WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:02.839 Oh hey, what's up, it's me. This is an encore 2 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:05.480 episode of one of my faves. It's one of my 3 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:08.880 favorite Etymologies of all of the Ologies, and it's just 4 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:12.400 a very pure visit of like, what is a train, 5 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:14.640 what's the locomotive, what's the deal? And I wanted to 6 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.600 bring this one back because I've been seeing all these 7 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:19.879 videos of this guy named Francis Bourgeois. I think his 8 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.359 real name is Luke something, but he's just hooting and 9 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:24.480 hollering and loving trains, and I thought a lot of 10 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:26.679 us are probably wondering what's up with a train and 11 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:29.320 haven't heard this episode, So we're pulling it up from 12 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.519 the archives. I hope you enjoy. I'm on the road 13 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.880 a ton this week shooting for CBS, and so I 14 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:37.280 just needed a little bit of a rest to sleep 15 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.520 before I hit the road again. So here you go. 16 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.439 New episode next week, but enjoy this encore. Oh hey, 17 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.520 it's your great grandpa's granddaughter who's also your wife, but whatever, 18 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.679 because it's the seventeen hundred's Ali Ward and that'll make 19 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:54.200 sense later. Back with another episode of Ologies, So this 20 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.960 time we are off the rails with a real first 21 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:02.240 class episode about train stuff, all kinds of train stuff. 22 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:05.959 Who But before we get to this interview, some quick business. 23 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.599 So thank you to patrons. I see you, I appreciate you. 24 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:13.439 You make this podcast happen every week. I would not 25 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:15.599 be able to pay an editor. Hi, Stephen, what's up 26 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.159 to make the show without you? Guys? So patrons get 27 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.200 extra content. They get to submit their questions to ologists 28 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.840 ahead of time. They get some AMA videos once a month, 29 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.439 in which I'm usually disheveled, and maybe two candid But 30 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:31.560 that's part of what you get. If you ever want 31 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.959 to spot other Ologites in the wild, there are t 32 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:39.400 shirts and hats and bathing suits, etc. Pins at ologiesmerch 33 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.400 dot com and on Mondays. I post your photos on 34 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:46.000 the ologies Instagram in the things. So if you wear 35 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:48.359 ologies merch around, just let me see it. Let me 36 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.760 see it, kiddos, let me look at it. Also, I'll 37 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.719 be in Portland on September fifteenth for an event called 38 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.640 camp Ologies. It's a one day thing with some ologists 39 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:01.000 who will be there. There's gonna be some weird crafting, 40 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.519 a lot of science gabbing, some games, generally just an 41 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:07.640 excuse to make new friends in the woods. And tickets 42 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.120 are forty bucks. I'm excited to see some of you there. Also, 43 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.199 thank you for rating and reviewing and subscribing and keeping 44 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.439 Ologies in like the top twenty or so science podcast 45 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.199 on iTunes with all the big shows that have like 46 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:28.159 staffs and record in not closets. I'm somewhat I would 47 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:32.159 say I'm in the orange area on a scale of creepiness, 48 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:35.560 not quite red, but I'm an orange. And I read 49 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.039 all of your reviews because it's just so nice that 50 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:41.080 you leave them, and so to prove it, I read 51 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.039 a fresh one each week, and this is a fresh 52 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:47.960 review from twenty twenty two. This one is from Tenley Aaron, 53 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.360 who wrote, my friend Max, who introduced me and the 54 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:52.639 whole kitchen crew at Melt in Cincinnati to the show, 55 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:54.479 thought he saw you dining at Melt while we were 56 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.280 listening to Ologies in the kitchen and was going to 57 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.400 go say hi. But I didn't believe it and talked 58 00:02:58.400 --> 00:02:59.879 to him out of it. As soon as you left, 59 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.439 we saw online that you were in Cincinnati with caramel 60 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:04.520 colored hair. At the time, I messed up my hair 61 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.000 and I felt terrible ever since, so Tinley Aaron, don't 62 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.680 feel terrible. Look we got a review out of it, 63 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:11.280 and yes, that was me that that's really good. Go 64 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:15.080 to Belt if you're in Cincinnati. Okay, Pharaoh equnology, y'all, 65 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:18.159 this is the best etymology you will ever hear. It 66 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.120 doesn't get better. This is going to be the best one. 67 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:23.479 So let's do a drum roll before I break it down. 68 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:32.639 It means