Wesrock@aol.com writes:
> Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com> writes:
> (Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad were associated from some time
> in the late 1800s.)
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Remember also the "Harvey Girls" who
> were like 'stewardesses' on the Santa Fe trains and the 1940's movie
> about the Harvey Girls, and they were always singing that song about
> the railroad ... how did it go? Something about " ... my day, and the
> Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe ..."
Tying this (barely) into the thread currently running about WU clocks,
part of the lyrics went:
See the old smoke risin' 'round the bend,
I reckon that she knows she's gonna meet a friend,
Folks around these parts get the time of day,
From the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe.
Joe Morris
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Right you are, I do not have any prize
for you, however. The AT&SF railroad _originally_ ran between
Atichson, Kansas, through Topeka, Kansas and southwestward on to Santa
Fe, New Mexico. Then, as Chicago became the railroad capitol of
America (start of 20th century) the AT&SF continued pushing eastward,
making its new terminus at Dearborn Station in Chicago, and relocating
its headquarters in the 'Santa Fe Building' at Jackson Blvd. and
Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. I hear your question now: ...
... *what was/is 'Dearborn Station'?* Well, along with Union Station
(Canal Street and Madison) which still exists and is now the terminus
for most intercity railroad traffic, there were Dearborn Station
(Dearborn and Harrison Streets), Grand Central Station, (Baltimore &
Ohio RR, Chesapeake RR's and others at Harrison and Wells Streets),
Central Station (Illinois Central RR at Michigan and Roosevelt Road),
LaSalle Street Station (various lines, LaSalle and Van Buren Streets)
Northwestern Station (Canal and Randolph Streets) and others. All are
gone, except for Northwestern Station and Union Station, and the
various railroads still offering passenger service all merged their
depots/terminals into one of those two locations.
Now a question for the readers: Why do you suppose almost every single
national political convention in US history from sometime in the
middle 1800's through the middle 1900's was held in Chicago, as often
as not at (the old) Chicago Stadium, or the International Ampitheatre,
or as late as 1968 at the Stockyards convention hall? As often as
not, the Republicans first, then a month later the Democrats, at the
Chicago Stadium? Answer: because there were no airplanes to speak of,
certainly no commercial and commonplace air travel. _Everyone_, politicans
included, traveled by rail. And the most convenient place to meet for
convention (which after all, means to 'convene') was in Chicago, where
all the passenger railroads had their terminals. So the conference
delegates, senators, governors, whoever all came to meet in _Chicago_
for their conventions. The railroads were one, maybe the principal
reason Chicago grew from a population of a few thousand people in the
1850's to over a million people by the 1890's, and two million people
in the early 1900's. _The railroads_ which may as well not even exist
today.
One summer when I had just gotten out of high school, I had a part
time job selling train tickets for the B&O Railroad out of the (long
since torn down) Grand Central Station in Chicago. It was intended as
only a 'summer job' until the travel season was over. It was my
privilege to meet Harry S. Truman and his wife Bess, who were traveling
to Washington, DC for some event from their home in Independence, MO.
They naturally took the Santa Fe to Chicago, where they switched
trains (but of course) to the B&O train to go on to Washington, DC.
PAT]
Joe Morris (jcmorris@mitre.org)