How the Railroad Built the American West

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails
We've gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails
Open her heart, let the lifeblood flow
Gotta get on our way 'cause we're moving too slow

            ~Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Railroad Trilogy

            The railroad built modern America, especially the American West.  It was, in many ways, the greatest reason why the West was lost and won.  Don’t believe me?  Well, then, consider this: You’re fresh out of college and you’ve been offered two jobs– unlikely in this economy, I know, but let’s imagine it’s happened anyway.  One job is more lucrative, and offers seemingly limitless opportunities for anyone willing to put in the work.  This position, however, is in… Oh, let’s just say it’s on Fire Island, New York.  It’s a tempting employment opportunity, but, as there are no cars allowed on the island, you’ll have to walk.  And the ferry drop off is on the opposite side of the island from your potential place of employment.  That means that to reach your destination, you’ll have to walk twenty-one miles.  As is the case with most islands, shopping and entertainment options are limited.  To get to the mainland, however, you'll have to hike back to the distant ferry landing. 
            The other position is in a nearby city, with plenty of modern comforts and unrestricted automobile use.  This position, however, doesn’t pay very well, and offers little or no chance for advancement.  In fact, this position is terrible, and about the best you can say about it is that it’s a job.

            Now, which of these two employment opportunities do you think you’ll take?

            Most of us would agree that this is a tough decision.  What if you whimp out, don’t go to Fire Island, and later discover that the golden opportunity of a lifetime has passed you by?  On the other hand, what if you get to Fire Island and discover you hate it?  It isn’t as if you can simply turn around and walk back on a whim.  Pondering this theoretical predicament may give you a slight inkling of what our ancestors might have felt like when they considered the choice to move west.

            Now, imagine that the state of New York decides to build a passenger train rail on Fire Island.  It’s not much– just a single train that runs back and forth four times a day– but it makes travel on the island far more efficient and far less difficult.  Getting from the ferry landing to your potential job now takes about half an hour rather than two days.  Even better, this train also carries cargo, so if you order something by mail or online, you no longer have to make a long trip to pick it up from the nearest post office.

            Your decision just got easier, didn’t it?

            The railroad had much the same effect on the American West.  In his September 2006 six article in Railway Age, William L. Withuhn meantions that railroads been popping up all over the country since the 1830’s.  Many of these were fairly local, however, traveling from city to city within a single state.  Once the construction of the Transcontinental Rail Line was complete, people and supplies were able to move between the savage west and the dignified east with speed and ease that had never before been seen.

            This drastically affected population.  A study of U.S. population history published by the Public Purpose gives some excellent examples.  San Antonio, California, for example, grew from a population of four-thousand in 1850 to sixty-nine-thousand in 1870– one year after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed.

            The railroads also offered employment in the young West, both directly– men were hired to work for the railroad– and indirectly– increased trade caused industries to grow, which created more jobs.  William L. Withuhn mentioned in his article that “railroads changed the logistics of industry.”  He goes on to say that, though the increase in freight could be argued to be a direct result of a growing American economy, it must be accepted that, with out the railroad, the transportation of goods never could have kept up, and the economy would have faltered.  Thanks to rail lines, the western United States not only became settled, but lucrative.

            So, one can argue endlessly about whether the West lost or won in the end, or about whether the white men who traveled west were settlers or invaders.  But this much is certain: without the railroad, it never could have occurred.