I need a WWI railroad history lesson.

[SpaceMouse]

I'm thinking about modeling 1917 and I know that the USRA took contrrol of the railroads whe WWI broke out. But that is about all I know. Can someone explain a little about how the agency was formed and more importatntly, how it would have effected railroad operations, particlularly a newly-formed small subsiderary of the SP that ran throught the California Redwoods hauling lumber called the Northwest Pacific Railroad?

[dehusman]

It would absolutely no impact whatsoever.

The USRA was formed in 1918.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

The USRA was formed shortly after the out break of our involvement in Europe to get some order from the chaos that the railroads found themselves in, especially at the ports which were clogged with traffic of men and materials bound for France (Sort of makes you wonder where the French are now that we have a disaster in New Orleans, having bailed them out not once but twice in the last century, not to mention helping their "honor" by reestablishing their control of Vietnam by transporting their troops back there following WWII). One of the things that the USRA did was to try to properly balance power and car requirements and at the same time make the rail lococmotive and car building industry more productive by establishing USRA "designs" for equipment. This all happened after 1918 so except for there being no "standardized" equipment in 1917, it would have no effect on your modeling.
Will

[MidlandPacific]

Chip,

The USRA was an attempt at nationalization of the railroads. The finanical condition of a lot of roads in the early teens was pretty shaky, since the whole US system was overbuilt, and the government was concerned about the potential for serious labor trouble. So Wilson appointed W.G. McAdoo the Director General of Railroads, and McAdoo proceeded to "organize" the U.S. railroad system. This happened on the day after Christmas in 1917, so the extent of the USRA's involvement in your layout would probably be a knot of men in suits on a station platform somewhere, and then only if you're modeling New Year's Eve.

That would've been a tall order under any circumstances, and in most cases, the government simply appointed the presidents of the seized railroads as their government managers, and proceeded to try to "rationalize" traffic patterns. In some cases they obtained sensible efficiencies (such as forcing the WP and the SP to share trackage in Nevada), but they didn't have much time to work, and so they made a lot of bad decisions, some of which had tremendous consequences for the roads and their stockholders. The most famously bad decision was the USRA's decision to route the bulk of the trans-Colorado traffic onto the Colorado Midland, which had the shortest route, but nothing like the physical facilities to handle the volume of freight it suddenly received. The Midland literally choked: not enough crews, not enough engines, sidings filled with cars waiting for power to move them, that kind of thing. The USRA diverted all of that traffic to the Rio Grande, and the Midland died on the spot. Some estimates put the cost of government control of the railroads at a million dollars (in 1918 dollars) a day - part of which was borne by the taxpayers, and part of which was absorbed by the stockholders.

Smaller railroads were often unaffected by it, since it was concerned (in those days of comparatively limited Federal authority) principally with interstate traffic. A lot of shorter lines continued to operate under their own management. The SP was under USRA control, but it was one of the railroads that never took receipt of USRA locomotives: they met their motive power requirements by assembling Harriman standard types from spare parts in the Sacramento shops.

It's worth noting that during the Second World War, the government didn't repeat the error, and made money (rather than losing it) by taxing the immense profits the railroad companies made to support the war effort.

[Mark300]

Except for Rob's message above, I would have to strenously disagree with the above posts.

The USRA had a far reaching affect on all RR operations in the US during WW1 and several years after. They maintained many controls until the early 1920's.

If you read Sam Posey's book 'Playing with Trains' he mentions his prototype the Colorado Midland (pg 67), was disasterously affected.

I have a (long ago) family tragedy involving an accident with a great-grandfather (an engineer on the N&W) over the following of some USRA rule that is now contradicted by today's operating regulations.

Despite the USRA's attempts to standardize equipment design, purchases and to moderate traffic flow, their heavy handed controls over day-today operations conveniently gave railroads the excuse to ignore, defer or postpone improvements to roadbeds, older equipment, repairs and suspend good safety practices in the name of expediency to the national defense. This situation led to a spate of accidents and incidents that spawned the formation of the now famous Truman Commission, beefed up ICC regulation during the 1920's and 30's and led to the complete unionization of the RRs. Even the RR Pension system and retirement programs were affected and shifted to the government for many years after.

