History of Freight Trains - Movie Review Example

Affiliation: History of Freight Trains In all matters that have connections to the development and advances in areasof innovation, there is a need to give credit to where it is due. This is part of the reason as to why I always give credit to George Santayana quote that states, “Those that fail to remember about the past are condemned to repeating it” (Santayana 37). In this regard, I would go ahead to analyze George Santayana’s quote by adding some meaning to it. In this quote, I tend to interpret that George was implying that by forgetting our past, especially where we came from, then we are condemned to repeating the mistakes made in the past. However, in case we do remember our past, then we are bound to reap more rewards from its initial success. The same concept is applicable to the history of freight trains; whereby we need to remember the past, right from the invention time and be able to reap more benefits from such inventions. The Documentary History of Freight Trains starts by highlighting on the modern inventions that are currently operational in the freight trains. The particular area of interest is the aspect of using computers in the operations management. For instance, the rails are programmed into the computer, whereby cargos are being sorted to their respective destinations with a click of a button. In the sorting process, the cargos move down a raised railway line that is programmed with a computer until when it reaches the fleet of which will move to the specified destination. Other modification in the freight trains saw an increase in the length of cargos that could be towed in a single fleet while tones and tonnes of freight being able to cross the country in each year. These developments are some areas where we all need to appreciate the past, be able to utilize its benefits by improving in significant areas. The History of Freight Trains is entirely an enjoyable documentary that runs for 42 minutes. There are many reasons as to why this documentary lived up to its name, as it is a very entertaining piece of film comprising a number of significant interviews. The pace set by this documentary gives the entire reason as to why we need to appreciate the history and be able to utilize it for our advantage. I could not recommend something better for the starting point of this documentary whereby it went ahead to touch on a number of historical points. It was through the movement of freight that eventually became the driving force for the creation of a railway road (Video Documentary). The history highlighted in this documentary is the genesis of modern railways that dates back to the horse-drawn carts that were operating in quarries and mines back in 1820s. The entire principle underlying this innovation is that when one has steel wheels running on the steel rails, it dramatically helps in reducing friction that eventually requires less power in pulling the load or mass than compared to pulling a wagon in a dirty path or in a muddy road. With less friction, there is the ease in motion, hence making work become much easier to accomplish. The railways that were utilizing horses for moving public goods soon emerged, but lasted for about half a decade before the invention of a first successful steam engine in the 1830s. The invention of steam engine saw the replacement of horses with mules, which eventually made the canal freight industry into becoming obsolete. The inventors of the steam engine were able to prove that steam was reliable and more powerful than using the horsepower. John Bull was able to enter the service at the time when several entrepreneurs with the intentions of capturing the American freight business started developing an interest in this area of business. Robert Stephenson & Company was the one responsible for building John Bull, which was the first steam engine that was subject to duplicate. With a market corned by the growing east coast canals, more advancement was able to see the railroads replacing these canals. Within a period of 20 years, the railway was able to extend from the East Coast area into reaching the Midwest region. Laborers were able to build more railroads as fast as possible with railroads extended from East Coast to the great lakes by 1859s. The First Transcontinental Railroad construction saw it stretching from Missouri River to the San Francisco Bay took place between 1863 and 1869. The railroad business was expanding very rapidly as entrepreneurs rushed into making more money from it. The construction of these railroads changed the shape of America, while they were creating new towns along these railroads, while it was supplying the new population with building materials and other necessities, and in returning sending back other commodities to the markets back east. Into the twentieth century, railroads continued expanding and developing than any other industry in the entire history. The railroad activities in America back then separated the state from other countries through its economic success and prowess in the transport sector. In 1873, George Westinghouse was able to introduce the air brake to the railway engine, which was a safer and more effective means of breaking the speeding cars, thus seeing the replacement of the multiple ‘brakemen’ that were required in stopping the engines at the time. As the railway network continued expanding, wood-burning steam engines could soon receive the supplement from the coal-burning models through specific areas where there was a scarcity of timber. However, this invention saw the entire replacement of steam engines as nearly all the locomotive engines in the late 19th century started burning coal for power. Right from the time of inception, all railway networks in America were operating as private companies, with competition preventing the development of a single integrated system until the time when World War I was able to spur the nationalization of the railway system by the US Federal Government back in 1917. In the 1920s, the US Federal government was able to relinquish control of the cohesive and the standard railway system. Other historic inventions that require remembering are the invention of diesel engines into the railway network back in 1920s, despite the fact that