This is our great country. The land we live in the land.
We're so proud of our own United States of America.
It's a big country this land of ours a country abroad plains
and rolling prairie the vast forests
and fertile field rivers
and lakes high mountains little villages
and great cities. No wonder we're so proud of America.
There's us to be proud of
and here's one of the most wonderful things about this vast country of ours.
No matter where we want to travel the mines of raw materials
and manufactured goods.
If you ever stop to think of a really important railroad car.
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 comes first and at no cost.
Have you ever marveled at the iron ore and coal
and hundreds of other raw materials
that move continuously to the nation's widespread factories
and now thousands of different finished products are delivered from where they are
made 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
farms to our markets and how they arrive fresh as the day they were picked.
Well the answers to those questions make up one of the most fascinating
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 yard.
We're going into the railroad stations and out along the track in
that way you will get a better idea of what the nation's railroad system is like
and the big important job trains are always doing in the next time you're
on a train or the next time you see a train speeding off into the distance.
You'll understand how much we all depend on railroad much in this land of ours.
The most wonderful
and prosperous nation in the world
when our country was young
and much smaller than it is today traveling was slow uncomfortable and dangerous
and so people didn't travel very much.
Then just a little more than a hundred years ago came the once in a young country
needed to grow into an important nation adequate protection
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 they had a lot to do with
opening up developing vast new territories which later became state.
You could say that America
and her railroad grew up together as the railroads pushed ahead
settlers from. Farms were cleared
and crops planted mines were opened and the railroads began moving the more
and the coal the mills
and factories villages which sprang up around the railroad stations grew
when prospered into big important cities throughout the
length and breadth of the land trains come and go day
and night in all kinds of weather carrying millions of people
and millions of tons of rain because we don't always see the trains which serve us.
Maybe everyone doesn't realize how essential railroads are to our everyday living.
Everyone likes to travel. Suppose we see what happens when we take a train trip.
We'll go along with these two friends of ours.
Carol and Jimmy
that is if Jimmy can ever get Carol suitcase just
in real life their parents would probably go along with them
but for those pictures Suppose we let Carol and Jimmy travel by themselves. OK.
There they go in the taxicab
that will take them to the railroad then you know almost
every town has a railroad station.
Some are larger than others but all railroad station large
or small are very interesting place for example at
most railroad stations.
You will usually find the Railway Express you will see people checking
and sorting packages to make certain that they will be put aboard the train.
Which will take them to their destinations without delay.
And remember they will handle almost anything including your dog
in the yards of many railroad stations cars are cleaned inside
and out to put them into tip top condition 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 is usually an engine house where locomotives are brought for cleaning
and servicing maybe you wondered how great big
locomotives are turn around.
Well let's watch
and see how easy it is a locomotive is run on to the turntable on
goes the power at around goes the locomotive as easy as you please.
We better not forget Carol
and Jimmy they are arriving in plenty of time to
check their baggage
and buy their tickets before their train is scheduled to leave me the taxi driver
to me
and get a check from the Red Cab For each one of your handbag.
The next stop is to buy tickets.
Now let's see Jimmy and Carol are going to visit there
and uncle at a town about a thousand miles away. They will be coming back by train.
So they will buy round trip tickets.
Buying round trip tickets they will be saving money to the ticket cleric's stamps
each ticket with the date on which the ticket is purchased
and the date on which the ticket is used so far so good as Carol
and Jimmy are going to sleep on the train they will have to have sleeping car
tickets to. That's right. You're all set now.
Say you better not take too much time paying for your tickets Jimmy they cause here
comes your train.
There's nothing quite as exciting as a railroad station the train from the time the
train arrives until it is ready to leave again it's usually only a matter of a few
minutes. But during that short period many things happen.
Trunks luggage
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 windows are clean by a
mechanical watch or friends
and relatives bit each other last minute goodbye
passengers like Carolyn 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 the train
conductor signals to the locomotive engineer in a matter of
seconds.
DR most without
ever trained gathers momentum.
Before long. It is out in the open country again running along at top speed.
It's really great fun traveling on trains you can sit for hours just watching the
scenery
and the rushes by it's almost like a travel motion picture.
One of the most interesting motion pictures you could possibly imagine.
Here's a conductor take its plays
most passenger trains carry the United States mail for the railroad postal car is
the very backbone of our country's mail server these men are railway postal
clerk 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 ready for delivery by the time the train reaches the proper station
one of the most popular cars on almost any bad new train is the dining car a real
restaurant on we table for to right this way please.
Now Carolyn Jimmy what do you think you'd like doing what is showing almost
anything you can think up ahead of 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 that dining car kitchen.
No space is wasted and everything is speaking in Spanish
that food really looks good enough to eat.
