United States Railway Administration (Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg)

The United States Railway Administration (USRA) is the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States formed on January 1, 1947. It is responsible for most passenger and freight services in the Continental United States.
== History ==
=== Prelude ===
With Huey Long and Jack Reed satisfied by a relief bill and William H. Murray, leader of the Old Democratic Party, arrested, President Norris turned to other matters. Chief among them was reviewing the United States Army, namely the debate over doctrine; ultimately, Leslie McNair's reforms involving massed artillery strikes was chosen.
Among Norris' priorities, however, was completely restructuring American society. He termed his reforms "capitalism with socialist characteristics", a fancy way of saying "social democracy". His biggest achievement was abolishing the archaic Electoral College, with all future presidential elections decided by the popular vote. But what usually gets lost among his achievements is the reorganization of the entire government.
One of the lesser examples was renaming the various departments to "administrations". For example, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was renamed the "United States Justice Administration" (USJA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was renamed the "United States Agricultural Administration" (USAA, not to be confused with the United Services Automobile Association), and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) was renamed the "United States Transit Administration" (USTA).
=== Formation of the United States Transit Administration ===
The formation of the USTA coincided with the nationalization of almost all forms of transportation in the United States. Each sub-administration was as follows:
* United States Highway Administration (USHA), responsible for the highway system
* United States Bus Administration (USBA), responsible for all bus services, both city and long-distance
* United States Mass Transit Administration (USMTA), responsible for all streetcar and subway operations
* United States Shipping Administration (USSA), responsible for all trucking
* United States Maritime Administration (USMRA), responsible for all maritime trade, both ocean and river; this included nationalizing United States Lines and Matson, and all Great Lakes operations
* United States Railway Administration (USRA), responsible for all railway operations
A sixth sub-administration, the United States Aviation Administration (USAVA), was formed in 1958.
Publicly, most sub-administrations operated their services with a public trading name:
* The USBA used two sub-names: National City Lines for city buses, and for intercity buses, the Greyhound Lines name was retained
* The USMTA deferred branding to the cities, and thus, streetcar and subway systems kept their unique identities, such as the San Francisco Municipal Railway and New York City Subway
* The USMRA maintained the United States Lines (USL) name as its public trading name
* The USAVA took on the long-established American Airlines name as its public trading name
=== The Railway Problem ===
Of the five (later six) sub-administrations, the USRA was the biggest. Numerous proposals for how to operate a nationalized railroad were kicked around, including only nationalizing the infrastructure and allowing the long-established private companies to continue operating independent of government oversight. The most popular proposal, though, was wholesale nationalization by dividing the system into regions, as had been done with Union Railways in the Union of Britain. Ultimately, the latter plan was chosen.
The term "region" is a bit of misnomer, as many of them overlapped. This was because President Norris ordered that "as many lines as possible be kept open". As a result, the only closures that followed nationalization were branchlines that had lost their traffic to roads, though instead of being ripped up, these lines were idled and still maintained in case they were needed in the future; many have since been reopened to both passenger and freight traffic.
