SHINING RAILS

[Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] 58 a short frame came right out of the yard here yesterday that one they're making up as a hundred and eight [Music] under date wasn't so long ago dozen cars were considered quite a load in fact it wasn't really too long ago the whole idea of railroads was considered a while I'd dream except to a few rail those shining rails shall part of the West first thing you knew there was a settlement overnight a brand new town whole cities sprang up industrial center seen white forever it went the Iron Horse carried posterity on its back and there was no stopping as our country grew the West demanded more voyage East replied all raw materials for steep debate in the West for power from the east [Music] more performant bigger locomotives and heavier rails to carry them when you lay the rails boys time uber alles boys when delay boys down on the ground soon the table ride through big and black and shiny went away the rails boys the shine is over else bar late request wrongful Bridget but bigger engines and reinforced roads made possible heavier loads and faster schedule to meet the ever greater demands of a growing nation almost before we realize what was happening the steam locomotive had built a new continent [Applause] but that was only the beginning a new kind of power was available and railroad men were already working to put this power to use as early as 1892 they put into operation a locomotive driven by electricity it was the start of a whole new age in railroad in the green terminal cities like New York smoke had become a serious problem electric power was the answer to that [Music] 19-5 man Central Terminal went underground 19:10 miscellaneous - the electric train was on the moon hurry off to New Haven all the more to Bridgeport you are you know [Music] [Applause] today we take for granted what is really a tremendous accomplishment the electrification of railroads electrification makes it possible to bring power from far away generating plants to the fingertips of an engineer immediate power smoother power and speed [Music] plenty of speed [Music] with greater safety and company in densely populated areas where the traffic is heavy electric train is the most economical form of transportation in other areas railroads you know rectifications to overcome difficult engineering problems to level off steep free to eliminate the hazards of smoke in long troubles [Music] [Applause] in two decades the electrified railroad has come of age [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] but out in the wide open spaces over the long lonely stretches overhead wire installations were not yet practical here was a different problem required an electric locomotive that could run anywhere on any track without overhead wires or third rails [Applause] in 1924 a diesel electric power plant was put to work in the switching of the motors it was the answer but it still took years of research testing developing modifying and improving the transform that early workhorse into a modern electric power house on wheels an electric locomotive that can operate anywhere because it carries its own power plant wherever it goes [Applause] [Music] I'm doing Kansas to California Great Lakes to the Gulf from one end of this great land to the other this electric locomotive inside a diesel engine drives a high speed generator which supplies current to individual electric motors mounted on the wheels on the downgrade when the engineer cuts the power these fraction motors provide added safety through dynamic braking [Applause] electric resistance produces a smooth powerful braking action greater safety on the downgrades more power on the upgrades but motive power in itself is not the only reason for faster train schedules to speed the safe movement of passengers and freight the railroads use electricity in many other ways for direct communication between dispatchers and train crews and 57 over okay Charlie [Music] electrical devices make material-handling faster and easier [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] with push-button control a 50-ton kolkar can be lifted and dumped like a box of magic [Music] [Applause] and they about save time and lots of back-breaking labor [Applause] but because of all the needs of Commerce and Industry the railroads day is never done [Music] electricity makes it possible to work around the clock and it does a big share of the job [Music] [Applause] train schedules are maintained round-the-clock - with added safety through centralized traffic control from his board dispatcher can tell at a glance a situation of all traffic in his division behind the board are hundreds of delicate instruments which transmit electrical impulses to and from far-flung installations in the field with this high precision equipment the dispatcher can follow and control the movement of trains for as much as 250 miles with the twist of a lever you can close and follow a switch and clear the signal which protects [Music] a reactor light on his lawn tells him that the axis is completed he knows the location and direction of every train in his division at every moment the signal lights on the board tell the story two trains approaching each other on the same track passenger west bound for San Francisco Freight east bound for Chicago traffic control goes into action the eastbound Freight gets a caution signal [Music] completely switched over to a siding but continues at reduced speed [Music] for the passenger train westbound clear tracks ahead [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it stays on the mainline and passes the freight at full speed full speed with complete safety my remote electrical control [Music] [Applause] passenger westbound to San Francisco on time rape eastbound resume speeds [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] other ingenious devices provide for safety and the difficult weather conditions electric snow melters keeps which wench free of ice and snow [Music] [Applause] the event of local power failures safety equipment continues to operate on emergency current supplied by batteries which are stored in the face of signals [Applause] [Applause] electricity makes the planer today as comfortable and as pleasant as your own home the dining car is a first-rate restaurant moving at a hundred miles an hour in the galley just like in your own kitchen electricity does the trick hot or cold we've come a long way from the first iron horse and we intend to keep right on going right down the main line of progress there's no end to the job of seeking new sources of power developing new materials striving for the best results designing and redesigning [Music] but the work pays off again they're testing something new [Music] the gas turbine-electric locomotives [Applause] [Music] but whatever the source of its motivepower coal diesel gas jet electronic or atomic the iron horse will always be moved by the guiding motive of railroad men to serve its friends along the shining rail that bind our nation together [Music] [Applause] [Music]