Train stations tell the stories of railroads since the Second World War. Once, they were the temples of nineteenth-century American civic progress. Transcontinental railroads (built by immigrant Irish, Chinese and Mexicans as well as African Americans) united peoples and goods, and stations became marble and gilt gateways for cities. Cities and companies competed; even small towns vied for connections and identity within national mass transportation. The demolition of New York City, NY’s Pennsylvania Station in 1963, a rallying point for historic preservation, and the conversion of other once-proud stations to museums (Savannah, GA), malls (Cincinnati, OH) and abandonment shows railroads’ loss of position to automobiles, trucks and airplanes. Despite 1990s plans for a new “old” Penn Station in New York—in the shell of a central post office now more effectively connected to trucks and air—outside the Northeast and some Pacific Rim routes, new generations of Americans experience domestic railroads as nostalgic rides in amusement parks or along special, scenic routes. Even in media, railroads belong to westerns, film noir and Disneyworld rather than contemporary life.

American railroads emerged in a constant interaction of government interests and private speculation. By the turn of the nineteenth century, the Interstate Commerce Commission had taken control over the worst excesses of cut-throat capitalism and corruption. Trains were taken over temporarily by the government in the First World War and remained strong and central economically through the Second World War. They were also embedded in popular culture as film backdrops, settings for arrivals and departures for war, college and new lives, and the tracks on which presidential campaigns and hoboes rode.

By the 1950s, diesel engines were replacing steam and panoramic cars added new dimensions to western runs. Yet, the Interstate Highway system slowly ate into freight and passenger revenues. Trucks were more flexible in cargo, while pipelines and barges also cut into cargo profits. Expanding airlines later captured passengers and rapid delivery. Meanwhile, railroads, with a century of contracts and regulations, found themselves unable to trim budgets or staff while taxed to pay for new airports. By 1965 railroads carried only 18 percent of total intercity passenger service and only 44 percent of freight. Most ran deficits and sought to consolidate via mergers; the giant Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970.

Here, government intervention was called upon to save public service. Amtrak was created in 1971, providing government support to maintain a multicompany national passenger service. A similar freight plan, Conrail, built on the Penn Central and other bankrupt northeastern lines in 1976. Corporate mergers consolidated other regional freight service as railroads steadily cut workers and lines, increasing efficiency and ultimately stabilizing freight handling. President Carter promoted deregulation in 1980, allowing railroads to change rates and compete with other transport. In 1995 rail freight doubled its 1944 peak, although only holding 37 percent of the market. Conrail was sold to the public in 1984, although Amtrak continued to struggle, despite its rapid reserved Metroliner service in the Northeast and vacation packages. Clinton eliminated the ICC in 1995.

Politicians and entrepreneurs have nonetheless sought to keep passenger travel alive and connecting their regions. In the late 1990s, the Northeast prepared for new highspeed trains. Auto-trains connected northern vacationers and Florida, while West Coast lines and regional connector systems grew. Another rapid line is proposed for Florida, to connect Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami. Still, these generally demand government subsidies, which raise questions among citizens and representatives for whom rail service is no longer a daily concern. Problems with wastes and safety have also been raised with regards to passenger and freight lines—a 1999 television movie, for example, featured a run-away train carrying nuclear waste.

Commuter rails are more limited and secure, with government subsidies, especially on the East Coast. Yet, cars and highways carry the future for most Americans. At the same time, railroads may provide warnings for subsequent developments in mass transportation and mass media, where negotiations of government responsibility over public goods and private profits continue.