=== Nationalization ===
The formation of the new USTA took place on January 1, 1947. The USRA pared down the rail network from hundreds of disparate companies to 21 regional networks. The largest of the old companies would become the management for each region. The regions, and the systems that were absorbed and lost their identities, were as follows (the surviving name is in bold):
Region Name 	Constituent Railroads 	Headquarters 	Notes 	Region Code
Boston & Maine 	Boston and Maine Railroad; Maine Central Railroad; Bangor and Aroostook Railroad; Delaware and Hudson Railway 	Boston, MA 	 	BM
New Haven 	New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad; New York, Ontario and Western Railway; Lehigh and Hudson River Railway; Lehigh and New England Railroad 	New Haven, CT 	 	NH
New York Central 	New York Central Railroad; Rutland Railroad; Virginian Railway; Chicago, Attica and Southern Railroad 	New York City 	Merged with Pennsylvania Region to form Penn Central Region in 1968 	NYC
Pennsylvania 	Pennsylvania Railroad; Long Island Rail Road 	Philadelphia, PA 	Merged with New York Central Region to form Penn Central Region in 1968 	PRR
Baltimore and Ohio 	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; Central Railroad of New Jersey; Reading Railroad; Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad; Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway; 50% of Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad; 50% of Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad; 50% of Monon Railroad; Chicago and Alton Railroad (Alton Railroad) 	Baltimore, MA 	 	BO
Chesapeke and Ohio-Nickel Plate	Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, Nickel Plate Road; Hocking Valley Railway; Erie Railroad; Pere Marquette Railway; Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad; Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad; Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway; 50% of Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad 	Cleveland, OH 	Joint region between C&O and NKP managements 	CO
Wabash-Seaboard 	Wabash Railway, Seaboard Air Line Railroad; Lehigh Valley Railroad; Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway; Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway; Western Maryland Railway; Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railway; Norfolk and Western Railway; 50% of Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad; Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad; Ann Arbor Railroad; 50% of Winston-Salem Southbound Railway	St. Louis, MO 	Joint region between Wabash and SAL managements 	WAB-SAL
Atlantic Coast Region 	Atlantic Coast Line Railroad; Louisville and Nashville Railroad; Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway; Clinchfield Railroad; Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad; Mobile and Northern Railroad; New Orleans Great Northern Railroad; 25% of Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway (Monon Railroad); 50% of Winston-Salem Southbound Railway 	Wilmington, NC 	 	ACL
Southern 	Southern Railway; Norfolk Southern Railway; Tennessee Central Railway (east of Nashville); Florida East Coast Railway; 25% of Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway (Monon Railway) 	Washington DC 	 	SOU
Illinois Central 	Illinois Central Railroad; Central of Georgia Railway; Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway; Tennessee Central Railway (west of Nashville); St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt); Atlantic and St. Andrews Bay Railroad 	Minneapolis, MN 	 	IC
Chicago and North Western 	Chicago and North Western Railroad; Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad; Litchfield and Madison Railway; Mobile and Ohio Railroad; Columbus and Greenville Railway; Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad 	Chicago, IL 	 	CNW
Great Northern-Northern Pacific	Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railroad; Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway; 50% of Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway 	St. Paul, MN 	Joint region between GN and NP managements, merged with Burlington Region to form Burlington Northern Region in 1948	GN-NP
Milwaukee 	Milwaukee Road; Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad; Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad; 50% of Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway; trackage rights on Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway to Portland, Oregon 	Proctor, MN 	 	MILW
Burlington 	Burlington Route; Colorado and Southern Railway; Fort Worth and Denver Railway; Green Bay and Western Railroad; Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad; 50% of Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad; Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway 	Burlington, IA 	Merged with Great Northern-Northern Pacific Region to form Burlington Northern Region in 1948 	CBQ
Union Pacific 	Union Pacific Railroad; Kansas City Southern Railway, Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad 	Omaha, NE 	 	UP
Southern Pacific 	Southern Pacific Transportation Company 	San Francisco, CA	The SP was deemed big enough to not need any railroads merged into it 	SP
Santa Fe 	Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway; Chicago Great Western Railway; Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway; Missouri and North Arkansas Railway; Midland Valley Railroad; Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway 	Los Angeles, CA 	 	ATSF
Missouri Pacific 	Missouri Pacific Railroad; Texas and Pacific Railway; Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway; Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad; Denver and Salt Lake Railroad; Western Pacific Railroad; Fort Smith and Western Railway 	Marshall, TX 	 	MP
Rock Island-Frisco 	Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad; St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; 50% of Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad; Louisiana and Arkansas Railway; Meridian and Bigbee Railroad 	Springfield, MO 	Joint region between RI and SLSF managements 	RI-SLSF
Grand Trunk 	Grand Trunk Western Railroad; Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway; Canadian National Railway 	Troy, MI 	Took over Canadian National's American operations 	GTW
Soo 	Soo Line; Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway; Mineral Range Railroad, Canadian Pacific 	Ishpeming, MI 	Took over Canadian Pacific's American operations 	SOO
The last two regions were the American operations of the two major Canadian railroads, which the Kingdom of Canada allowed to be nationalized under American control:
In addition, over 100 terminal railroads were established. The remaining railroads, including shortlines such as the Virginia & Truckee Railroad and Strasburg Rail Road, retained their operational independence, but their tracks and infrastructure came under USRA control; in many cases, this ended up saving failing shortlines.
