Favorite Railroad Factoids

[Anonymous]

Hi, new to this forum. I am currently building an exhibit about trains that will travel to museums around the country. A fun and educational element is a section we call "factoids". I would like to know what is your favorite, not so well known fact, about railroads?
Thanks for your help!
-UT

[Anonymous]

President Lincoln, who made his career as a railroad industry lawyer, identified the need for - promoted - and signed into law the commission of the first transcontinental railroad while he was president and conducting the American Civil War.

[Anonymous]

Railroads had their peak mileage in 1916, when over 250,000 miles of track were in operation in the United States alone, composing over two-fifths of all rail mileage in the world.

[Anonymous]

Before the railroad was invented, most people spent their whole lives within 20 miles of where they were born.

[Anonymous]

How many miles are there now.

[Anonymous]

about 188,000 miles left. The term "abandonment" is getting to be very common these days, but it remains a curse word in my book.

-Brian

[Anonymous]

The same city was the northernmost point for two of the biggest railroads of the east and midwest, the PRR and NYC. It was Mackinaw City, Michigan.

[Anonymous]

The largest intermodal customer for US railroads is UPS - United Parcel Service, and UPS has held this position for many years. The US Postal Service is the number two intermodal customer for many railroads.