Hey everyone,
I am trying to prepare for a presentation on railroading in the post transition era (1960-1986) and was trying to find any resources on railroading in the 1980s. Any ideas?
Thanx
Andy
Any railroad book written during those years will give you answers, because they can not be "contaminated" by events after their publication.
For example, there are BN Annuals from 1971 to the approximate end of your time period. NONE of them is contaminated by following years.
The same holds true for magazines. "Trains" magazine was published every month during your time period. If you get those back issues, they will tell you a lot about what was going on.
There are additional books. There are additional magazines.
Problem solved! Except, of course, for the actual work.
Ed
Visit the wiki for the major RR and check the history sections for N-S, CSX, BNSF, UP etc, and then go to the fallen flag wikie's. You'll get a lot of basic information right there. ;)
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
There are two different approaches in the 1980's, the first couple years is the end of the "pre-Staggers" mindset (contraction) and then the rest of the 80's are the railroads using the new regulations. The result was a boom in spinning off branches as shortlines, railroad mergers start up at a rapid pace, the start of innovative contracts for service, the boom of the powder River Basin.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
In addition to Trains magazine from the timeframe in question, I'd try to hunt down copies of a trade publication from 1980 such as Railway Age.
Dave Nelson
What road are you modeling representing that time frame?
There is a book by the late John H. Armstrong, "The Railroad - What it is, What it does". It was first published in 1977 with the 2nd edition published in 1982 and the 3rd edition in 1990.Regards, Volker
The presentation is railroading in general. No particular line. I am actually modeling the NKP and PRR in the 1950s.
ATSFGuy What road are you modeling representing that time frame?
Read the original post - it explains the OP is preparing a presentation, not trying to model a RR.
You could model a coal Drag on the Pennsy and the "New Yorker" passenger train on the Nickel Plate Limited.
TRAINS magazine is a great resource for this, get the archive.
Right after the Staggers act in 1980 deregulated the railroads, there was a boom of shortlines forming from abandoned lines. After a couple years, many of them collapsed because there was good reason the big railroad had abandoned the lines.Then in the late 80s you got another shortline boom. It's what makes the 80s interesting to me.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
I think to understand what was going on with railroading then, you have to research what was going on in the country (and world) during that time. Although generally remembered as the booming "Go Go Eighties", it may be important to remember it started out very badly.
In 1979 Iraq invaded Iran, starting a war which quickly saw both countries destroy each others oil shipping facilities. Losing the oil from these two countries caused the price of oil - and consequently, the price of everything - to skyrocket. The resulting superinflation caused the economy to collapse, and by 1982 unemployment was over 10% for the first time since the Great Depression. Industries like manufacturing and mining were especially hard hit.
By the start of 1984, Iran and Iraq had found alternate ways to ship oil, and were selling for below OPEC prices because they needed money for armaments for their war against each other. The price of oil being so low boosted the economy, and saw a strong overall comeback that lasted for some time. It was at this time you really saw the shift from heavy manufacturing in the US to service or tech fields - a good time to be a computer programmer, not so good to be an car assembly line worker.