 This is our great country, land we live in, and we're so proud of the United States of America. It's a big country, this land of ours, a country of broad plains and rolling prairies, a vast forests and fertile fields, rivers and lakes, high mountains, little villages and great cities. No wonder we're so proud of America, there's such to be proud of. And here's one of the most wonderful things about this vast country of ours, no matter where we want to travel, no minds of raw materials and manufactured goods. Have you ever stopped to think how really important railroads are? Have you ever thought of what it takes for the millions of people in this great country to be able to travel from one end of the land to the other with speed, safety, comfort and at low cost? Have you ever marveled at the iron ore and coal and hundreds of other raw materials that move continuously to the nation's widespread factories? And how thousands of different finished products are delivered from where they are made to where they are needed in all parts of the country? Have you ever wondered how the foods we eat are always being delivered from the farms to our markets and how they arrive fresh as the day they were picked? Well, the answers to those questions make up one of the most fascinating and important stories in the history of our country, the story of the American railroads. In order to tell you that story, we're going to visit the railroad yards. We're going into the railroad stations and out along the tracks. In that way, you will get a better idea of what the nation's railroad system is like and the big, important job trains are always doing. Then the next time you are on a train or the next time you see a train speeding off into the distance, you'll understand how much we all depend on railroads. How much heat this land of ours, the most wonderful and prosperous nation in the world. When our country was young and much smaller than it is today, traveling was slow, uncomfortable and dangerous and so people didn't travel very much. And just a little more than a hundred years ago came the one for the young country needed to grow into an important nation, adequate transportation. That transportation came in the form of railroads. Those early trains were funny little affairs when compared with the big trains we see rolling today. They had a lot to do with opening up and developing vast new territories which later became states. You could say that America and her railroads grew up together. As the railroads pushed ahead, settlers followed. Farms were cleared and crops planted, mines were opened and the railroads began moving the ore and the coal to mills and factories. Trains which sprang up around the railroad stations grew and prospered into big important cities, lengthened breadth of the land, trains come and go day and night in all kinds of weather, carrying millions of people and millions of tons of freight. Because we don't always see the trains which serve us, maybe everyone doesn't realize how essential railroads are to our everyday living. If everyone likes to travel, suppose we see what happens when we take a train trip. We'll go along with these two friends of ours, Carol and Jimmy. That is, if Jimmy can ever get Carol's suitcase shut, life, their parents would probably go along with them. But for this picture, suppose we let Carol and Jimmy travel by themselves. Okay? And that we'll take them to the railroad station. Most every town has a railroad station. It's larger than others, but all railroad stations, large or small, are very interesting places. For example, at most railroad stations, you will usually find the Railway Express. You will see people checking and sorting packages to make certain that they will be put aboard trains which will take them to their destinations without delay. And remember, they will handle almost anything, including your dog. In the yards of many railroad stations, cars are cleaned inside and out to put them into tip-top condition for the passengers who will soon be getting aboard. In another part of the yards, dining cars are stocked with fresh vegetables, meats, milk, and all the other foods that will be needed for the meals that will be served when the train is on its way. There is usually an engine house where locomotives are brought for cleaning and servicing. Maybe you've wondered how great big locomotives are turned around. Let's watch and see how easy it is. The locomotive is run onto the turntable. On goes the power, and around goes the locomotive as easy as you please. Better not forget Carol and Jimmy. Here they are arriving in plenty of time to check their baggage and buy their tickets before their train is scheduled to leave. Pay the taxi driver, Jimmy, and get a check from the red cap for each one of your handbags. The next stop is to buy tickets. Now let's see, Jimmy and Carol are going to visit their aunt and uncle at a town about a thousand miles away. They will be coming back by train, so they will buy round-trip tickets. Buying round-trip tickets, they will be saving money too. The ticket clerk stamps each ticket with the date on which the ticket is purchased and the date on which the ticket is used. So far, so good. As Carol and Jimmy are going to sleep on the train, they'll have to have sleeping car tickets too. That's right, you're all set now. Say, you'd better not take too much time paying for your tickets, Jimmy, because here comes your train. There's nothing quite as exciting as a railroad station at train time. From the time the train arrives until it is ready to leave again is usually only a matter of a few minutes, but during that short period, many things happen. Trunks, luggage, and other such items are loaded into the baggage car near the head end of the train. The United States mail is put aboard the railway mail car. Windows are cleaned by a mechanical washer. Friends and relatives bid each other last-minute goodbyes. Passengers like Carol and Jimmy board their cars and are shown their space in the car by the porter. It's just about time now for the train to pull out. All aboard! Train conductor signals to the locomotive engineer. After a second, the wheels start turning. Smoothly, almost without effort, the train gathers momentum. In the open country again, running along at top speed. It's really great fun traveling on trains. You can sit for hours just watching the scenery as it rushes by. It's almost like a travel motion picture. One of the most interesting motion pictures you could possibly imagine. Most passenger trains carry the United States mail. For the railroad postal car is the very backbone of our country's mail service. These men are railway postal clerks, just like the clerks in the post office at home. Except that here they work while the train speeds along. Watch them sort the mail, getting it ready for delivery by the time the train reaches the