WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.439 Imagine the place where you can escape for a day, 2 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:08.800 get immerged in a world of rooms, inspiration and expertise, 3 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:14.480 where you can lay in luxury, accommodation and kids cam 4 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:20.320 fees from ninety five sets. Tickets are free to everyone 5 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:25.559 and include all the attractions you've just imagined a day 6 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:28.879 out at ikia Ikia the Wonderful. 7 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.960 Every day, your flat out and your to do list 8 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.719 is grown by the minute, but unfortunately, so is your headache, 9 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:41.000 and now you've gone from flat out to flattened. Luckily, 10 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:44.880 Panodal extra film coated tablets are boosted by caffeine and 11 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.159 they get to work in as little as ten minutes 12 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.560 for powerful relief. That's more than just paracetamol. That's one 13 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:56.240 for panadal speed based on absorption data contains paracetamol. Always 14 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:57.320 read the label or leaflet. 15 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:04.359 Oh hey, it's your great grandpa's granddaughter who's also your wife, 16 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:07.599 but whatever, because it's the seventeen hundred's Alie Ward and 17 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:12.120 that'll make sense later. Back with another episode of Ologies. 18 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.599 So this time we are off the rails with a 19 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:20.040 real first class episode about train stuff, all kinds of 20 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:23.120 train stuff. Who But before we get to this interview, 21 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.640 some quick business. So thank you to patrons. I see you, 22 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:31.120 I appreciate you. You make this podcast happen every week. 23 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:33.480 I would not be able to pay an editor. Hi, Stephen, 24 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.640 what's up to make the show without you? Guys? So 25 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.040 patrons get extra content, They get to submit their questions 26 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:43.599 to ologists ahead of time. They get some AMA videos 27 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:46.480 once a month, in which I'm usually disheveled, and maybe 28 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.400 two candid But that's part of what you get. If 29 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.319 you ever want to spot other oligites in the wild. 30 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.400 There are t shirts and hats and bathing suits, etc. 31 00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:59.799 Pins at ologiesmerch dot com and on Mondays. I post 32 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:03.760 your photos on the ologies Instagram in the things, So 33 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.280 if you wear ologies merch around, just let me see it. 34 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.840 Let me see it, kiddos, let me look at it. Also, 35 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.800 I'll be in Portland on September fifteenth for an event 36 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.159 called camp Ologies. It's a one day thing with some 37 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:19.360 ologists who will be there. There's gonna be some weird crafting, 38 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:22.879 a lot of science gabbing, some games, generally just an 39 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:26.039 excuse to make new friends in the woods. And tickets 40 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.520 are forty bucks. I'm excited to see some of you there. Also, 41 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.560 thank you for rating and reviewing and subscribing and keeping 42 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:35.800 ologies in like the top twenty or so science podcast 43 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:38.560 on iTunes with all the big shows that have like 44 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:46.719 staffs and record in not closets. I'm somewhat, I would say, 45 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:50.439 I'm I'm in the orange area on a scale of creepiness, 46 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.840 not quite red, but I'm an orange. And I read 47 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.439 all of your reviews because it's just so nice that 48 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.479 you leave them, and so to prove it, I read 49 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:02.719 a fresh one each week. This one is from m 50 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.879 Soldier sixteen. They say this podcast is such an easy listen. 51 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:11.840 It makes the most ordinary and seemingly uninteresting topics seem 52 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.080 like that little thing you've been missing your life. Would 53 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.759 rate six stars if possible. Thank you. I'm Soldier sixteen. 54 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.159 If you're like I don't think i'd be into this topic, 55 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.800 go back and listen to it. I hide some weird 56 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:26.639 stuff in there for everyone. Okay, Pharaoh equnology, y'all, this 57 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.919 is the best etymology you will ever hear. It doesn't 58 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:32.639 get better. This is gonna be the best one. So 59 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:34.840 let's do a drum roll before I break it down. 60 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:44.039 It means iron horse, Pharaoh equin iron horse and it's 61 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:52.560 the study of trains. Hulking, puffing, crushing, tireless, history, altering trains. Okay, 62 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:54.960 So Wendy at the Henry Ford Museum sets me up 63 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.520 with a Pharaoh equinologist, and this dude is responsible for 64 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:02.719 the care of a priceless collection of historical cars and planes, 65 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:07.759 several locomotives, and an operational steam train. More on why 66 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:10.599 