For the first few months of operation, nothing really changed. There seemed to be no rush to repaint the locomotives and rolling stock. By April 1947, however, the regions had begun repainting locomotives and passenger cars. As for freight cars, they were largely passed into public ownership under a new company called the "Railway Carpool Co." (RCC), often seen as the American equivalent to Britain's pre-syndicalist Railway Clearing House. These cars were leased to different owners, who either painted them in their own liveries, or kept the liveries of defunct roads, as the USRA charter stated that the names of the defunct roads were public domain and could be used by anyone. This helped to keep these names alive.
=== Standardization ===
One of the issues encountered by the nascent USRA was the lack of mechanical standardization. Steam locomotives were built by different companies such as Baldwin, ALCo, Lima, and Porter to the specifications of the customer. This resulted in a wide range of different locomotive designs, which put a strain on maintenance. Rolling stock was similarly lacking in standardization, with the familiar Pullman-Standard cars being the closest to a standardized design.
Also an issue was the myriad of locomotive shops with their own crews and standards. Shops from the defunct roads often butted heads with regional management over maintenance standards, resulting in a quite a few strikes.
The lack of standardization also meant that locomotives from one region couldn't be used in another, which suited regional management just fine, as they were still in the competition mindset, moreso when the Interstate Commerce Commission was abolished on the formation of the USTA, which took with it any form of regulation. Lack of standardized signalling and electrification further strained the system's maintenance base.
The only form of standardization, it seemed, was with diesel locomotives. Manufacturers such as EMD, ALCo, and Fairbanks-Morse had their own standards when building locomotives, which made maintaining them easier. Because of this, shops tended to roster locomotives from a single manufacturer and nothing more, but efficiency suffered.
By 1948, the USRA had begun developing a series of steam locomotive and rolling stock standards (standards were relaxed for new diesel locomotives). Under the "USRA Standardization Program", new standardized steam locomotive designs were created to replace the disparate locomotive designs, these largely being based on the newest PRR designs, with a few from other railroads. Standardized freight car designs were also introduced, but these were expected to be rolled out slower than the new locomotives.
Production of the new locomotives began in September 1948, with deliveries expected to begin in mid-1949. Construction was divided between Baldwin, ALCo, and Lima. Locomotives for eastern regions were coal-fired, while locomotives for western regions were oil-fired; wood-fired locomotives were banned from mainline use, though they remained in use on shortlines well into the 1990s.
Locomotives from the defunct road were replaced on a like-for-like basis, so for example, a Southern Pacific P-8 Class locomotive would be replaced by a USRA Standard Class K. Most pre-nationalization locomotives were scrapped, but many found new lives on shortlines, which retained their operational independence and therefore weren't held to the same standards as the mainline networks.
The effects were felt immediately. Shop crews praised the modular design of the locomotives, while road crews applauded their smooth riding and standardized mechanical stokers on coal-fire locomotives.
The standardized freight car designs were also praised by shippers and yard crews, namely the widespread use of through-train air brakes eliminating the need for a brakeman to climb on top of the train. Cars that were standardized included boxcars, hoppers (open and covered), gondolas, flatcars, tank cars, stock cars, ore cars, and reefers.
Not everything was subjected to standardization. Passenger car design, like diesels, remained an internal-standard among builders, the "Big Three" being Pullman-Standard, American Car and Foundry (ACF), and Budd Company. All three had similar designs, but Budd stood apart from the rest by using stainless steel in its cars, making them easier to clean, lighter in weight (which increased the amount of routes they could operate on), and visually-pleasing for passengers. Caboose construction also remained unregulated, and regions continued building their own designs. Finally, there was no standard for grade crossing signals, with a myriad of designs such as the wig-wag, the Griswold rotating banner, and the highway flasher, but just as many crossings were still only protected by a simple wooden crossbuck (as well as the infamous Billups Neon Crossing Signal, which managed to stay up until the 1960s).
