THE STORY OF TRAINS

have you ever stopped to think how really important railroads are have you ever thought of what it takes for the millions of people in this great country to be able to travel from one end of the land to the other with speed and at low cost have you ever Marvel that the way coal and iron and hundreds of other raw materials seem to move continuously to the nation's widespread factories and how thousands of different finished products are delivered from the factories to where they are needed in all parts of the country and have you ever wondered how the foods we eat are always being delivered from the Farms to our markets and how they arrive fresh as the day they were picked well the answers to those questions make up one of the most thrilling and important stories in the history of our country the story of the American railroad in order to tell you that story we're going to visit the railroad yards of America we're going into the railroad station and out along the track in that way you will get a better idea of what the American railroad system is like and a big important job railroads are always doing then the next time you are on a train or the the next time you see a train speeding off into the distance you'll understand how much we all depend on railroads and how much railroads do to help make and keep this land of ours the most wonderful and prosperous nation in the [Music] world when our country was young and much smaller than it is today traveling was slow uncomfortable and dangerous so people didn't travel very much then just a little more than 100 years ago came the one thing Young American needed to grow into an important Nation adequate transportation that Transportation came in the form of railroads those early trains were funny little Affairs when compared with the big trains we see rolling today but they had a lot to do with opening up and developing vast new territories later State you could say that America and her railroads grew up together as the railroads pushed ahead settlers followed Farms were cleared and crops planted mines were dug and the railroads began moving the ore and the coal to Mills and factories Villages which sprang up around the railroad stations grew and prospered into big important cities today almost every village town and city in the country has trains coming and going every day and every night through all kinds of weather carrying millions of people and tons of fra everyone knows that the railroads are an essential partner in the important business of living because only the railroads have the enormous capacity needed to carry most of the foods we eat the clothes we wear the fuel we burn and the other things we depend upon for use every [Music] day for those of you who have never traveled on trains before suppose we see what happens when we take a train trip we'll go along with these two friends of ours Carol and Jimmy that is if Jimmy can ever get Carol's suitcase shut in real life their parents would probably go along with them but for this picture suppose we let Carol and Jimmy travel by there they go in the taxi cab that will take them to the railroad station almost every town has a railroad station some are larger than others but all railroad stations large or small are very interesting places for example at most railroad stations you will usually find the Railway Express you will see people checking and sorting packages to make certain that they will be put aboard trains which will take them to their destinations without delay and remember they will handle almost anything even your dog in the yards of many railroad stations cars are cleaned inside and out to put them into Tip-Top condition for the passengers who will soon be getting aboard in another part of the Yards dining cars are stocked with fresh vegetables meat milk and all the other foods that will be needed for the meals that will be served when the train is on its way nearby there's usually a roundhouse locomotives are brought to the roundhouse for cleaning and light repair maybe you've wondered how great big locomotives are turned around well let's walk and see how easy it is the locomotive is run onto the turntable on goes the power and around goes the locomotive as easy as you [Music] please hey we better not forget Carol and Jimmy there they are arriving in plenty of time to check their baggage and buy their tickets before their train is scheduled to [Music] leave pay the taxi driver Jimmy and get a check from the red cap for each one of your handbags the next stop is the ticket window now let's see Jimmy and Carol are going to visit their an and Uncle at a town about a th000 mil away they will be coming back by train so they will buy round trip tickets by buying roundtrip tickets they will save money too the ticket clerk stamps each ticket with the date on which the ticket is purchased and date on which the ticket is to be used so far so good Carol and Jimmy are getting along like veteran Travelers they now have their roundtrip train tickets but wait just a minute Carol and Jimmy you two are going to sleep on the train aren't you well I thought so well that means in addition to your train tickets you will have to have sleeping car tickets that's right you're all set now say you better not take too much time paying for your tickets though Jimmy because Here Comes Your train there's nothing quite as exciting as a railroad station at train time from the time the train arrives until it is ready to leave again is usually only a matter of a very few minutes but during that short period many things happen trunks luggage and other such items are loaded into the baggage car near the head end of the Train the United States mail is put aboard the railway [Music] mail friends and relatives bid each other last minute goodbye passengers like Carol and Jimmy board their cars and are shown their space in the car by the porter it's just about time now for the train to pull [Music] out all aboard the train conductor signals to the locomotive engineer in a matter of seconds big powerful driving Wheels start [Music] turning smoothly almost without effort the train gathers momentum and before long it is out in the open country again running along at top [Music] speed it's really great fun traveling on trains you can sit for hours just watching the scenery as it rushes by it's almost like a travel motion picture one of the most interesting Motion Pictures you could possibly [Music] imagine here's the conductor tickets [Music] please most passenger trains carry the United States mail or the railroad postal car is the very backbone of our country's mail service these just like the clerks in the post office at home except that here they work while the train speeds along watch them sort the mail getting it packaged for delivery by the time the train reaches the proper station one of the most popular cars on almost any passenger train is the dining car a real restaurant on Wheels table for two right this way [Music] please