Doesn't it look as though Carolyn Jimmy topped off their meal with ice
cream
and says Oh that check. That's all right.
My good man keep the change
modern train for my new home because dependable comfortable
and safe transportation.
They have stations air conditioned lounge
and Dome cars where passengers can relax and read or sit
and talk with fellow passengers there are many types of accommodations on
modern train. There are single rooms like this call room
and there are bedroom
apartments
and more spacious drawing rooms all with the latest conveniences rooms which make
up into sleeping rooms at night.
That's right Carol always use a ladder to get into an upper
getting pretty late so goodnight Jimmy and Carol and plan.
Undreamed always remember
that you're traveling the safest and soundest way there is to travel
when you travel by train.
We've been talking mostly about passenger trains and how many of you know
that about half of the trains in the country carry no passengers at all.
That's right. They carry freight things that are so important in our daily lives.
The food we eat the clothes we wear the fuel
we burn almost everything we use depend at some stage on the service
of rain on the fertile fields of the north
and west are grown the millions of bushels of grains which are so much a part of
our everyday diet the railroad's movies grains to huge storyteller maters
more on to the mill then later on
when the grains have been ground the railroads moved products such as flowers to
the cities
and towns to be baked into the bread which we find every day on the shelves of our
neighborhood grocery store moving cattle
and sheep from the great ranges of the West is another important railroad job.
The cattle are first rounded up in their little special railroad cars to lose
some time alone distances to the packing house where they are dressed then the
meats are moved again to the meat market some of.
Eventually through the help of railroads.
We have meat on our dinner table fresh fruits
and vegetables things known as perishables are handled in special refrigerator cars
kept cool with ice or with machinery
that works like your refrigerator at home to keep perishables fresh while they are
being moved.
Sometimes as far as three thousand miles railroads are
dependent upon to move the nation's raw materials to factories which will make them
into finished product iron ore scooped from the mines of
Alabama
and the great ranges of Minnesota are moved to the nation's blast furnace to be
made into iron
and steel the railroads also buy millions of tons of finished iron in steel every
year for their cars and locomotive tracks
and bridges coal
is one of the most important things carry by the railroad millions of tons are
moved every year to keep power plants
and 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 railroad
large quantities of coal every year for their steam locomotive
and for other introduced railroad scary forest products
logs and potpourri from the forests to the mills and they carry the lumber
and the paper and other products made from wood
or wood pulp to the places where they are needed cut loose grown in
Dixie is move.
To the textile mills of New England
and the southeast where it is made into place for clothing
and thousands of other important items boilers
moved by the railroads in huge quantities too and the railroads buy
and use a large part of all the fuel oil sold in the country every year
railroad tracks go right down to the docks of the nation seaport so
that freight cars deliver the products of five cars mines
and mills to the ships 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.
When you stop to think about it you realize what a great big job the railroads are
always doing.
Why they are the nation's most important form of transportation always on
the move day and night delivering all the many things
that America needs welfare
and properly clothes and here is something
that many of you may not have realized before about the railroads of America
that is
and they pay enough in school taxes alone to provide an education for hundreds of
thousands of school children every year more
time we were getting magnet Carolyn Jimmy Bill think we've forgotten all about.
Here's their train coming in. They're stationed right on time.
It looks like they're at a local ER pretty happy to see them too.
Well the train is ready to start moving again.
There she goes falling out of the station gathering speed carrying other passengers
Express and baggage to other stations.
We certainly hope you had a nice time coming along on this trip with this man
that you learned something about railroad
that perhaps you didn't know before we all be Genevra one of you will be able to
take a trip on a train very soon perhaps you'll want to visit a big city.
Maybe you'll prefer to take a vacation trip to the wide open spaces
or maybe some of you will prefer the seashore.
But no matter where you might want to go.
Remember there are always trains to take you and
when you go you will see how big an hour wonderful your own United States of
America really is
real. Roads are an important part of America.
They play an important part in our daily lives carrying millions of tons of freight
and millions of people every day of the year.
That's one of the wonderful things about this country here people can go where they
want to go when they want.
Yes this is indeed a great land a land of opportunity land made
great by the efforts of individuals individual efforts which have raised ours to
the world's higher standard of living here in America a
person can worship God if he chooses he can go to the church of his choice.
This is a land where a person can go to school
and be educated to the extent of his ability
and desire from kindergarten to universities as fine as are to be found anywhere in
the world.
This is a great country America a country not the people by the people for the ME
a country whose flying we are always proud to honor and right principles
and freedoms we are always proud to uphold it was upon these
principles and freedoms that this nation was built on the same principles
and freedoms tells us by America's youth.
I used educated in her history
and traditions are the greatest hope the greatest protection for the future of this
the greatest of country our country the United States of America.