Many different factors re: much more volume than now, WW1 essential troop transport etc. Was NYC - Chicago, Boston - NYC passenger service reduced? Instances of documented transmission on trains? Mask requirements on board?
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reduction in passenger trains durring 1918 plague?
- General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.
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I would think I doubt it. The "Well There's Your Problem" Podcast has an episode relating to it.
From about December 1917 the USRA would be in control & the bill passed by March 2018.
Change happened swiftly. The railroads were organized into three divisions: East, West, and South. Uniform passenger ticketing was instituted, and competing services on different former railroads were cut back. Duplicate passenger services were reduced by eliminating more than 250 trains from eastern railroad schedules to allow increased numbers of freight trains to use crowded lines. Costly and employee-heavy sleeping car services were reduced and extra fares applied to discourage their use. Giving priority to coal trains reduced shortages of locomotive fuel. Ordering all empty box cars to be sent to wheat-producing areas improved the flow of food to European allies. USRA pooled all rolling stock, terminals, port facilities, and shops to reduce congestion in Chicago and New York City. All railroad companies serving those metropolitan areas were given trackage rights over all lines entering the area and equal access to terminal facilities. Available railroad rolling stock inventory of 61,000 locomotives, 2,250,000 freight cars, and 58,000 passenger cars were augmented by new production.[3]:516–17 Over 100,000 railroad cars and 1,930 steam locomotives were ordered at a cost of $380 million, all of new USRA standard designs. The new rolling stock consisted of up-to-date and standardized types, designed to be the best that could be produced to replace outdated equipment.
Before the new USRA standard locomotive types were built and released, locomotives that builders had on hand were issued to various railroads. 2-8-0 "Consolidation" locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for transport and use in France were made available. Then 2-10-0 "Decapod" locomotives built for Imperial Russia by both ALCO and Baldwin, but stranded in the US by the Russian Revolution of 1917, were also made available to the railroads. The USRA leased these locomotives.[7]:4
Change happened swiftly. The railroads were organized into three divisions: East, West, and South. Uniform passenger ticketing was instituted, and competing services on different former railroads were cut back. Duplicate passenger services were reduced by eliminating more than 250 trains from eastern railroad schedules to allow increased numbers of freight trains to use crowded lines. Costly and employee-heavy sleeping car services were reduced and extra fares applied to discourage their use. Giving priority to coal trains reduced shortages of locomotive fuel. Ordering all empty box cars to be sent to wheat-producing areas improved the flow of food to European allies. USRA pooled all rolling stock, terminals, port facilities, and shops to reduce congestion in Chicago and New York City. All railroad companies serving those metropolitan areas were given trackage rights over all lines entering the area and equal access to terminal facilities. Available railroad rolling stock inventory of 61,000 locomotives, 2,250,000 freight cars, and 58,000 passenger cars were augmented by new production.[3]:516–17 Over 100,000 railroad cars and 1,930 steam locomotives were ordered at a cost of $380 million, all of new USRA standard designs. The new rolling stock consisted of up-to-date and standardized types, designed to be the best that could be produced to replace outdated equipment.
Before the new USRA standard locomotive types were built and released, locomotives that builders had on hand were issued to various railroads. 2-8-0 "Consolidation" locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for transport and use in France were made available. Then 2-10-0 "Decapod" locomotives built for Imperial Russia by both ALCO and Baldwin, but stranded in the US by the Russian Revolution of 1917, were also made available to the railroads. The USRA leased these locomotives.[7]:4
Glenn Woodle
During (or right after) the plague, but not because of it. What prompted the formation of USRA was overall railroad congestion resulting from increased traffic when the U. S. entered the war.
The World Wars increase freight traffic significantly. It was taking so long to move goods and materials between the coasts that FDR asked the railroads to build anther trans continental across the Rockies, was willing to throw a lot of money at it. FDR was surprised to learn that there was not another suitable railroad pass left, they all had been taken.
electricron wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:29 pm FDR was surprised to learn that there was not another suitable railroad pass left, they all had been taken.Reminds me of the geography here in New Jersey. Pretty much every gap or cut in the Watchung Mountains (which are really "hills") has a railroad and a major highway or interstate running through it.