Modern Marvels: The Railroads That Tamed the West

Railroads and the Taming of the West

The Railroads That Tamed the West looks at the construction of the railroads between 1869 (the completion of the transcontinental railroad) and the 1930s (when air travel started to replace rail travel). Topics portrayed include the challenges facing railroaders, the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, dangers of rail travel, hazards of being a railroad worker, the invention of the coupler, the development of the air brake, George Pullman and the improvement of sleeping cars, dining cars, immigrants, competition among survey teams, the Homestead Act of 1862, the creation of towns, freight transport, refrigeration cars, the establishment of standard railroad time, and James Hill and the Great Northern Railway. The video concludes with a consideration of how the railroad industry sought to conserve the West by promoting the national park system. I show this video as part of my Westward Movement unit in my American history classes and have found it to be an effective teaching tool (but it does contain one expletive so you might want to inform students ahead of time). Still, this video strikes a good balance between economic history and the history of technology.