In the early 1900s, Union Station was the hub of passenger railroad traffic in the central United States. It was one of the first stations to serve as a centralized terminal for multiple railroad lines. It originally served 22 rail lines; 13 from the east and nine from the west.
Railroad
St. LouisState: MSCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Union-Station/Creator: Link, Theodore , Pegram, George
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Ron Reiring (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Union StationEra_date_from: 1894
1981
This majestic viaduct was built during the golden age of railroading. It was at the western end of a major readjustment in grade and alignment of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, and had double tracks to carry the trains across the valley of Tunkhannock Creek. The Hallstead cutoff (between Scranton, Pennsylvania and Hallstead, New Jersey) reduced passenger travel time by 20 minutes, and freight travel time by over an hour.
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Image Credit: Original Photo: Flickr/Jim Danvers (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Tunkhannock ViaductEra_date_from: 1915
1975
Central Pacific Railroad served as the Western terminus of America's first transcontinental railroad, passing through the formidable Sierra Nevada Mountains. In all, 15 tunnels were blasted through solid granite.
Thousands of Chinese from Kwantung Province were recruited by Central Pacific Railroad Company and became known for their diligence and hard work. In the second year of construction, nine out of ten workers on the CPRR were Chinese.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Jim Bowen (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Central Pacific RailroadEra_date_from: 1863
1968
The Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line was cut through solid and decomposed granite by about 3,000 Chinese laborers using nothing more than picks, shovels, horse drawn carts, and blasting powder. This line, which rises from the San Joaquin Valley and through the Tehachapi Mountains, originally included 18 tunnels, ten bridges and several water towers to accommodate the steam locomotives. Completed in less than two years, it was part of the final line of the first railroad to connect San Francisco with Los Angeles.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Doug WertmanImage Caption: Tehachapi Pass Railroad LineEra_date_from: 1876
1998
The third bridge built on the same site to carry railroad tracks across the Susquehanna River just north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Rockville Stone Arch Bridge, at 3,820 feet long and 52 feet wide, is believed to be the longest and widest stone-arch railroad bridge in the world. A central link in rail travel between New York City and Pittsburgh, the Rockville Stone Arch Bridge accommodates four lines of railroad tracks, today serving both the Norfolk Southern and Amtrak lines.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/John Mueller (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Rockville Stone Arch BridgeEra_date_from: 1902
1979
The bridge is immense, not only in length and weight but in width. At 67 feet wide, it can accommodate two sets of railway tracks, two sets of streetcar tracks and two roadways.
It took three tries and cost 89 lives, but the city of Quebec was determined to compete with provincial rival Montreal for commercial rail traffic in the late 19th century. The solution was a rail bridge across the St. Lawrence River requiring a single cantilever span 1,800 feet long - the longest ever attempted.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Sebastien Savard (CC BY-SA 2.5)Image Caption: Quebec BridgeEra_date_from: 1917
1987
Known as "the highest and lowest holing in history," the tunnel bored through the Rockies at an elevation of 9,200 feet, 2,800 feet below the surface. Eight hundred men worked around the clock for 3 1/2 years, moving 3 billion pounds of rock.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Bradley Gordon (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Moffat TunnelEra_date_from: 1928
1979
In the 1850s, the Lexington and Danville Railroad began building a suspension bridge over the Kentucky River. The bridge was designed by John A Roebling. Due to unforeseen increases in train loads, the Roebling bridge was never completed. The High Bridge would then be built 20 years later on the existing foundations.
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Image Credit: Public Domain (Author's Choice)Image Caption: High BridgeEra_date_from: 1877
1985
One of four single-track tunnels built by the Blue Ridge Railroad, the 4,273-foot Crozet Tunnel was constructed at a time when hand drills, pickaxes, and black powder amounted to state-of-the-art tunneling technology. At the time of its completion, it was the longest railroad tunnel in the world. Envisioned and built by Claudius Crozet, a French-born educator and civil engineer, the tunnel remains a testament to his belief in advancing rail transportation even when faced with numerous difficulties.
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Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Crozet's Blue Ridge TunnelEra_date_from: 1858
1976
The articulated wheel-base steam locomotive represents the final phase of steam locomotive development in size and power. The cab-in-front feature was widely used by the Southern Pacific Railroad beginning in 1909 to alleviate smoke and heat problems for locomotive personnel en route through tunnels and snow sheds. This locomotive, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, operated between 1944 and 1956 before being displaced by a diesel-electric locomotive.
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Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Neil916 (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Southern Pacific #4294 Cab-in-Front Steam LocomotiveEra_date_from: 1944
1981
Innovations
The 4,620-horsepower GG1 was primarily a passenger locomotive, routinely operating at over 100 miles per hour, but was used in freight service as well. Conceived by the Pennsylvania Railroad and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and General Electric Company, No. 4800 logged nearly 5 million…
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The articulated wheel-base steam locomotive represents the final phase of steam locomotive development in size and power. The cab-in-front feature was widely used by the Southern Pacific Railroad beginning in 1909 to alleviate smoke and heat problems for locomotive personnel en route through…
Read More
One of four single-track tunnels built by the Blue Ridge Railroad, the 4,273-foot Crozet Tunnel was constructed at a time when hand drills, pickaxes, and black powder amounted to state-of-the-art tunneling technology. At the time of its completion, it was the longest railroad tunnel in the…
In the 1850s, the Lexington and Danville Railroad began building a suspension bridge over the Kentucky River. The bridge was designed by John A Roebling. Due to unforeseen increases in train loads, the Roebling bridge was never completed. The High Bridge would then be built 20 years later on the…
Read More
Known as "the highest and lowest holing in history," the tunnel bored through the Rockies at an elevation of 9,200 feet, 2,800 feet below the surface. Eight hundred men worked around the clock for 3 1/2 years, moving 3 billion pounds of rock.
Three thousand feet under the Continental…
Read More
The bridge is immense, not only in length and weight but in width. At 67 feet wide, it can accommodate two sets of railway tracks, two sets of streetcar tracks and two roadways.
It took three tries and cost 89 lives, but the city of Quebec was determined to compete with provincial rival…
Read More
The third bridge built on the same site to carry railroad tracks across the Susquehanna River just north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Rockville Stone Arch Bridge, at 3,820 feet long and 52 feet wide, is believed to be the longest and widest stone-arch railroad bridge in the world. A central…
Read More
The Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line was cut through solid and decomposed granite by about 3,000 Chinese laborers using nothing more than picks, shovels, horse drawn carts, and blasting powder. This line, which rises from the San Joaquin Valley and through the Tehachapi Mountains, originally…
Read More
Central Pacific Railroad served as the Western terminus of America's first transcontinental railroad, passing through the formidable Sierra Nevada Mountains. In all, 15 tunnels were blasted through solid granite.
Thousands of Chinese from Kwantung Province were recruited by Central…
Read More
This majestic viaduct was built during the golden age of railroading. It was at the western end of a major readjustment in grade and alignment of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, and had double tracks to carry the trains across the valley of Tunkhannock Creek. The Hallstead cutoff (between Scranton…
Read More
In the early 1900s, Union Station was the hub of passenger railroad traffic in the central United States. It was one of the first stations to serve as a centralized terminal for multiple railroad lines. It originally served 22 rail lines; 13 from the east and nine from the west.
The…
Read More