iron horse, Pharaoh equin iron horse, and it's 69 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:41.199 the study of trains, hulking, puffing, crushing, tireless, history altering trains. Okay, 70 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.560 So Wendy at the Henry Ford Museum sets me up 71 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.120 with a Pharaoh equinologist, and this dude is responsible for 72 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:51.319 the care of a priceless collection of historical cars and planes, 73 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:56.400 several locomotives, and an operational steam train. More on why 74 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:59.240 that's like a huge deal later. And the last time 75 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:02.319 I went to the Ford, I stood staring up at 76 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:07.719 this massive coal powered steam locomotive, the Alleghany, which is 77 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:12.919 two stories tall. It's as long as a twelve story building, 78 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.079 and it could pull one hundred and sixty cars full 79 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.879 of coal up the Appalachian Mountains train nerds. It's a 80 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:22.399 two sixty six with a power output of seventy five 81 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:26.000 hundred horsepower non train nerds. That's as technical as this 82 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.600 episode really gets. I'll be honest with you. I just 83 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:32.079 wanted to make everyone happy. Okay. Anyway, I was like, 84 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:39.319 whoa trains? What? So we met up in this little 85 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:42.160 classroom off the main museum entrance. And this guy has 86 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.160 been on TV so much talking about transportation history that 87 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:51.319 he is able to produce concise, factually accurate sound bites 88 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:56.000 with correct dates. She's like a tennis ball machine. He's amazing. 89 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:01.360 He's an absolutely inexhaustible treasure trove of train facts. So 90 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:08.600 let's not miss this old bard for pharaoh equinologist Matt Anderson, 91 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:31.160 how do you feel about the term pharaoh equinologists? Do 92 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:32.279 you love it as much as I do? 93 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:34.560 I love it. It's a lot of fun to say, and 94 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:36.319 it's one of those terms that you know, when people 95 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:38.199 first hear it, they're absolutely confused by it, but then 96 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:40.199 when you break it down, makes perfect sense. 97 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.680 Right what iron horse? Is that what they were called? Initially? 98 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.160 Yes? Yeah, they were referred to as iron horses. And 99 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.199 did any Western movie that you watch, you know they 100 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.839 talk about the iron horse and so forth. But it's 101 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:54.839 a logical, I think, description of a locomotive. 102 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:57.319 Oh, one hundred percent. When I found out that a 103 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:00.439 pharaoh econologist was a word, I lost my mark. I 104 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.800 was like, you're kidding me. That's amazing. Whover thought of 105 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.120 that's a genius. Okay. So once you have secured the 106 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.120 most eneviable business card, what kinds of jobs can you 107 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.759 do as a pharaoh equinologist? And what's your title here? 108 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.240 I'm Curator of transportation here at the Henry Ford. 109 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:18.680 How long have you had this job? 110 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:20.480 I've had this job now for about six and a 111 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:21.040 half years. 112 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:23.199 Really, yeah, was it your dream? 113 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.399 It was. I grew up in Michigan, not in Detroitble. 114 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.079 We used to drive down here every summer to visit 115 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.759 the museum in the village, So a chance to come 116 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.000 work here was a dream come true. 117 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:35.439 So did you see some of these trains when you 118 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:37.519 were growing up, the same ones that you are in 119 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:38.000 charge of? 120 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.319 I did? I have a picture in my office of 121 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:42.439 me as a six year old boy standing on the 122 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:45.240 pilot of the Alleghany. So it's nice. It's very cool 123 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:46.639 to come back here and now get to work with 124 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:47.240 it every day. 125 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:50.360 So did you realize when you were growing up that 126 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:52.959 that was making that much of an imprint, or how 127 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:57.319 do you become an transportation enthusiast who turns into a job. 128 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:01.639 Yeah, the enthusiast part's easy, right in trains and cars 129 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.240 really since since Boywood. But you know, I never really 130 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:08.120 considered that people actually made a living at museums, So 131 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:10.240 it never occurred to me until I actually went to college. 132 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:11.879 I initially was going to be a high school history 133 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:14.279 teacher and then took a class called intro to Public 134 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.639 History and learned about this idea of working in museums, archives, libraries, 135 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.360 and thought, you know, that might be kind of fun, 136 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:21.319 and so far it has been so quick. 