they were put into limited usage. Another important history took place in 1939 when GM’s Electromotive Division was able to introduce the FT, which was a diesel-electric locomotive that was successful at surpassing other engines of earlier inventions, hence signaling the end of the steam engine. In the 1950s, the Interstate Highway System together with the diesel trucking was able to create the first real source that powered competition within the railway system as a mode of transport. The same period of 1950s saw the erosion of monopoly in the railway system, as there was a supplement from the tracking and the newly created interstate highway system that was also serving the same purpose of transporting huge cargos across states (Video Documentary). Through various efforts of modernizing and upgrading the freight industry, many other advances have been subject to accomplish. Today, there are many diesel locomotive engines being manufactured across the world that help in serving the huge demand for transporting huge cargos and passengers across the world. For example, General Electronics has the largest warehouse that manufactures huge diesel engines that would end up lasting for at least two years in the railway. It is through this assembly point that workers go around installing several sensitive electronics as part of the initiatives of modifying the freight trains and thus achieve the modern and more advanced systems in the railway network. For example, the evolution series locomotive that has twelve or sixteen cylinders, which is 3% fuel efficient, is an example of a modern engine that GE assembles for the modern rail network. Generally the building and advances of these locomotives started way back from the early historic days of its invention. The first locomotives were steam engines, followed by those that burned coal, and later the innovation of those locomotives that used fuel as technology kept on advancing through the years. As someone would come up with a new model of freight engine, it would undergo testing on the railroad and upon gaining satisfactory recommendation, it becomes subject to implement to the rail transport industry. For example, the early engines used to be so huge that they dwarfed people by a significant rate, by technological advances saw the reduction of sizes of these locomotive engines but with more advanced systems for adding power to its towering force, hence gaining the ability of towering tonnes of cargos that extend miles of distance. Today, more advances have been able to see an increase in speeds of these locomotive engines, whereby a journey that could take several days to complete could today go for only a few hours or minutes. The relationship of this documentary and the Operation Management Any person that is working in the supply chain or the transportation chain has the potential of knowing that the railway system remains to be part of the backbone of the entire American economy, which dates back to the historic days. While we develop interests in learning the benefits associated with the invention and improvements in the freight trains, there are a lot of justifiable figures about the freight trains business. One fact about the United States freight industry is that it holds a total or $60 Billion in the evaluation. Currently, there are about seven Class-I railroads in America, with 21 regional railroads, and a total of 510 local railroads in the entire of American States. As of 2011, the United States had about 161,195 miles f the railroad. Similarly, there were about 1,309,029 freight cars in the United States by 2010. While comparing the rail network to the road network, it is apparent that the railway network still supersedes the road network in the total freight transported on daily and yearly basis. For example, about 39.5 percent of the freight ton-miles were subject to the railway transportation while the truck transportation system recorded a total of 28.6 percent of freight ton-miles transported. On top of transporting more cargo than the road transportation network, there are added advantages in that the rail network does not require maintenance more often and lasts for longer periods of replacement. On the contrary, transporting cargos by road ends up depreciating the roads at a fast pace, which eventually requires road maintenance from time to time. Therefore, in relation to making the operations decisions, it becomes justified to encourage the use of railway transport network in the transportation of goods and transport services across the economy. More significantly, the railway network remains to be more efficient when it comes to fuel-efficiency, making it more advantageous than the road transportation network. Utilizing this means of freight transportation ends up saving on huge costs that the economy may end up channeling to other development initiatives. Another added advantage of engaging in the freight train business is that it creates a significant proportion of job opportunities. As more people get the chance of employment, it ends up solving the problem of unemployment that affects almost all states across the world. Most significantly, the state will be able to generate more revenue from the activities in this industry, starting from the taxes on employees and the returns generated by the rail transport industry. In conclusion, one is able to learn from this documentary that it exceeds the concept of just being like a normal film for entertainment. The documentary is all about recognizing and being proud of the past events; hence work in a way of ensuring that these past efforts historic innovations get to see more advancements and appreciation. In relation to the operations management, the Freight Trains offers the solution for the better, economic and efficient means of transporting heavy cargo across the world, hence justifying the need of utilizing this means of transportation. In relation to the historic innovations, it is thus justified to state that credit should be given where it is due. Works Cited Santayana, George. Introduction and Reason in Common Sense. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1922. Internet resource. Video Documentary. History of Freight Trains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdNiSCKPgwo Read More