Train Stations

Like the shopping malls of today, the train station, whether it was a country depot or a neoclassical palace in a big city, was central to any journey. In most stations of any consequence, you could buy a ticket to anywhere, have lunch, send a message via Western Union (the 1920s version of the Internet), and often get a shave, shower, and shoe shine.

Most stations appeared during the burst of railway construction between 1890 and 1910, but some major examples went up after World War I. Cleveland's impressive Terminal Tower, a combination train station and 52-story office building, took from 1923 to 1930 to complete. In 1925, the new Union Station in Chicago was dedicated; Amtrak and Metra trains use the renovated facility today. The Pennsylvania Railroad commenced building its monumental Thirtieth Street Station in Philadelphia in 1927. Two years later, work began on Cincinnati Union Terminal, a magnificent Art-Deco palace replacing a half-dozen outmoded passenger facilities. Large and small stations throughout the country received facelifts, reflecting the sincere-but mistaken-conviction that rail travel was a fixture in American life.

In fact, railroading seemed to be everywhere. Railroad advertising had long been a part of the visual culture of the U.S. and Canada, but by the mid-1920s, the railroad industry had something else to celebrate: It was 100 years old.

1920s Railroad Regulation

Even if the railroad was not everyone's "life," it made their lives possible. In the years when central heating meant a coal furnace in the basement, that coal came from distant mines by rail. Similarly, the radio advertisements for Nabisco crackers and other emerging national brands of food and other products were predicated on the fact that boxcars could deliver consumer goods to stores in the most remote corners of the continent. And with an irony lost on railroaders of the day, trains hauled the raw materials for the roads, automobiles, and air-planes that would wreak havoc upon the industry-and nearly cripple it-over the decades to come.

The 1920s represent a period in which the government and the railroads settled into a highly regulated working relationship, even while new competitors arose as real threats. Railroad companies, for instance, could only compete on the basis of service; rates were strictly controlled, and underpricing another carrier was illegal. The Interstate Commerce Commission oversaw almost every facet of the railroad business, and its officials were continually busy with complaints ranging from the highly technical to the absurd. Thousands of railroad clerks kept a mind-numbing array of statistics so that the government could "protect" the American people.

To the north, the newly formed Canadian National Railway was itself a Crown corporation, owned by the Canadian government. Its rival, Canadian Pacific, was a private corporation, but both were closely regulated, as were the nationalized railroads of Mexico beginning in the late 1920s. Such close attention would have worked fine had it not been for the competition.

1920s Railroad Timeline

1920:
Congress passes the Esch-Cummins Act, returning railroads to private ownership and outlining a series of railroad mergers as the start of a national transportation policy.

1921:
The number of railroad passengers carried reaches an all-time high, then begins a modest, decade-long decline.

1922:
The AFL-affiliated craft unions withdraw from service in a wage dispute. The strike ends for some after two months; others never return.

1923:
Railroad presidents meet in New York and create a series of "Shippers Advisory Boards" to initiate programs designed to increase efficiency.

Canada's main railways, except the Canadian Pacific, are merged into the government-controlled Canadian National Railways.

1925:
The first commercially successful diesel-electric locomotive, Central Railroad of New Jersey's Switcher No. 1000, enters service.

Armed with the latest technology and new theories about the construction of boilers and fireboxes, Lima Locomotive Works builds the "A-1," the first modern "Super Power" steam locomotive.

A. P. Randolph announces the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a union for 12,000 Pullman employees and an early civil rights organization.

1926:
The railroad industry celebrates a century of service on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, later part of the New York Central.

Congress passes the Railway Labor Act, giving railroad employees the right to select union representation without fear of reprisals from management.

1927:
The first Centralized Traffic Control system goes into service-a great step forward in efficient train dispatching and railroad safety.

1929:
The collapse of the stock market signals the start of the Great Depression; railroad traffic drops immediately.

About Metrolink

Metrolink is truly a united effort, made possible by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the Orange County Transportation Authority, the Riverside County Transportation Commission, San Bernardino Associated Governments and the Ventura County Transportation Commission. In 1991, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA), a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), consisting of the five county transportation planning agencies listed above, was formed to develop a regional transit service to reduce the congestion on highways and improve mobility throughout the Southern California region. In October 1992, Metrolink was born.

Today, in its 15th year of operation, Metrolink continues to provide the people of Southern California a safe, reliable and environmentally friendly commute option. What began with three lines of service, 12 stations and a little over 5,000 passengers has grown to seven lines, 56 stations and 45,000 passengers.

All this would not be possible without the support of our loyal passengers and the communities we serve. Thank you for choosing Metrolink and welcome aboard

Mission Statement

Metrolink is a premier regional rail system, including commuter and other passenger services, linking communities to employment and activity centers. Metrolink provides reliable transportation and mobility for the region, leading toward more livable communities