From Rails to Trails: The Making of America's Active Transportation Network

From Rails to Trails: The Making of America's Active Transportation Network by Peter Harnik

The rails to trails program had initially picked up some steam in the midwest. Railroad right of ways were "railbanked" to prevent development and allow for trails. Seattle's Burke-Gilman trail was one of the first trails built in the heart of a city. New York City's High Line and Chicago's 606 were popular elevated urban rail to trail conversions. Successful rail to trail conversions require advocacy, planning and government support. There are often challenges to overcome. Sometimes nearby property owners are afraid of potential crime or decreased property values. It may take some effort to convince them that trails almost always increase property values. Other times they expect to be able to use the trails for their own purpose. Railbanking "banks" the right of way for future rail use, prohibiting development, but allowing trails. There may also be challenges with bridges and passings. There are often regulations that require removing the bridges when a path is abandoned - however these are some of the beneficial bits of infrastructure on trails. Work may be needed to retain or rebuild these bridges. 

Rails with trails can also work well. With these the biggest challenge is the railroads fear of liability. Even when they are relieved of liability they have trouble overcoming this fear. For trail users, a trail next to an active train line remains much safer than a road filled with cars. 

Rail to trail conversions attract various users. They are typically flat and direct and have few road crossings. This makes them ideal for bike commuters. Runners, snowmobile users and horse riders also are heavy users of trails. Some traverse long distances and are great for bikepacking expeditions. Others are short urban lines. Some are open at all times while others are more restricted. Sometimes a trail changes character as it passes through different regions. We are getting more trails available.

The author has been quite involved in the rails to trails movement and covers many of the challenges and successes in the book. There seems to be strong support for trails, but there still remain opponents and financial constraints.

Ghosts Of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad

The Chinese were instrumental in building the transcontinental railroad. Without their labor and industriousness, the railroad would have never been completed when it was. Alas, very little is known about their history. Ghosts of Gold Mountain attempts to remedy this. Alas, because few detailed records are available, the book is mostly a recitation of facts and occasional anecdotes. There is no life story that we can follow to understand the life of the Chinese laborer.

The story we have is that of men that came from southern China. Travel from there to California took a similar amount of time as travel from the Eastern US. They worked together and often stayed together with other Chinese. There were very few Chinese women. Men came as gold prospectors and later laborers. Many died, but we have difficulty getting an exact number. They were much more reliable on railroad construction than many white laborers (yet were paid less.)

After the completion of the transcontinental railroad, they were lauded as the next great laborers. They could replace the freed slaves on plantations. They were hired to build many other railroads. They were seen as the next great immigrant group and expected to play a key role in American society. However, this optimism quickly fell away. It was replaced by an even worse discrimination. Chinese were denied citizenship, prevented from immigrating and killed. It wasn't until after World War 2 that the Chinese Exclusion Act was ended.

The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche

The most deadly avalanche in the US occurred at Wellington, Washington in 1910. At that time rail travel was considered generally safe. The railroads had extensive snow clearing equipment, and people were comfortable taking the train even in heavy snow storms. 

Many passengers had boarded the train in Spokane, expecting an eventful trip to Seattle. However, the weather was not cooperating. The snow kept going down. There was so much snow that the snow removal machines were jammed. And the snow kept coming. It was decided to park the passenger train (and a mail train) on a siding at Wellington. Some people had had enough of this and decided to leave the train and hike away through the snow. That ended up being a wise decision. The snow on the hill over the train train track loosened and came down in a massive avalanche, pushing the trains over hundred feet down the hill. Some people survived, but most of the train occupants had died.

There were lawsuits. Some blame was placed on poor labor conditions as well as bad decisions on the positioning of the train. A past forest fire that had removed the tree cover was also a contributing factor. However, in the end, the primary cause was deemed to be an unpredictable act of nature. The train line suffered some small avalanches later. They renamed the town of Wellington to "Tye" to remove the bad association. Eventually, a longer tunnel was built to avoid some of the worst parts of the line.

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

When he died, Cornelius Vanderbilt net worth was more than 10% of the total money in circulation in the United States. He made the money himself through a serious of business ventures primarily in transportation. He lived relatively modestly, despite his significant wealth. (His descendants would use their inheritance to build great mansions.) He did not set out to build great monuments to himself. He did provide money to endow the university that now bears his name. However, he never set foot there, and didn't even ask for his name. (He thought the northern wealth should help support the south after the civil war.)
The book paints a very laudatory picture of his business dealings. He carries out his activities out of principle. He is constantly doing the moral thing and helping to increase the value of companies rather than simply extract money. The book seems to portray him in almost too positive of a light. He is seen as the humble businessman who only monopolized industries to help people out (or to exact revenge on bad actors.) There may be some truth to it, but it does feel like too much of a deification. Perhaps his moral compass is what enabled him to succeed where others failed. He wasn't after the graft. He wanted a big successful company. He started working on steamships. He was able to move boats around and make money where it was needed. He was involved in the pre-Panama-Canal route through Nicaragua. It was faster, but ended up dying due to politics, including "filibusters" who try to claim foreign land for America. He gradually ended up more involved with railroads, taking over the poor performing Harlem line and helping it to succeed, before taking over other New York Lines.
It is interesting to think that when he was alive and building his fortunes, places like Seattle barely even existed. The times also saw a conversion from individualists to large corporation. Boats could be bought and run by an individual. Only through government interference and "gentleman's agreements" were monopolies created. It was very easy for one boat to move to a new location. Horses and carriages were also individualistic. They could go just about anywhere, though not super fast. A good road would help (and thus some toll roads were created). However, these tended to be shorter distance turnpikes. Railroads started in this framework before changing everything. First they were similar to the toll roads. They were small rail lines serving local traffic. They were also quite dangerous. Then the railroads grew larger and larger. They needed to maintain the tracks, the cars and the engines. The expenses necessitated much more capital and large corporations. Long distance traffic involved traveling over a large number of different lines. There were often switches involved. This was costly and time consuming. Consolidation helped freight and passengers move faster. However, there were still plenty of opportunities for graft in the structure. After the experience with railroads, America turned to a more socialist transportation structure. Highways were built on the public dime, and open to everyone with an automobile. Airports were similarly often built with public funds and open to private airplanes. This seemed to appeal the individuality of users. (Anybody could be an operator on the transportation system with a minimum of capital), in spite of the large expense needed for infrastructure and maintenance. Even the railroads have become partially under the pervue of the government.
Vanderbilt would not recognize what has become of his "empire" today. However, he would likely appreciate the significant changes that have occurred in society.