I thought I would throw another idea on the ever present, never concluded
discussion of why the CB&Q seems to pale when it comes to getting credit
along with other railroads that seem to be glorified/modeled/produced more.
1) The Q was certainly not that small
2) The Q certainly didn't have "ugly" equipment (unlike some other
railroads)
3) The Q was at the forefront of the passenger trade
4) The Q was around all the way through the best of the railroad years
So, why is it that the CB&Q seems to get bypassed for almost every
opportunity to be glorified? I think I may have stumbled on an answer...
I picked up a copy of "Railroads at War" the other day. Don't have the book
in front of me so I don't recall the author, but it was written near the end
of WWII as a justification of the railroads efforts during the war, at a
time when critics of the railroads were already predicting their failure.
This is actually mentioned in the book.
As well, the railroads were very impressive in WWII. Certainly the war
would not have been won had we tried to rely on trucking and buses only...at
the time, they could just not compete with the amount of goods & passengers
delivered by rail.
But I was quite surprised to see the Q not mentioned AT ALL in the book.
Not one page was dedicated to the Burlington Route. Of course, there were
quite a few other railroads that didn't make the pages, but I was rather
suprised to see that the Q didn't.
Then I got to thinking. All the railroads that were mentioned in the book,
plus a few others, were ones that are glorified today...Union Pacific, Santa
Fe, NYC, Pennsy, Southern, Southern Pacific & so on.
Now how could it be that 60 years ago the Q would be missed out when these
other railroads were already being romanticised? What do all the other
railroads have in common that the Q doesn't?
Answer was surprisingly easy...access to a coastal port.
What was the first thing an immigrant probably saw when coming into New
York? A gleaming NYC locomotive, ready to carry them to their dreams in
America!
What was the last thing a GI saw when leaving port for places unknown out of
San Francisco? A Santa Fe or SP locomotive, seeing them off to war.
When put in that perspective, it's easy to see why other railroads were
recognized over the Q, even with as many pluses that the Q had. At any
rate, that's my theory, you all are welcome to shoot holes in it... ;)
Cheers!
»» Jan Kohl ««
computer security consultant
The Pits - http://www.theuspits.com
Castle Graphics - http://www.castlegraphics.com
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