that's like a huge deal later. And the last time 67 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.719 I went to the Ford, I stood staring up at 68 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:19.120 this massive coal powered steam locomotive, the Alleghany, which is 69 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:24.279 two stories tall. It's as long as a twelve story building, 70 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:27.439 and it could pull one hundred and sixty cars full 71 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:31.240 of coal up the Appalachian Mountains. Train nerds, it's a 72 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.800 two sixty six with a power output of seventy five 73 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:37.360 hundred horsepower. Non train nerds, that's as technical as this 74 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:39.959 episode really gets. I'll be honest with you. I just 75 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.480 wanted to make everyone happy, Okay. Anyway, I was like, 76 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:50.680 who trains what? So we met up in this little 77 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.519 classroom off the main museum entrance, and this guy has 78 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:57.560 been on TV so much talking about transportation history that 79 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:02.959 he is able to produce concise factually accurate soundbites with 80 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:07.360 correct dates. She's like a tennis ball machine. He's amazing. 81 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:12.759 He's an absolutely inexhaustible treasure trove of train facts. So 82 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:20.000 let's not miss this old bored for pharaoh equinologist Matt Anderson, 83 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.519 how do you feel about the term pharaoh equinologist? Do 84 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:43.680 you love it as much as I do? 85 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:45.839 I love it. It's a lot of fun to say, 86 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:47.439 and it's one of those terms that you know, when 87 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:49.439 people first hear it, they're absolutely confused by it, but 88 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:51.600 then when you break it down, makes perfect sense. 89 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:55.079 Right what iron horse? Is that what they were called initially? 90 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.560 Yes? Yeah, they were referred to as iron horses, and 91 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:01.720 any Western movie that you watch, you know, they talk 92 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.759 about the iron horse and so forth. But it's a logical, 93 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:06.199 I think, description of a locomotive. 94 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:08.680 Oh one hundred percent. When I found out that a 95 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.079 pharaoheconologist was a word, I lost my marbles. I was like, 96 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.439 you're kidding me, that's amazing. We never thought of That's 97 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.879 a genius. Okay. So once you have secured the most 98 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.639 eneviable business card, what kinds of jobs can you do 99 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:26.160 as a pharaoh equinologist and what's your title here. 100 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:28.600 I'm Curator of Transportation here at the Henry Ford. 101 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:30.079 How long have you had this job. 102 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:31.879 I've had this job now for about six and a 103 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:32.480 half years. 104 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:34.600 Really, yeah, was it your dream? 105 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.639 It was. I grew up in Michigan, not not in Detroit, 106 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:39.199 but we used to drive down here every summer to 107 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:41.720 visit the museum in the village, So a chance to 108 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:43.519 come work here was a dream come true. 109 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:46.839 So did you see some of these trains when you 110 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:48.920 were growing up, the same ones that you are in 111 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:49.399 charge of? 112 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.480 I did. I have a picture of my office of 113 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.800 me as a six year old boy standing on the 114 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.639 pilot of the Alleghany. So it's nice. It's very cool 115 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.040 to come back here and now get to work with 116 00:06:58.079 --> 00:06:58.639 it every day. 117 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:01.399 So did you do you realize when you were growing 118 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:03.279 up that that was making that much of an imprint 119 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:08.120 or how do you become an transportation enthusiast who turns 120 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:08.720 into a job. 121 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:12.079 Yeah, the enthusiast part's easy, right. So I've been into 122 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:15.920 trains and cars really since since Boywood. But you know, 123 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:18.439 I never really considered that people actually made a living 124 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:20.720 at museums, So it never occurred to me until I 125 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:22.439 actually went to college. I initially was going to be 126 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.680 a high school history teacher and then took a class 127 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.079 called Intro to Public History and learned about this idea 128 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:29.720 of working in museums, archives, libraries and thought, you know, 129 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:31.399 that might be kind of fun, and so far it 130 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:32.720 has been so quick. 131 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.480 Shout out to the Museology episode with Ronnie Klein, who 132 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:39.120 breaks down what it's like to work behind the scenes 133 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.800 of all the exhibits that the rest of us aren't 134 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:47.040 allowed to touch but really want to like so bad. Okay, Matt, Now, 135 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:50.279 when you were growing up, were you into trains? 