Transportation By Land (1957, sound)

e America is a vast and far-flung land from its geographical center near Lebanon Kansas the United States sprawls out for hundreds and hundreds of miles in every direction Southward our great country extends to the ports on the Gulf of Mexico to the Grand Canyon of the Southwest and to the widespread plains of Texas Eastward it spans across the mighty Mississippi through the great industrial areas to the Atlantic [Music] Ocean which washes our Shores from Florida to [Music] Maine northward across the Great farming regions the land of corn and wheat and cattle through the Lake Country to to the rugged beauty of Canada and Westward across the Towering Rockies to the Sea Coast of the Pacific yes our land is vast and its size has helped to make it great for within our far-flung boundaries are a wealth of resources lumber from The Forest of the Northwest oil and natural gas from the southwest coal from the strip pits of the Midwest cotton from the plantations of the South food from the Great Plains and the dairy farms Across the Nation and these varied resources are scattered across the length and breadth of America so that but for one thing they would be isolated and almost useless and that one thing is transportation the vital factor which unites our many resources making them available to all Transportation by trains that skim across the length and breadth of our nation on Shining rails Transportation by cars trucks and buses that speed along our nation's roads and highways of course we depend upon waterways for transportation of many products and we look to the sky for increasing Avenues of Commerce but the oldest and still most often used method is transportation by land land transportation which helps us Harvest our crops Land Transportation which brings raw materials to Industry [Music] where they are converted into finished products for our use and finally more land transportation which delivers the goods to those who will use them without our present system of Transportation by land we would be without most of the Comforts of life and indeed we might be forced to labor long and hard for some of the bare [Music] necessities and our vast network of fast and efficient Transportation routes has brought us many advantages other than products people all kinds of people can set out to see the Beauties and the wonders of their country at firsthand they may go in their own private transportation the family automobile traveling over broad smooth highways or if they prefer they may rely on the comfort and convenience of lowcost C public transportation by [Music] bus or they may prefer to travel by even faster streamline trains let us think for a few minutes how our land transportation systems work they work first of all by Roots wherever raw materials are to be taken out of an area or supplies to be brought in or perhaps simply points of interest which people may want to visit visit or shortcuts from one place to another wherever a need exists the roots are established it takes a great deal of money to lay out and maintain the roots for transportation for if the form of transportation is to be reliable its route must always be in good condition sometimes as it is with the railroads these roots are established and maintained by private companies with other forms of land transportation the routes which are our highways are planned and paid for by all of us under the authority of our governments the truck and bus companies which use public roads to haul Freight and passengers pay a bigger portion of the cost of these routes by increased taxes and fees Transportation schedules have been worked out with an eye to speeding connections and deliveries of pass passengers and Freight when you board a train it is the conductor who is in charge of safely maintaining its schedule when you travel by bus the driver can tell you within minutes when you can expect to arrive at your destination in maintaining such schedules a system of connections or terminals is very important particularly in transporting Freight at the freight terminal incoming trains are usually made up of cars Bound for many different destinations so the incoming trains are broken up and resorted into new trains by an electronic sorting system each car from the old train is Switched onto one of several different tracks where new trains are being made up a switch engine is then sent to pull a newly made up train into its position on the main line [Music] and then powered by huge diesel engines the new train made up of cars from many other trains pulls out of the terminal off to its next destination here is an example of the importance of connections between different forms of transportation Johnny is sending a birthday gift to his grandmother in a distant City Johnny's package may be taken over a country road Road by truck or car to the small town post office nearby here the first connection is made for the package is transferred to a mail truck which travels over state or federal highways which connect the small post office to a rail terminal a train from one railroad May then carry the package across country to another terminal here the mail may be sorted and transferred to another train and it is this train which may be from another railroad altogether which carries Johnny's birthday gift to the city where his grandmother lives in a similar way almost every product transported for any distance depends during parts of its travel on both Highway and Railway Transportation they are equally important and they work together to move people and products to their destinations for example example Goods which may have traveled part of the way by train May finally be delivered by truck or produce taken from the fields by trucks may be sped to City Markets by train within hours of the time it was harvested both Rail and Highway forms of transportation deserve much credit for the facilities they offer such as refrigerator cars for shipping perishable Goods flat cars for shipping Machinery or construction materials tank cars for shipping liquid chemicals oils and gasoline box cars for shipping grain and packaged merchandise and passenger trains that offer Speed comfort and safety to The Traveler our truck lines and bus lines offer equally efficient facilities there are trucks designed to carry all types of merchandise and Equipment trucks designed to carry the massive loads necessary for [Music] construction there are buses for taking students to rural schools or taking students to City Schools or taking Shoppers and workers wherever they need to go movement of men machines and products is one of the signs of life and America is a nation on the Move moving by foot by car by street car or by bus to work or to school moving in all kinds of [Music] weather moving while other forms of transportation are often stopped by foul or freezing weather moving over routs barely visible through drif ing snow but moving over definite routes across the land whether they be sidewalks or city streets shining ribbons of rail or Road beds of asphalt gravel or [Music] concrete moving on definite schedules to meet appointments and to make connections moving by means of a wide variety of facilities but always moving moving with the aim of developing our vast resources of speeding goods and services to people in every corner of the land and to the markets of the world of transporting people whether for business or pleasure of bringing the products of farm and Industry into every am American Home the orderly movement of people and products from place to place all these things are a part of land transportation and transportation is the lifeline of America [Music]