BIG TRAINS ROLLING

[Music] so [Music] 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 safety comfort and at low cost have you ever marveled 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 have you ever wondered how the foods we eat are always being delivered from the farm to our market and how they arrive fresh as the day they were picked [Music] 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 now 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 and the next time you are on a train or the next time you see a train feeding 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 world [Music] 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 [Music] then just a little more than a hundred years ago came the one thing young america 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 fast new territories later became states [Music] you could say that america and her railroad grew up together as the railroads pushed ahead settlers followed farms were cleared and crops planted mines were dug and the railroad began moving the ore and the coals 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 freight 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 day [Music] in the yards of many railroad stations cars are cleaned inside and out to put them into tip-top conditions for the passengers who will soon be getting aboard in another part of the yard 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 screening and light repair maybe you've wondered how great big locomotives are turned around well let's watch 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 please [Music] say we better not forget carol and jimmy 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 usually only a matter of a very few minutes but during that short period many things happen trunks luggy 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 mail car it fit 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 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 speed [Music] it's really great fun traveling on trains you can sit for hours just watching the scenery as it rushes by [Music] it's almost like a travel motion picture one of the most interesting motion pictures you could possibly imagine [Music] here's the conductor ticket please [Music] most passenger trains carry the united states mail or the railroad postal car is the very backbone of our country's mail service these men are railway postal clerks 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 [Music] 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 please [Music] 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 suggestions here's an interesting part of the train most people never get a chance to see the dining car kitchen no space is wasted and everything is thick in spanish that food looked almost good enough to eat doesn't it looks as though carol and jimmy popped off their meal with ice cream what's this oh the check [Music] that's all right my good man keep the change modern trains provide the cheapest and most comfortable of all forms of mass transportation they have spacious air-conditioned lounge cars where passengers can relax and read or sit and talk with fellow passengers [Music] there are many types of accommodations on modern trains there are single rooms like this called roommates there are bedrooms compartments and more spacious drawing rooms all with the latest convenience [Music] 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 bursts [Music] 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 in the safest and soundest way that there is to travel when you travel by train [Music] refrigerator cars are packed with ice to keep perishables from spoiling while they are being moved [Music] railroads are dependent upon to move the nation's raw materials to factories which will make them into finished products iron ore scooped from the mines of alabama the great ranges of wisconsin and minnesota are moved to the nation's glass 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 [Music] 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 one-fifth of all the coal that is mined every year to run their locomotives and for other railroad users [Music] railroads carry logs from the forest to the mills 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 items oil is moved by the railroads in huge quantities too and railroads buy and use about one-fifth of all the fuel oil sold in the country every year [Music] railroad tracks go right down to the docks of the nation's seaport in this way freight cars deliver the product of farm forests mines and factories to the side of the ship that will sail with them to the far corners of the world and so that things from other countries can be loaded directly into railroad cars for 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 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 well the train is ready to start moving again there she goes pulling out of the station gathering speed carrying other passengers and males 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 this country should be found anywhere on the face of the earth [Music] [Music] it looks like their aunt and uncle are pretty happy to see them too well the train is ready to start moving again there she goes pulling out of the station gathering speed carrying other passengers and mails and baggies to other stations [Music] 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 this country could be found anywhere on the face of the earth [Music] you