=== Dieselization and electrification ===
Even before the 1936 election, the idea of replacing steam with diesel was being floated. The problem, however, was that there weren't really any viable road designs, the majority being meant for use in yards. As early as 1924, ALCO was producing boxcab diesels, and by 1931, had created the HH series, among the first land vehicles anywhere to use the revolutionary diesel-electric power transmission.
Upon nationalization, many of the regions had quite a few diesels, mainly switchers, but some had road diesels, such as the EMD E and F-Series locomotives, ALCo F and P-Series locomotives, and the Baldwin "Centipede". However, the big revolution came in 1940 when ALCo introduced the RS-1, the first road switcher, in that it could be used for yard switching and switching on the road thanks to its rear visibility.
1949 brought an even bigger revolution. The USRA contracted EMD to provide a new class of road switchers, desiring to replace the smaller 4-4-0, 4-6-0, and pre-nationalization 2-8-0 locomotives that were now largely engaged on local freights and branchline passenger services. EMD built upon experience gained from the BL1 Demonstrator to create the GP7 (GP=General Purpose, 7=700 HP). The locomotive was an immediate success, and every single region put in big orders for the model. Concurrently, EMD offered a six-axle version, the SD7 (SD=Special Purpose). By the time the model was discontinued in 1954, EMD had built 2,729 GP7s, outselling the concurrently-produced ALCo RS-3.
From there, the floodgates opened. The USRA, impressed with the GP7, began putting in more and more orders for road switchers. At the same time, the newly-built USRA Standard steam locomotives were still brand-new and not expected to be replaced by diesels, only replacing pre-nationalization designs.
At the outset of the 1950s, there were six diesel builders: EMD, ALCo, Fairbanks-Morse, Baldwin, Lima, and General Electric. Of the six, EMD and ALCo saw the most success early in the going; FM locomotives leaked oil, Baldwin diesels overheated and often violated standardization guidelines (blamed on backroom dealings with shop managers), Lima-Hamilton models were overengineered messes riddled with design flaws (which ultimately ended up killing the company), and GE only built (albeit reliable) switchers such as the 44-tonner. Another manufacturer, Whitcomb, only catered to the military and industrial railroads (all of which remained private).
The balance of power changed in 1959 when GE exploded onto the road switcher scene with the U25B. GE had been designing and building Universal Series locomotives for foreign customers since 1954, but the U25B was the first to be meant for use in North America. The USRA was impressed with the locomotive, and used it to replace the last pre-nationalization designs it still had in mainline service. By 1970, EMD and GE were the only two builders left standing, ALCo having gone out of business in 1969 and Fairbanks-Morse having exited the locomotive market for other heavy industrial machinery concerns. Baldwin would continue building USRA Standard steam locomotives until 1964, and hung on until going out of business in 1972. Baldwin diesels were gone from the mainline by the start of the 1970s, Lima-Hamilton locomotives had short careers and were gone by the mid-60s, FM locomotives managed to last until the mid-70s, and ALCo diesels endured into the early-80s before they were rapidly withdrawn as "non-standard".
Electrification was a different matter entirely. There was absolutely no standard for electric locomotives or electrification systems at the outset of the USRA. In addition, electrified systems were isolated and disparate, the largest being the network operated by the Pennsylvania, New York Central, and New Haven Regions. Other electrified operations included the Milwaukee Region's operation from Avery, Idaho to Harlowton, Montana, the Pacific Electric network in the Los Angeles area (which had become a terminal railroad under USRA), the South Shore Railroad in Illinois and Indiana, a few small shortline and industrial operations that remained privately-owned, and even a few that had no mainline connections. One of the main goals of the USRA was widespread electrification, starting with major commuter routes. The first to be electrified was the Southern Pacific's line up the San Francisco Peninsula from San Jose to San Francisco in 1955, with the Coast Line from San Jose to Los Angeles following shortly thereafter. This operation used the first standard electric locomotive, the GE EP-5. Shortly thereafter, when EMD introduced the GP9 and SD9, electric versions of both locomotives were also introduced, the GPEL9 and SDEL9, respectively; these replaced the EMD 567 prime movers with electric motors, and added a pair of pantographs. EMD would go on to supply the bulk of the USRA's electric freight locomotives, 99% of them being diesels with pantographs on top, which greatly simplified maintenance due to the use of common components.
