- 1 Brian J. L. Berry, “Recent Studies Concerning the Role of Transportation in the Space Economy,”Annals, Association of American Geographers, Vol. 49 (September, 1959), p. 341.
- 2 Edward L. Ullman, “The Railroad Pattern of the United States,”The Geographical Review, Vol. 39 (April, 1949), pp. 242 256.
- 3 William H. Wallace, “Railroad Traffic Densities and Patterns,”Annals, Association of American Geographers, Vol. 48 (December, 1958), pp. 352 374.
- 4 Berry, op. cit., pp. 328–342.
- 5 This section is based upon a wide variety of materials gathered for a larger study of the historical geography of the area. Exact dates of construction and corporate relationships of Northern Pacific and Union Pacific (O.R. & N.) lines are based upon special reports available in the general offices of these two companies. The most readily available information on such matters as well as on general strategies is found in the Annual Reports of the companies. Two books also present a useful general picture of some of the historical competitive situations: James Blaine Hedges, Henry Villard and the Railways of the Northwest (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1930) and Enoch A. Bryan, Orient Meets Occident, the Advent of the Railways to the Pacific Northwest (Pullman, Wash.: The Students Book Corporation, 1936). My research on the Columbia Basin has been supported by grants from The American Philosophical Society and the University of Utah.
- 6 The huge Columbia Basin irrigation project, major hydroelectric installations, and the Hanford atomic works have in recent years prompted major alterations in the settlement patterns of the central portion of this area. However these have not caused any significant change in the spatial network of railroad lines.
- 7 A few abandonments of very short branches are the only changes since 1916.
- 8 I have presented a more detailed picture of this system and its problems in Wheat Sacks Out To Sea, The Early Export Trade from the Walla Walla Country,”Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol. 45 (January, 1954), pp. 13 18.
- 9 Reports of Explorations and Surveys, To Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Rail-road from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, 12 vols. (Washington, 1855–1861); Vol. 1, 33rd Congr., 2nd Sess., Senate Ex. Doc. No. 78 (1855) and Vol. 12, 36th Congr., 1st Sess., Senate Ex. Doc. (1860) cover the surveys of this particular route.
- 10 The main line of the C.M. St.P. & P. traversed the region south of Spokane. As it crossed over both O.R. & N. lines into Spokane and was not a local competitor of the latter it was able to obtain trackage rights over these O.R. & N. lines for entry into Spokane.
- 11 This section is based primarily upon research done for a larger study of colonization, On the Margins of the Good Earth: The South Australian Wheat Frontier, 1869–1884, Association of American Geographers Monograph Series, No. 2 (Chicago: Rand McNally & Co., 1962). Full documentation for all strategy and construction prior to 1884 are given therein; see especially chapter seven. Research in Australia was made possible by a Fulbright grant.
- 12 The latter three terms are in common use in South Australia; only a portion of what can be considered in a usual sense to be the Adelaide district is included in this paper.
- 13 The only other abandonment was that of the Port Broughton tramway, an isolated stub-feeder which was an easy victim of truck competition.
- 14 The only near analogy in government controlled regions would be the effects of shifts in control from one party to another which might have a rather different railroad program. However every party must face a tax-conscious electorate and no major duplications or abandonments and replacements would be likely, hence the impact would certainly be less capricious and comprehensive than those possible under private competition.
- 15 Actually more different gauges existed in America in the Nineteenth Century than ever existed in Australia, but the competitive context persistently fostered the change toward uniformity, which was achieved over most of the nation before the era of government regulation. Only in minor branches, isolated lines, and a few special regions such as the Colorado Rockies could narrow-gauge railroads remain feasible for many years. For an excellent study of the development of the general uniform system see George Rogers Taylor and Irene D. Neu, The American Railroad Network 1861–1890 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1956).
- 16 This map is adapted from a copy obtained by permission from the Office of Consulting Engineer, Northern Pacific Railway Company.
- 17 The most extensive in area is that of the Union Pacific along a broad strip from Cheyenne in eastern Wyoming through southern Idaho to Pendleton in eastern Oregon. That such patterns are still important is attested to by the recent “Ogden Gateway” case in which the D. & R.G.W. has strenously sought to obtain legal rulings which will allow it to share some of the traffic generated by this very region.
Annals of the Association of American Geographers
Volume 52, 1962 - Issue 4