136 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.040 I was, Yes, took my first train ride at two 137 00:07:53.079 --> 00:07:56.680 years old and absolutely loved watching them go by, riding them, 138 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:58.839 anything they had to do with them, playing them certainly. 139 00:07:58.920 --> 00:07:59.879 So definitely. 140 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:02.680 Why do you think people like trains so much? Because 141 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:04.720 I feel like there's two kinds of people. There are 142 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:06.600 people who are into trains, and then there are people 143 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:09.600 who are like, what, Yeah, trains are cool, like train 144 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:12.639 enthusias are into it. Like what happens to get people 145 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:13.680 so into trains? 146 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Yeah? Well I've got sort of my enlightened intelligent answer, 147 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:18.560 and then I've got my gut answer. I think the 148 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.279 enlightened answer would be the trains are really unique in 149 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:23.600 American history, and that they're so closely tied with the 150 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:25.800 history of this country. I mean, we've had railroads for 151 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:27.920 all but fifty years that we've had a nation, and 152 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.560 you think about the role they played in the Civil War, 153 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:33.559 you think about the trans Continental Railroad. The effects they 154 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:36.919 had really even into the early twentieth century is really 155 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.720 really fascinating study. But I think the simple answers. You know, 156 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.519 we're just fascinated by big things, and on land you 157 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.080 can't find anything much bigger than a train. It's just 158 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:48.159 incredibly impressive. It's kind of awesome to see one, to 159 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.720 feel one. You know, you feel trucks and cars, but 160 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:52.480 not the way you feel a train, which kind of 161 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:54.440 rumbles in your chest even before you see it. So 162 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:55.879 that's that's an amazing thing. 163 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.600 I never thought about that, about the really visceral experience 164 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:00.919 of having a train go by. 165 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:03.600 Yeah, it's really you know, and you go to a 166 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.519 roilroad crossing and there's almost this builds in climax. You know, 167 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:08.399 you hear the bells and the lights starving kind of 168 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.480 builds up the anticipation. Then you hear the whistle in 169 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:12.840 the distance or the horn, and then yeah, the ground 170 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:14.960 shakes underneath you as this thing goes by, and you 171 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:17.480 just hear the rumble of that diesel motor. It's a 172 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:18.039 lot of fun. 173 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:21.399 So side note, at least one person has been identified 174 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:26.000 as being in a monogamous relationship with a steamy locomotive. 175 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.720 So this German Man nam Joaquin does admit though, that 176 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:31.799 he has this affinity for fixing things and that can 177 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.840 lead to emotional infidelity with other objects. And a California 178 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:38.279 woman named Carol is married to a train station in 179 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.720 San Diego. She rides a bus forty five minutes a 180 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:42.679 day just to hang out in the station and touch 181 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.639 the walls and talk about our day, which honestly sounds 182 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:48.200 like a healthier relationship than a lot of people have. 183 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.399 I have never dated anyone who would ride the bus 184 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:52.200 that long to kick it with me, especially while I 185 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.960 was at work multitasking. Did you grow up with train 186 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:58.240 tracks near you? Did you hear them or see them 187 00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:58.720 growing up? 188 00:09:59.080 --> 00:09:59.240 Yes? 189 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:01.720 Yeah, we had train tracks not too far from where 190 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:03.159 I was, And I grew up in a town that 191 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:06.559 had two railroads and kind of typical of American cities, 192 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.799 and we lost one of our railroads in the nineteen eighties. 193 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:10.360 A lot of lines have now been abandoned as the 194 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.519 railroads have kind of consolidated their operations. But now I 195 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:15.600 would run out and watch watch trains on both of them, 196 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:16.159 a lot of fun. 197 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.000 What was the dumbest thing you ever put on a track? 