Electrification spread rapidly from there, with principal Western mainlines such as the Southern Transcon, Overland Route, and Feather River Route fully-electrified by 1960. Electrification also spread apace in the east, all to the new 60 Hz standard implemented by the USRA. Around this time, GE introduced the E44, used for freight service. The model, as well as EMD's modified diesel designs, replaced almost all pre-nationalization designs in freight service within months of being introduced, with the PRR GG1 remaining in service until the early 1980s, when it was finally retired after almost 50 years of stalwart service on the Northeast Corridor, if only because it was such a reliable runner.
=== Modernization ===
By the 1960s, the USRA network was starting to look healthy, but was still antiquated compared to the networks in, for example, France and Japan. In 1963, the USRA identified what needed modernization, looking at various trends and data.
One proposal that was immediately shot down was full dieselization. The USRA Standards were designed with life extension in mind, with the first program expected to start in 1968. Besides which, steam locomotives had less of an environmental impact than diesels, and plastics were driving down operating costs for steam locomotives.
By 1965, multiple reforms had been made to improve efficiency and reduce costs under the USRA Modernization Project, including:
* Widespread introduction of intermodal freight, such as containerization and transporting trailers on "piggyback" flatcars
* Designing specialized cars to reduce the need for boxcars, including covered hoppers for grain and centerbeam flatcars for lumber
* Introducing "unit trains" that carry a single commodity, such as grain, coal, and crude oil
* Partial automation of yard switching
* Upgrading track for higher speeds
In addition, the USRA began investing in high-speed rail, starting with the densely-populated Northeast. That's a story for a later section.
=== Mergers and Sectorization ===
From the outset, the 21 regions of the USRA operated as 21 different concerns. To that end, rather than working together, the regions tended to work against each other, as if they hadn't been nationalized. The pre-depression cutthroat competition returned, and the USRA frequently had to intervene and stop this.
Not only were regions competing, they were even merging. In 1948, the Great Northern-Northern Pacific Region merged with the Burlington Region to create the first "super region", known as the Burlington Northern Region (region code BN). The USRA had allowed this merger to go forward due to the regions having no overlapping lines.
The problems with this began to arise in 1968, when the Pennsylvania and New York Central Regions merged to form a second "super region" known as the Penn Central Region. By 1970, the region had gone bankrupt, sending the USRA into damage control mode.
It soon came to light that other regions were planning to form "super regions", such as the Union Pacific Region absorbing the Southern Pacific, Missouri Pacific, and Chicago and North Western Regions, the Southern and Atlantic Coast Regions reviving the Norfolk Southern name to create the Norfolk Southern Region (region code NS), the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Regions merging to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Region (region code BNSF), and the C&O and B&O regions forming a "holding company" called Chessie System, with the ultimate goal to eventually merge with the Wabash-Seaboard Region (tentative region code CSX).
This situation demonstrated that the spirit of capitalism was conducive to the region system, as the regions were still being controlled by old railroad heads who believed in cutthroat competition, not cooperation. The 1970 Penn Central Region bankruptcy was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the USRA went to Congress for help, who immediately leapt into action to overhaul the USRA.
On May 1, 1971, the Claytor Plan, named for its architect, W. Graham Claytor Jr., went into action. The region system was completely dismantled, replaced by two corporate business sectors. All freight operations came under the jurasdiction of the Consolidated Rail Corporation, most passenger operations came under the purvue of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and commuter operations were largely taken out of the USRAs hands and devolved to the state level. Both sectors publicly trade respectively as Conrail and Amtrak, while the devolved commuter systems received their own unique identities, such as Caltrain in San Francisco and Regional Transit Authority (later Metra) for Chicago.
