 | Tenn. | 1,843 |»»»»»»»» |
| 18 | Ala. | 1,843 |»»»»»»»» |
| 17 | Va. | 1,893 |»»»»»»»»»|
| 16 | Mass. | 1,915 |»»»»»»»»»| 4,000
| 15 | Nebr. | 1,953 |»»»»»»»»»| |
| 14 | Cal. | 2,195 |»»»»»»»»»|» |
| 13 | Ga. | 2,459 |»»»»»»»»»|»» |
| 12 | Minn. | 3,151 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»» |
| 11 | Wis. | 3,155 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»» |
| 10 | Tex. | 3,244 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»» |
| 9 | Kans. | 3,400 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» |
| 8 | Mich. | 3,938 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»| 6,000
| 7 | Mo. | 3,965 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»| |
| 6 | Ind. | 4,373 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»» | 8,000
| 5 | Iowa | 5,400 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»»»» | |
| 4 | Ohio | 5,792 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» | | 10,000
| 3 | N.Y. | 5,991 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»» | | |
| 2 | Pa. | 6,191 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|» | |
| 1 | Ill. | 7,851 |»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»» | |
+----+-------+-------+ | | | | |
* Includes District of Columbia.
It is difficult to believe that so many roads could have been
added in ten years. All the 1870 area north of the Ohio River
seems crowded at nearly every point, and the network of advance
westward, in the States of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas,
Nebraska, and Dakota, is equally surprising. The growth in Texas
was also very large, and many new lines appear in other Southern
States. The total increase of the ten years was over forty
thousand miles (40,374).
It would not seem possible that this rate of building could be
longer maintained, and yet the 1889 map shows a still greater
growth. At the close of 1888 (only eight years), the increase was
62,785 miles.]
[Illustration: Railways in the United States, 1889
(From the "Scribner-Black Atlas of the World.")
Railway Mileage by States,
Dec. 31, 1888.