OPINION — American history has always been made of the railway. It is a means of transportation and a source of economic growth, and of national unity. The railroads revolutionized the U.S. system, facilitating a level of transport, product and people that hadn’t been seen previously.
From Maryland’s first line in 1827, the railroad speaks volumes about the American thirst for discovery and invention. It linked remote areas, promoted development and brought the nation together in fresh ways. The first U.S. railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, was chartered in 1827 to move coal and goods to Baltimore.
Motivated by the need for efficient transport amid rapid economic growth, the rail met the logistical needs of a growing westward-oriented America and the industrialization of early 19th-century America. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1864, less than a century after the Declaration of Independence, was a landmark success. Bridging the East and West coasts, it spoke of national unity — particularly with respect to national integration after the Civil War.