198 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:22.440 To be honest, like like everyone, of course, I put 199 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.120 my share of coins on a railroad track, you know, 200 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.600 to watch the pennies and the nickels get flattened. And 201 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.039 you know, I probably shouldn't say this for publication, but 202 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.120 at one point a group of friends of mine actually 203 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.919 put jumper cables on a railroad track near a railroad 204 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.519 crossing to activate the crossing. Is you know, fun to 205 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:40.559 experiment how do those things work? And that did it, 206 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:42.600 so you know, it was a lightly used line. We 207 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.279 didn't it was in the middle of the night. We 208 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:46.000 didn't put anyone in danger, but it was it was 209 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:47.039 kind of fun to do. 210 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:48.559 Do I need to tell you not to do this, 211 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:55.080 because don't do this. Don't do this. Also, with the 212 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.480 distraction of the Internet, now kids would probably be like, uugh, 213 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:02.919 that pray is way too much work. It's too much 214 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.799 laborious mischief. They run on electricity. 215 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:09.559 The Yeah, the crossing signals are actually completed by what 216 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.519 an effect is a short circuit caused by the metal 217 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:13.919 train axle in the wheels passing over the track. So 218 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.480 you jumper cable can create that same effect. 219 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:17.679 I had no idea. 220 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:19.279 Yeah, don't try this at home. 221 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.559 But yeah, did you go and find the coins after 222 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:23.279 you flatten them? 223 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:25.559 Of course? Yeah? Yeah, and they fell off the tracks. 224 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:27.559 You had to dig through the ballast and the stones, 225 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.519 but I pulled them out. You know, it's amazing. There 226 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:32.480 was really nothing recognizable of those coins after the train 227 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:33.120 went over them. 228 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.279 Oh man, quick aside for real, though, playing on train 229 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:41.559 tracks super dangerous. People have suffered fatal consequences by putting 230 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.279 even a penny on the track and then standing on 231 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.480 another track not knowing which track the train was barreling down. 232 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:51.960 So maybe outsource the work man. Pinterest led me to 233 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:56.720 a designer in the tumbleweed strewn wilds of West Texas 234 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:02.000 who sells necklaces hand fashioned from low sourced quote train 235 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:07.000 squashed pennies off the railroad tracks in Marfa sixty bucks. 236 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.960 Pretty cute. Speaking of dusty vistas and westward expansion, I 237 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:17.639 asked Matt for a quick history lesson, and he delivered. Now, 238 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.720 can you give me a little bit? I know this 239 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:23.480 is like a huge question. I get this is a 240 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:29.159 huge question. Can you give me your cocktail party history 241 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:31.399 of trains in America? 242 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:32.879 I could? 243 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:33.399 You know. 244 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:36.440 I think the railroad as a concept as we understand 245 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:39.960 it today really starts in eighteen twenty eight with the Baltimore, 246 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.639 Ohio Railroad, which was the first common carrier railroad in 247 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:45.240 the US, which means it wasn't just hauling stones from 248 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:46.759 a quarry or a coal from a mine, but it 249 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.679 was carrying all kinds of freight. And it fascinates me 250 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.679 that the first stone, the ceremonial cornerstone for that railroad, 251 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.320 was laid by a man named Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 252 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:58.200 who at that time was the last living signer of 253 00:12:58.200 --> 00:12:59.679 the Declaration of Independence. 254 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.840 So I was like, ooh, maybe I'll find out like 255 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:05.559 a fun fact about this Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and 256 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.840 puh boy, howdy kiddos did I Okay, I'm gonna be quick. 257 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:13.519 First off, he was the wealthiest of all the founding fathers, 258 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:17.200 with a fortune equivalent now to about half a billion dollars. 259 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:20.360 He was from Maryland. He thought slaves should be freed, 260 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:25.480 but not his what. He also married his friend and 261 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.919 the mary married cousins had seven kids, most of which 262 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.279 didn't make it, but one son was kind of like 263 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.360 a rich n'er Dowell like you would expect to see 264 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.240 in like an eighties movie about a frustrated rich father 265 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:41.679 with like a deadbeat kid, or like now in like 266 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:46.840 high political office. Anyway, Chucky c had a remarkable shelf 267 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:50.960 life and lived pretty much for an eternity, like this 268 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.360 guy was like in a live mummy. And so when 269 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:57.360 it was time to lay the first railroad brick, they 270 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.759 were like haul out Charles Carroll of Carrolton, that was 271 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.600 his official name. Let's get him up here. He's ninety 272 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.759 one years young. Let's see him. He lived to ninety 273 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:10.039 five until he didn't, and then there was a national 274 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:13.039 day of mourning. Okay, that was a lot of information. 