137 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:25.079 Shout out to the Museology episode with Ronnie Klein, who 138 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:27.720 breaks down what it's like to work behind the scenes 139 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:30.439 of all the exhibits that the rest of us aren't 140 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:35.680 allowed to touch but really want to like so bad. Okay, Matt, Now, 141 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.040 when you were growing up, were you into trains? 142 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:41.439 I was, Yes, It took my first train ride at 143 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.560 two years old and absolutely loved watching them go by, 144 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:46.759 riding them, anything they had to do with them, playing 145 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:48.480 them certainly, So definitely. 146 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:51.279 Why do you think people like trains so much? Because 147 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.319 I feel like there's two kinds of people. There are 148 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:55.240 people who are into trains, and then there are people 149 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:58.240 who are like, what, Yeah, trains are cool, Like train 150 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.439 enthusias are into it. What happens to get people so 151 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:02.319 into trains? 152 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.639 Yeah, Well, I've got sort of my enlightened intelligent answer, 153 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:07.160 and then I've got my gut answer. I think the 154 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:09.879 enlightened answer would be the trains are really unique in 155 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:12.199 American history, and that they're so closely tied with the 156 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.399 history of this country. I mean, we've had railroads for 157 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:16.560 all but fifty years that we've had a nation, and 158 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.240 you think about the role they played in the Civil War, 159 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:22.120 you think about the trans Continental Railroad, the effects that 160 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:25.480 had really even into the early twentieth century. It's really 161 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:28.319 really fascinating study. But I think the simple answers. You know, 162 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.160 we're just fascinated by big things, and on land you 163 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:33.720 can't find anything much bigger than a train. It's just 164 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:36.759 incredibly impressive. It's kind of awesome to see one, to 165 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.360 feel one. You know, you feel trucks and cars, but 166 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:41.080 not the way you feel a train, which kind of 167 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.039 rumbles in your chest even before you see it. So 168 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.480 that's that's an amazing thing. 169 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.240 I never thought about that, about the really visceral experience 170 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:49.559 of having a train go by. 171 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.200 Yeah, it's really you know, And you go to a 172 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:54.960 railroad crossing and there's almost as a builds in climax, 173 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:56.639 you know. You hear the bells and the lights start ring, 174 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:58.639 kind of builds up the anticipation. Then you hear the 175 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:00.879 whistle in the distance or the horn, and then yeah, 176 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.320 the ground shakes underneath you as this thing goes by, 177 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.679 and you just hear the rumble of that diesel motor. 178 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:06.639 It's a lot of fun. 179 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.000 So side note, at least one person has been identified 180 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:14.639 as being in a monogamous relationship with a steamy locomotive. 181 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.320 So this German Man named Joaquin does admit though that 182 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.440 he has this affinity for fixing things and that can 183 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:24.480 lead to emotional infidelity with other objects. And a California 184 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.879 woman named Carol is married to a train station in 185 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:29.320 San Diego. She rides a bus forty five minutes a 186 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.279 day just to hang out in the station and touch 187 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.240 the walls and talk about our day, which honestly sounds 188 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.840 like a healthier relationship than a lot of people have. 189 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.000 I have never dated anyone who would ride the bus 190 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:40.799 that long to kick it with me, especially while I 191 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.600 was at work multitasking. Did you grow up with train 192 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:46.840 tracks near you? Did you hear them or see them 193 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:47.360 growing up? 194 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.879 Yes? Yeah, we had train tracks not too far from 195 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.679 where I was. And I grew up in a town 196 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:55.200 that had two railroads and kind of typical of American cities, 197 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:57.440 and we lost one of our railroads in the nineteen eighties. 198 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.000 A lot of lines have now been abandoned as the 199 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:02.159 rows of kind of consolidated their operations. But now I 200 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:04.200 would run out and watch watch trains on both of them, 201 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:04.759 a lot of fun. 202 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:07.600 What was the dumbest thing you ever put on a track? 