Explain the Milwaukee Road's reason for the Pacific Extension.
Answers
Answer:
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Explanation:
Winston Churchill said, "History is written by the victors." There's a lot of truth to that. But it's also true that sometimes leads to the whole story not being told. On the other hand, the Internet wasn't around in Churchill's day, but today one can read alternate histories and theories of history on just about any subject.
Such is the case with the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension. Most who are even vaguely familiar with American railroading know of the Milwaukee Road being the only American "transcontinental" line to have been mostly abandoned. Several sites online claim to explain why this happened.
As you read these, you will likely detect a common theme: A railroad that had everything going for it, with superior operating characteristics. As an example, an online source "A brief review of the failure of the Milwaukee Road" probably says it best in its opening statement, "The Milwaukee Road was well built, with the shortest and lowest-cost route to the Pacific Northwest. It was innovative, pioneering not only in electrification, but also things like roller-bearings (greatly reducing rolling resistance), refrigerator cars, and high-speed passenger trains. Later it lead in hauling cargo containers, with three-quarters of the traffic from the Port of Seattle, and even as late as 1969 it opened the largest facility in the region for transshipping automobiles. Yet, it failed."
The reasons for the "why" of the failure of the Pacific Extension run the full gamut from conspiracy to deferred maintenance to poor management. Nowhere is the concept entertained that perhaps its failure was due to it NOT having superior operating characteristics. And indeed it did not, and that it did not was not only a burden throughout its short life, but was why another entity did not step up and step in and save it.
That the Milwaukee Road had no savior is particularly important because even if any or all of the reasons touted for its demise were true, were it indeed the "lowest-cost route to the Pacific Northwest," someone would have sought to retain it. Such was the case with the Rock Island, which declared bankruptcy in 1975, and ceased operation under that name in 1980, the same year the Milwaukee's Pacific Extension was abandoned. The Rock Island physical plant was probably in worse shape than that of the Milwaukee. As a former Rock Island dispatcher from the El Reno, Oklahoma office once told me, "Just about all of the track was 10 MPH; if any train had a meet with on line, the crew would die. We even had a train derail while it was stopped; the rail overturned underneath."
Yet as bad as the Rock Island was, most of its most important main lines survived: Minneapolis/St. Paul to Kansas City; Kansas City to the Gulf; Kansas City to Santa Rosa, NM (all operated by Union Pacific); and Chicago to Council Bluffs (mostly Iowa Interstate). Others saw value in the Rock Island, purchased the lines, and upgraded them. This validates the value of the Rock Island's routes, regardless of the reason for deterioration. This also suggests that many had understood the Milwaukee's west end had no such value, except for short, truncated segments.
So why was the Milwaukee's Pacific Extension abandoned? It can easily be explained in debunking the many myths of its "superiority." Here are the 12 most-common:
The Milwaukee Road had the shortest routes.
The Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension was needed.
The Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension had a superior profile.
The Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension was the fastest route.
The physical plant of the Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension was on par with its competition.
The partial electrification of the Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension made it the superior route.
The Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension, as it existed, demonstrated Utility
The Milwaukee Road deployed superior equipment utilization for its passenger trains on the Pacific Extension.
The Milwaukee Road showed foresight in its discontinuance of passenger trains on the Pacific Extension.
The BN merger eroded the Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension's superiority, and thus was responsible for its demise.
The Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension did not benefit from Land Grants, as did its competitors.
The Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension would be viable in present day.