At its inception, Conrail lacked a corporate identity, and cars and locomotives carried the colors of the previous regions until 1976, when the now-familiar Conrail Blue was introduced. In this five-year period, locomotives from different regions were commonly mixed; it was common to see Union Pacific GP40s hauling coal in Kentucky or a Boston and Maine RS-11 switching cars on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. The only locomotives in Conrail's inventory it repainted were the USRA Standards, which all received a simple "CONRAIL" on their tenders. Amtrak, meanwhile, did have a corporate identity, that being the "Pointless Arrow", painting a less-colorful version on its USRA Standards, as well as the "All Aboard Amtrak" ad campaign that became a beloved fixture of American television. Amtrak's locomotive fleet mainly consisted of the EMD E and F-Series (including the dual-mode FL9), EMD FP45, GE U28CG, GE U30CG, GE U34CH, ALCO PA, and a good portion of the steam fleet, with a large variety of passenger cars from 1920s-vintage heavyweights to the Pioneer III introduced in 1966 as part of modernization efforts. Modernizing its fleet became Amtrak's #1 priority.
In the early 1970s, Amtrak ordered new locomotives from EMD and GE, these being the EMD SDP40F and GE P30CH. Both proved unreliable, with the SDP40F having multiple design flaws and the P30CH being a maintenance nightmare. Ultimately, Amtrak traded the SDP40Fs to Conrail for passenger versions of the GP9 and GP40-2 it had in its inventory, while the P30CH (or "Pooch", as railfans called it) struggled on until 1992, when the routes it was used on were fully electrified.
Amtrak also received the new GE E60C, built to the new USRA standard for electric locomotives, which was amended in 1974 when the E60s proved underwhelming, at which point EMD teamed with Swedish manufacturer ASEA to produce the AEM-7, a highly-successful design that is still operating on parts of the network today. As for the diesels, they were replaced by another highly-successful EMD design, the F40PH, which was so successful, variants are still in active service on commuter trains. The AEM-7 was largely confined to the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington DC, and for other electrified routes, EMD created what was effectively the F40PH with a pantograph, the GF6C. Even so, the USRA identified a need for higher passenger speeds.
=== High-Speed Rail ===
Part of the 1960s modernization efforts carried out by the USRA was laying the groundwork for high-speed rail. It was agreed that a transcontinental high-speed service would be infeasible due to the distances, and that traditional overnight trains (which were rapidly increasing in popularity due to American Airlines shifting to a volume-based business model in which passengers were being crammed into planes to maximize profit at the expense of comfort) were still viable, but regional high-speed services were the natural next step in modernizing passenger services.
In 1964, the Japanese National Railway (JNR) introduced the Shinkansen, the world's first high-speed train. The USRA looked to this for inspiration, but already, there were problems. For one, the domestic technology for a "bullet train" wasn't there yet, and President Norris had signed "Buy America" laws in 1942, meaning the USRA couldn't just have Shinkansens shipped over from Japan, they would have to be built domestically AND meet the stricter crashworthiness standards necessitated by the fact American trains are much heavier than elsewhere in the world; the Germans had made several strides in high-speed rail technology, but the USRA couldn't go to them, either, due to the ongoing Kalterkrieg between the Entente and Reichspakt. The Shinkansen also ran on a dedicated line instead of sharing tracks with slower passenger trains and freight trains, but in the United States, this would inevitably be met with backlash, as many of the Interstate Highways had been.
The decision was made early on to create a "blended system", in which high-speed trains would share the tracks with slower trains, but have their own express track, which in most cases would involve quadruple-tracking to let high-speed trains overtake slower trains.