203 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.080 To be honest, like like everyone, of course, I put 204 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:12.720 my share of coins on a railroad track, you know, 205 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.159 to watch the pennies and the nickels get flattened. And 206 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:17.679 you know, I probably shouldn't say this for publication, but 207 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:19.679 at one point a group of friends of mine actually 208 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.519 put jumper cables on a railroad track near a railroad 209 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.120 crossing to activate the crossing. Is you know, fun to 210 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:29.159 experiment how do those things work? And that that did it? 211 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.240 So you know, it was a lightly used line. We 212 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:32.879 didn't it was in the middle of the night. We 213 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:34.639 didn't put anyone in danger, but it was it was 214 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:35.320 kind of fun to do. 215 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:37.159 Do I need to tell you not to do this, 216 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:43.679 because don't do this. Don't do this. Also, with the 217 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.000 distraction of the internet, now, kids would probably be like, uh, 218 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.559 that prank is way too much work. It's too much 219 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.399 laborious mischief. They run on electricity. 220 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.200 The Yeah, the crossing signals are actually completed by what 221 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:00.399 an effect is a short circuit caused by the train 222 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:02.879 axle in the wheels passing over the track. So you 223 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.039 jumper cable can create that same effect. 224 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:06.320 I had no idea. 225 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:07.919 Yeah, don't try this at home. 226 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.240 But did you go and find the coins after you 227 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:11.919 flattened them? 228 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.200 Of course? Yeah, yeah, and they fell off the tracks. 229 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.200 You had to dig through the ballast and the stones, 230 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:18.159 but I pulled them out. You know, It's amazing. There 231 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:21.080 was really nothing recognizable of those coins after the train 232 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:21.759 went over them. 233 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.879 Oh man, quick aside for real, though, playing on train 234 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:30.200 tracks super dangerous. People have suffered fatal consequences by putting 235 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:32.879 even a penny on the track and then standing on 236 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:36.120 another track not knowing which track the train was barreling down. 237 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:40.600 So maybe outsource the work man. Pinterest led me to 238 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:45.360 a designer in the tumbleweed strewn wilds of West Texas 239 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:50.600 who sells necklaces hand fashioned from locally sourced quote train 240 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.600 squashed pennies off the railroad tracks in Marfa sixty bucks. 241 00:11:55.679 --> 00:12:00.600 Pretty cute. Speaking of dusty vistas and westward expansion. I 242 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:06.279 asked Matt for a quick history lesson, and he delivered. Now, 243 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:09.320 can you give me a little bit. I know, this 244 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.120 is like a huge question. I get this is a 245 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:17.840 huge question. Can you give me your cocktail party history 246 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.000 of trains in America? 247 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.039 I could, you know. I think the railroad as a 248 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:27.639 concept as we understand today really starts in eighteen twenty 249 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:30.000 eight with the Baltimore, Ohio Railroad, which was the first 250 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:32.600 common carrier railroad in the US, which means it wasn't 251 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.200 just hauling stones from a quarry or coal from a mine, 252 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.480 but it was carrying all kinds of freight. And it 253 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.799 fascinates me that the first stone, the ceremonial cornerstone for 254 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.279 that railroad, was laid by a man named Charles Carroll 255 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:46.279 of Carrollton, who at that time was the last living 256 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:48.279 signer of the Declaration of independence. 257 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.480 So I was like, ooh, maybe I'll find out like 258 00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:54.200 a fun fact about this Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and 259 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:58.399 pH boy, howdy kiddos did I Okay, I'm gonna be quick. 260 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:02.159 First off, he was the wealthiest of all the founding fathers, 261 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:05.840 with a fortune equivalent now to about half a billion dollars. 262 00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:08.960 He was from Maryland. He thought slaves should be freed, 263 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:14.159 but not his what He also married his riend, and 264 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:17.519 the mary married cousins had seven kids, most of which 265 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:19.879 didn't make it, but one son was kind of like 266 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.960 a rich n'er Dowell like you would expect to see 267 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:26.879 in like an eighties movie about a frustrated rich father 268 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:30.320 with like a deadbeat kid, or like now in like 269 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:35.440 high political office. Anyway, Chucky c had a remarkable shelf 270 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:39.519 life and lived pretty much for an eternity, like this 271 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:42.960 guy was like in a live mummy. And so when 272 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:45.960 it was time to lay the first railroad brick, they 273 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.399 were like, haul out. