Trains Helped Keep America On Track

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, it feels like the right moment to look back at the infrastructure that helped shape a young nation into something far greater than the sum of its parts. In Northeast Ohio, that story runs through the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where the historic Ohio & Erie Canal and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad trace a shared path through time.

Most people probably think of trains in terms of moving people or goods from one place to another and that role is certainly part of the train story. But you don’t have to dig too deep to discover that trains played a major role in the growth of sports (especially baseball in the early years) and politics as whistle-stop tours became the new way to reach the people where they live.

Baseball Evolves from Local Pastime to Regional Leagues. . .
Thanks to Trains!

At the turn of the 20th century, baseball was growing fast in popularity. Fans followed their local teams play other teams in the same general area. But trains changed everything. The expansion of railroads enabled the concept of leagues where teams could travel long distances and even include multi-city trips without returning home in between. In fact, game times were typically set to coincide with train schedules. This also meant that immediately following the completion of a game, a team could climb aboard the train to travel to their next destination.

An unplanned benefit of train travel was the opportunity for players to bond during these long train trips.

Cleveland Spiders players circa late 1880s. From Library of Congress

With media members joining the teams on the train, this gave media a first-hand view of the games and the ability to get post-game comments on the train. This elevated baseball media coverage and created a relationship between players and “beat” writers that continues to this day.

By the mid-1940s, travel by air had become the norm and baseball train travel went the way of the spitter. Soon after, some east coast teams moved to the west coast and changed baseball forever. It was trains (and later planes) that made this all possible.

Political Figures Discover the Whistle-stop Tour That Gave People the Ability to Meet, See and Hear Politicians Angling for Their Vote. . .
Thanks to Trains!

Black and White Photo of President Truman on a train.

Truman winking, probably during his whistle stop campaign. c1948 by Russell E. Manuel, via Library of Congress.

While Theodore Roosevelt used trackside platform campaign rallies as early as the 19th century, Harry S. Truman is credited with creating and popularizing the “Whistle-stop” tour during his 1948 campaign for president. Ironically, it was Senator Robert Taft who mocked Truman for giving speeches at every “whistle-stop” along the route. But it was Truman who mastered the art. His campaign featured a 31,000-mile train journey with the goal of directly connecting to voters and showing that no candidate was more “in touch” with the voters than he was. Many of these “whistle-stops” were in small town rural areas where trains only stopped on request. The familiar whistle brought out the locals for an intimate meeting with a presidential candidate (something unheard of prior to this.)

Later, Lady Bird Johnson rode the rails in 1964 with her “Lady Bird Special” tour through the South in support of her husband’s campaign.

As late as 1984, Ronald Reagan used trains to travel throughout Ohio in support of his successful presidential campaign. In the 1980’s, Ohio was a critical swing state and one that Reagan wanted to assure he would win.

Learn more about the history of Northeast Ohio in our recent blog posts commemorating America's 250th birthday!