The first attempt at a high-speed train came in 1968 with the United Aircraft TurboTrain, a gas-turbine train built in cooperation with Canadian National. The TurboTrain had a major innovation that put it ahead of the Shinkansen: a tilting mechanism that allowed it to "lean" into curves, reducing wear on wheels and allowing the train to go through curves faster than normal (the Shinkansen's dedicated tracks are largely straight, with gentle, sweeping curves). Despite this, the TurboTrain was a failure. The tilting mechanism had a nasty tendency to lock in the tilting position, making for an awkward ride for passengers. In addition to this, the train's aesthetics quickly became dated; at the time of its introduction, it was touted as "the train of the future", much like the infamous EMD Aerotrain had been in the 1950s. By the time the regions were abolished, however, it was a dated relic of the 1960s. By 1976, all of Amtrak's TurboTrains were withdrawn and sold to Canadian National.
The next year, a more-successful high-speed train was introduced, the Budd Metroliner. Built in cooperation with GE, the Metroliner had a much more conservative design compared to the "futuristic" TurboTrain. While the TuroTrain was gas-turbine, the Metroliner was electric. The first revenue run occurred on January 16, 1969, with services being under the jurasdiction of the Penn Central Region. Upon sectorization in 1971, the trains fell under Amtrak, and continued their success. Amtrak was so impressed with the trains, they commissioned Budd to construct two variants; one was a diesel-multiple unit known as the SPV-2000 for branchlines, while the other was an unpowered coach dubbed the Amfleet. 45 SPV-2000s were built, while over 642 Amfleets were built, more than enough to replace the pre-Amtrak cars on the Northeast Corridor and elsewhere.
In the 1970s, Amtrak dabbled in gas turbines again, this time in the form of the Turboliner. Built by Rohr Industries and derived from the French SNCF Class T 2000, the Turboliner's purpose was to run high-speed services on non-electrified routes. The train was a success, staying in service until being withdrawn in 2003.
The next high-speed development came in 1981, when the USRA and Canadian National completed a project dating back to 1966. This time, instead of a gas turbine train emphasizing "futurism", both parties decided on a lightweight diesel train inspired by the British Rail InterCity 125. The train saw the light of day in 1981 as the Bombardier LRC, used by both Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada. Like the TurboTrain, it has a tilting mechanism, but over ten years of refinement had made the technology more reliable. VIA used the LRC on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, while Amtrak, which ordered five times as many sets, used the LRC wherever the Turboliners couldn't be used. VIAs LRCs had one locomotive that required the train to be turned, while Amtrak's has one on each end. The LRC locomotives were retired by VIA in 2001, while the cars are still in active service pulled by conventional locomotives and with the tilting mechanisms disabled; Amtrak's LRCs, meanwhile, are still in service.
The Metroliners remained in service until the next big high-speed development came in 2001, when Amtrak inagurated the Acela Express. The new Acela trains have the same body profile and tilting mechanism as the LRCs, but this is the first true "bullet train" in the United States. The first sets were introduced on the Northeast Corridor in 2001, with further sets being rolled out to other major electrified corridors such as San Francisco-Los Angeles, Portland-Seattle, and Chicago-Indianapolis.
In 2016, the USRA began the High-Speed Modernization Program, aiming to replace the aging LRC and Acela Express sets. The LRCs are being replaced by the Siemens Venture, which is comprised of a pair of Siemens SCB-40 locomotives and a set of Venture passenger cars; LRCs in use on Miami-Orlando services have already been replaced, and lower-speed versions are planned to be used on California and Midwest corridor services, as well as intercity versions to replace 40% of the aging Amfleets and Horizons.
As for the Acelas, they will be replaced by the Liberty, built by French manufacturer Avelia.
=== Today ===
The United States Railway Administration continues to serve as a model of railway efficiency. The locomotives have changed considerably, but 98% of the USRA Standards remain in service to this day (the remaining 2% were either made part of the USRA Excursion Fleet, or were destroyed in crashes). Passenger rail remains the preferred method of travel for most Americans, and more freight trains are run than there are trucks on the road; it is estimated that, had this not been the case, the planet would be experiencing a serious climate emergency.
== See also ==
* List of USRA steam locomotive classes
* List of USRA diesel locomotive types
* List of USRA electric locomotive types
* List of USRA passenger car types
* List of USRA passenger trains
Category:Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg