1900 Transportation Research Paper

421 Words2 Pages
1900s Transportation Essay Trains in the 1900s revolutionized the U.S. economy by influencing the creation of specialization cities through economical shipping and fostering a healthy tourism industry. Trains allowed goods to be imported/exported with economic value. Previously, importing goods was slow and costly, therefore it was usually reserved for high-value goods where the extraordinary price of the good completely outweighed the cost and time of shipping. "Railroads cut travel time by 90% and dramatically reduced freight costs."(Butler1) This proves that low-cost goods could be transported en masse leading to affordable, neglectable shipping costs. Even today, trains still play a substantial role in our economy. Specialization cities, in which an excess of certain goods are produced with the idea of exporting the majority of them and importing needed goods with economic value. "...farmers switched from raising subsistence crops to cash crops better suited for their local soils, thus increasing crop yields dramatically. They could then sell the crops, buy the food needed to feed themselves, and still have money for buying consumer goods." (Butler 1) This bolsters the specialization city model showing it's successes. Today, specialized cities are still common and now overwhelmingly dominant.…show more content…
"The wagon bridge had washed away, leaving railroads the only transportation to the mainland." (Ramos 1). This acknowledges trains were crucial in the recovery of Galveston, things may have taken much longer to settle. In the present-day, trains come second only to ships in Galveston. However, the ships rely on trains to bring freight to and from Galveston by land, so their importance could be argued to be even

More about 1900 Transportation Research Paper

Open Document