Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1913 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III RAILROAD SYSTEMS OF THE UNITED STATES Development of Railroad Systems. The individual lines comprising the vast net work of American railroads for the most part can be conveniently grouped in accordance with system organization and geographical location. This arises from the fact that railroad expansion followed along the important channels of trade between great centers of traffic. A number of ill-defined geographical zones were gradually established, each comprising a region of large traffic interchange. These regions marked the territorial limits of many of the great railroads and became the basis of regional freight rate structures.1 Thus, in the early years of American rail transportation, the aim was to connect the Atlantic ports with the Great Lakes and with the Ohio and Mississippi River settlements. The pioneer American railroad enterprise, The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, as its name implies was built to handle the traffic interchange which had formerly passed by turnpike between the tide-water sections of the East to the fertile region beyond the Alleghenies. The proposed construction of the Erie Railroad by the State of New York in the early thirties had the paramount 1 See McPherson, "Railroad Freight Rates," etc., Chapter VII. object of facilitating and promoting the intercourse between the metropolis of the State and the Lake Erie ports. In course of time, railroad development advanced sufficiently to permit through shipments from one extreme of the natural geographical divisions to another. The railroad companies whose lines afforded this continuous transportation came to be known as trunk lines. This distinguishes them from local lines which serve only intermediate sections and which must interchange...