Needless to say, when WW2 reared it's ugly head, the RR's and government did things differently.

Folks, the Model RailRoading phenomenon has made the USRA sort of romantic and has probably stressed the wrong stuff. All the research I've done on RR's in the 1918-1925 period from an operations standpoint, tells a much different story.

Chip, I invite you to research your portion of the SP carefully. I'm sure you're going to find a rich history of events (and possibly stories) that will make good sense.

Please remember, while the fighting in WW1 ended on 11/11/18, the treaties weren't signed until 1920 or 21.

The USRA lingered on much later than we'd like to admit. It's a very troubling period in US railroading history and is considered by some to be a precurser of the great depression. All of the RR histories I've read since I was kid (like in the 50's) never had anything nice to say about the USRA until I got back into model RR'g.

This is not a flame.....just trying to stay true to Railroading history.

My [2c]

Mark

[MidlandPacific]

Don't remember the exact date, but I think the railroads were actually handed back to their owners (somewhat the worse for wear) in 1921. There are excellent accounts in a lot of books of just how problematic the USRA administration was for the railroads: Morris Cafky's "Colorado Midland" has a lot of great anecdotal stuff on the Midland's snarls in 1918, and "Northern Pacific Classic Steam Power" by Schrenk and Frey has an interesting account of the USRA's persistent but unavailing attempts to convince the NP to accept a ten-coupled steam locomotive.

The real source of the USRA's popularity among modelers is probably their locomotive designs. They went to a lot of effort to incorporate "best practices" in standardized designs, and they did allow for some customization in appliances, and they became very popular in the twenties (a USRA-design switcher was, if I'm not mistaken, the last steam locomotive built new in the US for domestic use). Aesthetically, they mark the beginning of the modern era on the railroads: center-mounted headlights, outside-motion valve gear, cast tender trucks and piston valves - the USRA diecast models now on the market are selling well precisely because they look right on any model railroad from the teens through the late 1950s.

[dehusman]

If he is modeling 1917 and the USRA didn't exist until May, 1918, then the USRA is immaterial to his modeling. The USRA will impact his 1917 era pike as much as AC traction motors. Now if he wants to move it up to the 1918, 1919 or later era, then it matters.

Dave H.

[SpaceMouse]

Thanks Dave and everyone else. I've come to the conclusion that my layout will not be affected. I figure I may still have the odd coach full of volunteers on occasion.

However, I still find the history lesson informative and want to encourage everyone to continue contributing.

[grayfox1119]

Chip, TRAINS magazine has a book called " Guide to North American Steam Locomotives", it should be a MUST HAVE for every model railroader. Page 405 of this book gives you the whole story of the USRA. President Woodrow Wilson placed all the railroads under the jurisdiction of the United States Railroad Administration on December 26th, 1917.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse

Thanks Dave and everyone else. I've come to the conclusion that my layout will not be affected. I figure I may still have the odd coach full of volunteers on occasion.

However, I still find the history lesson informative and want to encourage everyone to continue contributing.

Chip

Great question which sparked some even greater replies [tup]

[Wdlgln005]

There may be some affect in the locomotives you buy. Check carefully if the model follows a USRA design. A lot depends on what models are available for your railroad. You may have to carefully look at detail parts. There may have been 10-12 different designs, that became very popular with the railroads. Most popular were the Pacific 4-6-2 and Mokado 2-8-2 designs. Many of them had a long service live, lasting with rebuilding until the end of steam. Older models bit the dust in the depression, or were upgraded by smart shop crews.
The Big Boys, Challengers and Lima Super Steam locomotives came later.

Another aspect of the USRA was an attempt to rationalize the railroads thru mergers. History could have been a lot different if some of the proposals had been accepted. Who knows what the rail map would look like today?

[jimrice4449]

The USRA 0-8-0 switcher was not only the last steam engine built for use by a US common carrier RR it was the most popular (in no.s built) steam locomotive design ever.