275 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.720 But let's hop the bullet train to Inpoville. Because Matt 276 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.799 is a walking encyclopedia. He's about to give us the 277 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.320 most succinct railroad history lesson maybe ever, you've. 278 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:26.120 Got this direct link to fourth of July seventeen seventy 279 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:28.200 six here at the start of the railroads. It's a 280 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:30.000 great way I think of kind of passing the torch 281 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:32.639 to the next generation in American history. And then, yeah, 282 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:35.440 from their lines kind of built up around the United States. 283 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.279 They started as regional affairs, like that that B and 284 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:39.279 O was supposed to connect Baltimore with the Ohio River. 285 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:43.519 Other small states and communities built their railroads. In Michigan, 286 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:45.759 we had fairly early railroads. Our first line was built 287 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:47.960 in eighteen thirty seven and we had only been a 288 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.600 state for a year at that point, basically. And then 289 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:55.000 those smaller lines start to grow into each other and consolidate. 290 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.120 The Civil War, I think is a big turning point too, 291 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:00.279 and then after that you've got things like and here 292 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:02.480 gauge now where railroads aren't aren't some of the more 293 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.120 six feet before, some of them four feet eight and 294 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:06.159 a half inches. They all became the same gauge, so 295 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.519 we have a real interchangeable network. And then they peak 296 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.399 right about nineteen fifteen, nineteen sixteen with the maximum mileage 297 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:14.360 in the US. And then from that point it's been 298 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.639 a slow story of kind of abandonment of lines or backtracking. 299 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:21.519 If you're pardon the expression. And of course a lot 300 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:23.440 of that is because of the automobile and then later 301 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:26.440 airplanes as well, But railroads are still a vital part 302 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.480 of American life today. We just don't think of them. 303 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.639 They're They're like the plumbing in our house, you know, 304 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:32.960 you just you take it for granted until something goes wrong. 305 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.320 Oh god, that's true. Now is it hard for you 306 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:40.159 because you also curate automobiles here? Do you have something 307 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:42.480 in your head that's like a little trains versus cars? Like, 308 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.399 are you ever are you ever like a little pod 309 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:48.279 at cars? Because of how they took over for trades. 310 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.600 You know, I do wish that we had the robust 311 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:54.480 passenger network that we had, you know, even just fifty 312 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:57.000 sixty years ago, that we just don't have today. I Mean, 313 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:58.840 amtrack is out there, but it's really a skeleton of 314 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:00.679 what we once had to It would be nice to 315 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:02.759 hop into a train sometimes and take a trip, you know, 316 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.039 some distance, rather than having to drive there. So yeah, 317 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.240 there's a little bit of meus like that. But you know, 318 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.799 I also realized that railroads had a part in popularizing 319 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:12.840 the automobile. You know, they saw the car not as 320 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.879 an enemy when it first appeared, but they saw it 321 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:17.080 as a possible ally, you know, farmers can bring goods 322 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.399 from their farm to our depot rather than us having 323 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:21.360 to build all these little branch lines that don't make 324 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.919 enough money for us. But obviously cars grew a little 325 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:26.559 farther beyond what road then is paid. 326 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:31.360 And now what happens to abandon railroad lines? Like are 327 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.960 they paved over? Are they just kind of sitting there? 328 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.039 And like maybe we'll use them later with different types 329 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:38.879 of locomotives. 