Third rail

Cornelius Vanderbilt was an important contributor to his field because the majority of today’s businessmen follow his example and act in ways that he invented through his actions. In addition, Vanderbilt invested his fortune in railroads (Carey 351). Without railroads, today’s society would not only be vastly different, but it could also possibly be nonexistent. This is due to Vanderbilt’s railroads creating a societal dependency on themselves. The Commodore had always been skilled at seeing promise in fields that had promise as he was a great entrepreneur (Shultz 1). When he was young, Vanderbilt bought a sailboat and worked for a sailboat shipping company, from which he made a thousand dollars per year (“Cornelius Vanderbilt”). When he got older, the investor saw promise in a field that he had not invested in before: railroads. Vanderbilt saw that railroads and steam trains had promise; therefore, he decided to relocate his family and began investing in his new industry (“Cornelius Vanderbilt”). He was so confident in the field that he denied a $2000 raise in pay from his boss and an offer to sell him half the line from his boss, who had offered Vanderbilt these benefits upon hearing that he planned to leave (“Cornelius Vanderbilt”). A lesson that industrialists who followed him learned from this is to search for an industry with a lot of potential and then to invest in it. Vanderbilt found himself in a very unique situation as being in his profession was, at that time,…

Honolulu Rail Transit Project Hawaii’s biggest development has created a huge impact on commuters on the island of Oahu. Driving town bound from the Leeward side, people can’t help but notice the large cement pillars holding a railway high up above the farm lands in the Kunia area. Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann who won the 2004 election, announced that construction of a rail line is a priority. Now building the largest public works project in Hawaii’s history, the Honolulu Rail Transit…

by the acronym BART, is the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It was envisioned as early as 1946 but the construction of the original system began in the 1960s. Origins and planning The idea of an underwater electric rail tube was first proposed in the early 1900s by Francis "Borax" Smith. There were also plans for a third-rail powered subway line (Twin Peaks Tunnel) under Market Street in the 1910s. Much of BART's current coverage area was once served by the…

Passenger and freight cars equipped with on-board electric traction motors revolutionized transit rail system development. Electrical traction offered several benefits over the then predominant steam traction, particularly in respect of its quick acceleration and power. Power provided enough “oomph” for hills and mountains, while quick acceleration provided the answer for commuter services with multiple, close stops. Electrically powered trains moved polluting power sources away from…

strategically chosen to optimize on passenger flow at a high density location. The City of Hamilton has currently underwent construction, directly across from the proposed Station #2, to create a large terminal for the new GO Train line extensions. The new GO terminal would mean that proposed Station #2 would receive tremendous amount of traffic. Furthermore, the second station is meant to showcase the HCNRS and bring light to the rich history of Hamilton City (“LIUNA Station at Historical…

A third major technological advance during the Industrial Revolution was the railroad. As the United States began expanding westwards, transportation became a key issue (Editors of Publications International, Ltd). Americans sought a form of reliable, all-weather transport that could allow them easy access to other parts of the country and especially the western frontier, but none of the existing means of travel was sufficient. Walking or riding on roads, the most common form of transportation,…

the United States before 1890. At times, however, railroads threatened to haul the American economy into the abyss. Rail corporations overbuilt, borrowed recklessly, and were often atrociously managed. They ricocheted wildly between rate wars and the creation of pools to fix prices, and they encouraged other industries to follow. Second, following the end of the civil war and the consequent abolishment of slavery, the…

Consequently, such demand for labor caused the increase of economic growth, national production, and diversification of economic specialization. Additionally, the demand for labor was accompanied by the demand of physical capital. The steel rails, the engines, the sleepers and the other materials for the building of the railroad brought the demand for production of these durable goods. Consequently, such demand leaded to the burst of enterprises that produced durable goods. In the beginning of…

Trains are one of the oldest and essential source of transportation. One big machine produces massive power to pull the mass 8 or 10 times of its mass on steel tracks and transports it to thousands of mile between the cities. Steam engines power the trains in its initial stages. Now, Diesel Engines and Electric power trains are used. There are four forces acts on a train. One of them is its weight which balanced by the typical reaction of the tracks. The third one is the thrust force produced by…

First Railroads The first locomotive in America was called the “Sturbridge Lion” that was imported from England for use for the Delaware and Hudson canal Railroad Company. The engine arrived in New York on May 17, 1829. The first locomotive built in America for actual service on a railroad was for the Charleston and Augusta railroad company. It was built it New York City and immediately after the engine was finished it was placed on the railroad. The first experiment with the train was made in…