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, that was 274 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.200 his official name. Let's get him up here. He's ninety 275 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.399 one years young, let's see him. He lived to ninety 276 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.639 five until he didn't, and then there was a National 277 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.679 Day of Mourning. Okay, that was a lot of information. 278 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:04.279 But let's hop the bullet trained to Inpoville. Because Matt 279 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:08.399 is a walking encyclopedia. He's about to give us the 280 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:11.639 most succinct railroad history lesson maybe ever. 281 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.360 You've got this direct link to fourth of July seventeen 282 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.600 seventy six here at the start of the railroads. It's 283 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.360 a great way I think of kind of passing the 284 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.279 torch to the next generation in American history. And then, yeah, 285 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:24.120 from their lines kind of built up around the United States. 286 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:25.919 They started as regional affairs, like that that B and 287 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.879 oh was supposed to connect Baltimore with the Ohio River. 288 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:32.120 Other small states and communities built their railroads. In Michigan, 289 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:34.360 we had fairly early railroads. Our first line was built 290 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.600 in eighteen thirty seven and we had only been a 291 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:40.240 state for a year at that point, basically. And then 292 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.600 those smaller lines start to grow into each other and consolidate. 293 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:45.720 The Civil War, I think is a big turning point too. 294 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.279 And then after that you've got things like standard gauge. 295 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:51.840 Now where railroads aren't aren't some more six feet before, 296 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:53.399 some of them four feet eight and a half inches. 297 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:55.120 They all became the same gauge, so we have a 298 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:59.240 real interchangeable network. And then they peak right about nineteen fifteen, 299 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:01.559 nineteen sixteen with the maximum mileage in the US. And 300 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:03.840 then from that point it's been a slow story of 301 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.799 kind of abandonment of lines or backtracking, if you're pardon 302 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:10.440 the expression. And of course a lot of that is 303 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:13.000 because of the automobile and then later airplanes as well, 304 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.080 but railroads are still a vital part of American life today. 305 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:17.759 We just don't think of them. They're They're like the 306 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:19.960 plumbing in our house, you know, you just you take 307 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:21.559 it for granted until something goes wrong. 308 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.879 Oh god, that's true. Now is it hard for you 309 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.759 because you also curate automobiles here? Do you have something 310 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:31.120 in your head that's like a little trains versus cars? Like, 311 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.000 are you ever are you ever like a little po'd 312 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.799 at cars because of how they took over for trades. 313 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.279 You know, I do wish that we had the robust 314 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:43.120 passenger network that we had, you know, even just fifty 315 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.639 sixty years ago, that we just don't have today. I mean, 316 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:47.480 amtrack is out there, but it's really a skeleton of 317 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:49.279 what we once had to it would be nice to 318 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:51.360 hop into a train sometimes and take a trip, you know, 319 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:53.679 some distance rather than having to drive there. So yeah, 320 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:55.840 there's a little bit of meus like that. But you know, 321 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:59.399 I also realized that railroads had a part in popularizing 322 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.480 the automobile. You know, they saw the car not as 323 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.519 an enemy when it first appeared, but they saw it 324 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:05.759 as a possible ally. You know, farmers can bring goods 325 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.039 from their farm to our depot rather than us having 326 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:09.960 to build all these little branch lines that don't make 327 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:13.519 enough money for us. But obviously cars grew a little 328 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:15.279 farther beyond what roadsent is paid. 329 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:20.000 And now what happens to abandon railroad lines? Like are 330 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.559 they paved over? Are they just kind of sitting there? 331 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.639 And like maybe we'll use them later with different types 332 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:27.679 of locomotives. 