330 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:41.919 Yeah, We've got a great program in this country called 331 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.679 Rails Trails, the Rails to Trails Contrivancy, which has argued 332 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:47.759 for the preservation of these corridors and a lot of them, 333 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.399 particularly here in Michigan, where we've had a lot of 334 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.039 lines abandoned, get paved over and turned into all purpose 335 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:55.279 recreational trails, so for biking, jogging, hiking, you name it. 336 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:56.720 So it's a great use. 337 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.639 Side note, I had to see what they look like, 338 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:03.200 so I checked the Instagram hashtagacy if anyone else had 339 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.559 even heard of this, and hi, hello, there were like 340 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.440 thirty four thousand photos tagged rails to trails. Good God, 341 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:16.720 the Majesty. There's like tunnels and lush greenery and biking 342 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.279 and trestles you can walk over. And so I went 343 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:24.640 to railstotrails dot org and they have this interactive map. 344 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:26.839 You can click your state, you can find all the 345 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.039 abandoned railway lines you can hike on. And I started 346 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:35.200 getting I'm not kidding you, stomach cramps from excitement just 347 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:40.039 because it looks so beautiful. But then looking at and 348 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:44.319 retracing these abandoned tracks, it's a weird, kind of chilling 349 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:50.200 reflection on late eighteen hundred's westward expansion in America. There's 350 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:55.000 so much history there. Between eighteen seventy and nineteen hundred, 351 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:00.119 the railroads helped millions of East Coast Americans and immigrants 352 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:05.920 head west into the sunset, but not without a steep 353 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:10.680 and just tragic price paid by native populations. And as 354 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:14.519 long as we're brushing briefly up on American history, a 355 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:18.480 note about the underground Railroad. Now, this was an escape 356 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.599 network that freed, by some estimates, up to one hundred 357 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:27.000 thousand slaves in America. Former slave abolitionist and activist Harry 358 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:31.599 Tubman herself made thirteen trips to the South to free 359 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:38.559 seventy slaves but fyi, the underground railroad was neither literally underground, 360 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:42.480 nor was it a railroad. It was a secret movement, yes, 361 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:46.680 and it used rail terminology as code, like the terms 362 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:51.160 stations and conductors hence the day. So these are topics 363 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.640 that deserve their own in depth future episodes, and they 364 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:57.839 will get them. But anyway, go rail to trail yourself, 365 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.000 because it's very beautiful. 366 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:04.519 Theoretically, those corridors are then preserved, so if we find 367 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:06.200 a need for the railroads later, we can put them 368 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:09.720 back together and relay the track. But politically, I'm not 369 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:11.960 sure how well that could happen, because people get so 370 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.640 attached to those trails that they will not want the 371 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:16.640 railroad to come back in if we ever get to 372 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:18.160 that point. So who knows. 373 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:22.079 And now, what happened in motor cities where you see 374 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.680 kind of a robust rail line and then cars start 375 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.279 to take over, like in Los Angeles? What happened to 376 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.440 the train system in Los Angeles or Detroit once the 377 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:34.519 automobile came around? Did it kind of phase it out 378 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.440 more aggressively, more intentionally? 379 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:41.920 Yeah, the automobile came a bad time for railroads, obviously 380 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.000 bringing in all this change. But not long after the 381 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.240 automobile peers on the scene, we have the Great Depression, 382 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:52.400 where already we have railroad lines and streetcar operators suffering 383 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:54.559 from losing traffic to the automobile, but now they've got 384 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:57.640 this additional impact of the Great Depression. So they go 385 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.920 through that period really not being able to invest in 386 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:02.400 improve their equipment or improve the track and so forth. 387 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:04.880 And then they get hit with World War Two, which 388 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.519 all of a sudden there's now curbs on automobile transportations, 389 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.559 there's rationing, so people aren't driving. They're going back to 390 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.839 street cars, back to railroads, and now railroads, having suffered 391 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.960 through the depression, are kind of getting beat by too 392 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.759 much traffic. And you have to feel bad for some 393 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:19.440 of the lines which thought that this is kind of 394 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:22.240 a rebirth of railroad passenger service, so they invest in 395 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:24.400 new equipment at this time. But then, of course, as 396 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:26.319 soon as the war's over, everybody wants a new car 397 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:27.640 and they get them, and then we're off fund the 398 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:29.400 interstate highways and here we. 399 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:33.519 Are, so to recap that, everyone said to trains like, later, loser, 400 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.359 I'm in a car, and then they were like, never mind, 401 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.119