proper station. One of the most popular cars on almost any passenger train is the dining car. A real restaurant on wheels. Table for two? Right this way please. Well Jimmy, what do you think you'd like to eat? What a choice! Almost anything you can think of. And if you need any help, the steward is only too pleased to offer some suggestions. Here's an interesting part of the train most people never get a chance to see. The dining car kitchen. No space is wasted and everything is speck and span. Mmm, that food really looks good enough to eat doesn't it? Looks as though Carol and Jimmy topped off their meal with ice cream. What's this? Oh, the check. That's alright my good man, keep the change. Modern trains provide low cost, dependable, comfortable and safe transportation. They have spacious air conditioned lounge and dome cars where passengers can relax and read or sit and talk with fellow passengers. There are many types of accommodations on modern trains. There are single rooms like this called roomettes, rooms, compartments and more spacious drawing rooms. All with the latest conveniences, rooms which make up into sleeping rooms at night. That's right Carol, always use the ladder to get into an upper. Good night Jimmy and Carol and pleasant dreams. Always remember that you're traveling the safest and soundest way there is to travel when you travel by train. We've been talking mostly about passenger trains. But how many of you know that about half of the trains in the country carry no passengers at all? That's right, they carry freight. Things that are so important in our daily lives. Food we eat, clothes we wear. Most everything we use depends at some stage on the service of railroads. On the fertile fields of the north and west are grown the millions of bushels of grains which are so much a part of our everyday diets. The railroads move these grains to huge storage elevators or on to the mill. Then later on when the grains have been ground the railroads move products such as flour to the cities and towns to be baked into the bread which we find every day on the shelves of our neighborhood grocery stores. Being cattle and sheep from the great ranges of the west is another important railroad job. The cattle are first rounded up and they are low special railroad cars to be moved sometimes long distances to packing houses where they are dressed. Then the meats are moved again to the meat markets of the country. Eventually through the help of railroads we have meat on our dinner tables. Fresh fruits and vegetables, things known as perishables are handled in special refrigerator cars. Kept cool with ice or with machinery that works like your refrigerator at home to keep perishables fresh while they are being moved. Sometimes as far as 3,000 miles. Roads are dependent upon to move the nation's raw materials to factories which will make them into finished products. Scooped from the mines of Alabama and the great ranges of Minnesota are moved to the nation's blast furnaces to be made into iron and steel. Roads also buy millions of tons of finished iron and steel every year for their cars and locomotives, tracks and bridges. Bull is one of the most important things carried by the railroads. Millions of tons are moved every year to keep power plants and factories working. Roads are dependent upon to deliver the coal to towns and cities. To keep homes, hospitals, school houses and other buildings heated during the cold winter months. Large quantities of coal every year for their steam locomotives and for other railroad uses. Railroads carry forest products, logs and pulp wood from the forests to the mills. And they carry the lumber and the paper and other products made from wood or wood pulp to the places where they are needed. Cotton grown in Dixie is moved to the textile mills of New England and the southeast. Where it is made into cloth for clothing and thousands of other important items. Move by the railroads in huge quantities too. And the railroads buy and use a large part of all the fuel oil sold in the country every year. Tracks go right down to the docks at the nation's seaports. So that freight cars deliver the products of farms, forests, mines and mills to the ships that will sail with them to the far corners of the world. And so that things from other countries can be loaded directly into railroad cars for delivery all over America. When you stop to think about it, you realize what a great big job the railroads are always doing. And why they are the nation's most important form of transportation. Always on the moon, day and night. Delivering all the many things that America needs to keep warm, well fed and properly clothed. And here is something that many of you may not have realized before about the railroads of America. That they pay enough in school taxes alone to provide an education for hundreds of thousands of school children every year into their station. It looks like their aunt and uncle are pretty happy to see them too. It's ready to start moving again. Pulling out of the station, gathering speed, carrying other passengers, mail, express and baggage to other stations. We certainly hope you've had a nice time coming along on this trip with us. And that you've learned something about railroads that perhaps you didn't know before. We hope each and every one of you will be able to take a trip on a train very soon. Perhaps you'll want to visit a big city. Prefer to take a vacation trip to the wide open spaces. Or maybe some of you will prefer the seashore. But no matter where you might want to go, remember there are always trains to take you. And when you go, you'll see how big and how wonderful your own United States of America really is. But in our daily lives, carrying millions of tons of freight and millions of people every day of the year. That's one of the wonderful things about this country of ours. Here people can go where they want to go, when they want to go. Yes, this is indeed a great land of opportunity by the efforts of individuals. Efforts which have raised ours to the world's highest standard of living. Here in America, a person can worship God as he chooses. He can go to the church of his choice. This is a land where a person can go to school and be educated to the extent of his ability and desire. From kindergarten to universities as fine as are to be found anywhere in the world. This is a great country, America. A country of the people, by the people, for the people. Country whose flag we are always proud to honor. And who writes principles and freedoms we are always proud to uphold. It was upon these principles and freedoms that this nation was built. And these same principles and freedoms held fast by America's youth. A youth educated in her history and traditions are the greatest hope, the greatest protection for the future of this, the greatest of all countries, United States of America.