333 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.519 Yeah, We've got a great program in this country called 334 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.279 Rails Trails, the Rails to Trails Conservancy, which has argued 335 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:36.440 for the preservation of these corridors and a lot of them, 336 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.080 particularly here in Michigan, where we had a lot of 337 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.639 lines abandoned, get paved over and turned into all purpose 338 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.919 recreational trails. So for biking, jogging, hiking, you name, it, 339 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:45.320 so it's a great use. 340 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:48.279 Side note, I had to see what they look like, 341 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:51.440 so I checked the Instagram hashtag to see if anyone 342 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.879 else had even heard of this, and Hi, hello, there 343 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:59.039 were like thirty four thousand photos tagged rails to trails 344 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:04.599 Good the Majesty. There's like tunnels and lush greenery and 345 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:08.599 biking and trestles you can walk over. And so I 346 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:12.279 went to rails totrails dot org and they have this 347 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:15.160 interactive map. You can click your state you can find 348 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.160 all the abandoned railway lines you can hike on. And 349 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:22.640 I started getting I'm not kidding you, stomach cramps from 350 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:28.079 excitement just because it looks so beautiful. But then looking 351 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:32.279 at and retracing these abandoned tracks, it's a weird, kind 352 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:38.200 of chilling reflection on late eighteen hundreds westward expansion in America. 353 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:43.599 There's so much history there. Between eighteen seventy and nineteen hundred, 354 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:48.640 the railroads helped millions of East Coast Americans and immigrants 355 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:54.519 head west into the sunset, but not without a steep 356 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:59.240 and just tragic price paid by native populations. And as 357 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.160 long as we're rushing briefly up on American history. A 358 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:07.079 note about the Underground Railroad. Now, this was an escape 359 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:10.279 network that freed, by some estimates, up to one hundred 360 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:15.559 thousand slaves in America. Former slave abolitionist and activist Harry 361 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:20.200 Tubman herself made thirteen trips to the South to free 362 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:27.200 seventy slaves. But fyi, the Underground Railroad was neither literally underground, 363 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:31.079 nor was it a railroad. It was a secret movement, yes, 364 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:35.319 and it used rail terminology as code, like the terms 365 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.759 stations and conductors, hence the name. So these are topics 366 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:43.279 that deserve their own in depth future episodes, and they 367 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:46.480 will get them. But anyway, go rail to trail yourself, 368 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:48.880 because it's very beautiful. 369 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:53.160 Theoretically, those corridors are then preserved, so if we find 370 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:54.839 a need for the railroads later, we can put them 371 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:58.359 back together and relay the track. But politically, I'm not 372 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.599 sure how well that could happen, because people get so 373 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.240 attached to those trails that they will not want the 374 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:05.279 railroad to come back in if we ever get to 375 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:06.759 that point, So who knows. 376 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.720 And now, what happened in motor cities where you see 377 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.279 kind of a robust rail line and then cars start 378 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.880 to take over like in Los Angeles. What happened to 379 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:20.039 the train system in Los Angeles or Detroit once the 380 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:23.160 automobile came around, Did it kind of phase it out 381 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:25.079 more aggressively, more intentionally. 382 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:30.119 Yeah, the automobile came at a bad time for railroads, 383 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:33.160 obviously bringing in all of this change. But not long 384 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.720 after the automobile piers on the scene, we have the 385 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:39.640 Great Depression, where already we have railroad lines and streetcar 386 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:42.880 operators suffering from losing traffic to the automobile, but now 387 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.559 they've got this additional impact of the Great Depression. So 388 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:48.039 they go through that period really not being able to 389 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:50.519 invest and improve their equipment or improve the track and 390 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:53.079 so forth. And then they get hit with World War Two, 391 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.119 which all of a sudden, there's now curbs on automobile transportations, 392 00:19:56.119 --> 00:19:58.200 there's rationing, so people aren't driving. They're going back to 393 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:01.599 street cars, back to railroads. Now, railroads, having suffered through 394 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.319 the Depression, are kind of getting beat by too much traffic, 395 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.640 and you have to feel bad for some of the 396 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.640 lines which thought that this is kind of a rebirth 397 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.440 of railroad passenger service, so they invest in new equipment 398 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.359 at this time. But then, of course as soon as 399 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.119 the war's over, everybody wants a new car and they 400 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:17.559 get them, and then we're all fund the interstate highways and. 401 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:20.839