now Carol and Jimmy what do you think you'd like to eat what a choice almost anything you can think of and if you need any help the steward is only too pleased to offer some [Music] suggestions here's an interesting part of the train most people will never get a chance to see the dining car kitchen no space is wasted and everything is thick and span M that food looks almost good enough to eat doesn't it looks as though Carol and Jimmy topped off their meal with ice cream what's this oh the check that's all right my good man keep the [Music] change modern trains provide the cheapest and most comfortable of all forms of mass transportation they have spacious airconditioned Lounge cars where passengers can relax and reach or sit and talk with fellow passengers there are many types of accommodations on Modern frains there are single rooms like this called rets there are bedrooms compartments and more spacious drawing rooms all with the latest conveniences rooms which make up into sleeping rooms at night the car that Jimmy and Carol are in is known as an open section car and has upper and lower births that's right Jimmy always use the ladder to get into an upper it's getting pretty late so good night Carol and Jimmy and pleasant dreams always remember that you're traveling the safest and soundest way that there is to travel when you travel by train [Music] up to now we've talked mostly about passenger trains but how many of you know that most of the trains in the country carry no passengers at all that's right most trains carry Freight the things that are so important in our daily lives the food we eat the clothes we wear the fuel we burn almost everything we use depends at some stage on the services of [Music] railroads on the fertile Plains of the north and west are grown the millions of bushels of grain which are so much a part of our everyday diets the railroads move these grains to huge storage elevators or onto the Mills then later on when the grains have been ground the railroads move products such as flower to the cities and towns where it is baked into the bread which we find every day on the shelves of our neighborhood grocery stores moving cattle and sheep from the great ranges of the West is another important railroad job the cattle are first rounded up then they are loed into special railroad cars to be moved sometimes long distances to packing houses where they are dressed and then they are moved again to the meat markets of the country eventually through the help of railroads we have meat on our dinner [Music] table fresh fruits and vegetables things known as perishables are handled by the railroads in special refrigerator cars cars which are very much like our ice boxes at [Music] home refrigerator cars are packed with ice to keep parishables from spoiling while they are being moved railroads are dependent upon to move the nation's raw materials to factories which will make them into finished [Music] products iron ore scooped from the mines of Alabama and the great ranges of Wisconsin and Minnesota are mov moved to the nation's blast furnaces to be made into Iron and Steel the railroads also buy millions of tons of finished Iron and Steel every year for their cars and locomotives tracks and bridges coal is one of the most important things carried by the railroad millions of tons are moved every year to keep factories working railroads are dependent upon to deliver the coal to towns and cities to keep homes hospitals School houses and other buildings heated during the cold winter months railroads are one of the coal industry's greatest customers too they buy about 1/5 of all the coal that is mined every year to run their locomotives and for other railroad uses railroads carry logs from the forests to the when the logs have been cut the finished lumber is moved to where it is needed in the building of houses and in the making of other Wood Products cotton grown in Dixie is moved to the textile mills of New England and the southeast where it is made into cloth for clothing and thousands of other important [Music] items oil is moved by the railroads in huge quantities too and railroads buy and use about 1/5 of all the fuel oil sold in the country every year railroad tracks go right down to the docks of the nation seaports in this way Freight cars deliver the product of farms forests mines and factories to the side of the ships that will sail with them to the Far Corners of the world and so that things from other countries can be loaded directly in to railroad cars or delivery All Over America if you think about it at all you will realize what a great big job the railroads of America are always doing and why they are the nation's most important form of transportation always on the move all day and all night working for America delivering all the many things that America needs to keep warm well fed and properly clothed and here's something that many of you may not have realized before about the railroads of America and that is that they pay enough in school taxes alone to provide an education for more than 1 million school children every [Applause] year say it's time we were getting back to Carol and Jimmy they'll think we've forgotten all about them here's their train coming into their station and right on time it looks like their aunt and uncle are pretty happy to see them too train is ready to start moving again there she goes pulling out of the station Gathering speed carrying other passengers and mail and baggage to other stations we certainly hope you've had a nice time coming along on this trip with us and that you've learned something about railroads that perhaps you didn't know before we hope each and every one of you will be able to take a trip on a train very soon perhaps not to visit a big city maybe you'll prefer to take a vacation trip to the Wide Open [Applause] Spaces or maybe some of you will prefer the ocean but no matter where you might want want to go remember there are always trains to take you and when you go you'll see how big and how wonderful your own United States of America really [Music] is yes railroads play an important part in our daily lives they are an important part of America carrying tons of freight and millions of people where they want to go every day of the year that's one of the wonderful things about America in America people can go where they want to go when they want to go there and they care to go by here in America a person can go to school and be educated to the extent ability and desire from kindergarten through the finest universities to be found anywhere in the [Music] world here in America a person can worship God as he chooses he can go to any church he cares to go [Music] to this is a great country America a country of the People by the people for the people always remember that always honor your flag and never fail to fight if need be for the rights Privileges and freedoms it stands for yes this is indeed a great land a land of opportunity a land made great by the e