Continuing this thread on railroad business, an excellent example is
the cover article in the March 2011 Trains magazine on Civil War
Rails. The Union did not contract with or request the services of
railroads - they ran the railroads from operations to maintenance to
building. Many of the most effective Union leaders came from the
railroads, and many Union officers returned to railroads after the
war, such as Gen William J Palmer and the D&RG. The article is a
little academic, but it provides much insight into railroads in the
war. Unfortunately to some extent, this example continued in the
future, with the USRA in WWI and WPB in WWII.
- John Manion
Denver, CO
On 3/4/11, cbqrr47 <cbqrr47@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The question about painting depots got me to thinking and I realized a lot
> of those on this list and the younger fellows especially don't understand
> how the railroads operated. Most major railroads, the Q included were self
> contained, self suffient machines. After the Civil War when railroads really
> began to grow, there was only one model for large organizations in America.
> That was the military. This is not always efficient, as any of us who have
> served in the military can atest. The railroads not only built much of their
> physical plant but they maintained it as well. The same can be said for
> equipment. They built most of it and maintained all of it including cleaning
> up wrecks. They maintained huge stores departments and transported their
> supplies. They maintained and operated their own telephone and telegraph
> system. They had their own mail system. They housed, fed and tranported many
> of their employees. Many railroads ( not the Q however) had their own
> hospitals. The Q did have an employee health insurance plan, the Burlington
> Relief. BTW on the railroad, the word "employee" was spelled "employe". Much
> of the way the railroad was run was reflected in the working agreement rules
> for the various crafts. The railroad had it own police force and at many
> terminals there were fire brigades. Steam switch engines carried fire hoses.
> The company had water systems many places and at a few points generated
> their own electrical power. They had their own sales force (the traffic
> department). They even had their own real estate agents. On the Q, there
> were baseball/softball teams, shop bands, and in the general office in
> Chicago there was a choral club. Many railroads had social clubs. On the Q,
> they were called Burlington Boosters. So you see it was a lot more than just
> running trains!
>
>
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
CBQ-digest@yahoogroups.com
CBQ-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|