Continental Rail
An EMD SD80MAC in the Conrail color scheme. | |
Overview | |
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Headquarters | Chicago, American CR, United Commonwealth |
Reporting mark | CR, CRY (yard locomotives) |
Locale | United Commonwealth, with extensions into Tournesol, Brazoria, Quebec, and the Maritimes |
Dates of operation | 1921–present |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Length | 42,335 miles (68,132 km) |
Continental Rail (reporting mark: CR, CRY), also referred to as Conrail, is the state-owned railroad corporation of the United Commonwealth that operates 42,335 miles of track, primarily east of the Mississippi River, with joint trackage rights on some segments of track in Tournesol, Brazoria, Quebec, and the Maritimes. It is the largest railroad in the world (followed by Germany's Deutsche Bahn) in terms of passengers served and freight transported annually. Conrail provides both freight and passenger rail service, with 5.3 billion riders on its intercity trains as of 2019. The company employs nearly 1 million people and operates many hundreds of trains every day. Conrail's headquarters are located near Union Station in Chicago and it is managed by the People's Commissariat for Transportation.
In 1921, before the Continental Revolutionary War was over, the new Continentalist provisional government nationalized several private railroad companies in the United Commonwealth, as the railroads had been instrumental for the Revolutionary Army's success against the Federalists. Railroads were the primary means of long-distance transportation across the large country and many railroad workers were sympathetic to the Landonist cause at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The Norfolk and Western Railway, New York Central Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, Chicago and North Western Railway, Southern Railway, Seaboard Air Line Railroad, Illinois Central Railroad, and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad were the largest companies in operation at that time and were combined to form the "Continental Railroad System" on May 31, 1921, by an order of the People's Commissar for Transportation Winston Ashtabula. By 1928 all of the private railroads in the Commonwealth had been nationalized.
During the Great Wars the Continental Railroad provided logistical support for the Continental Armed Forces. It remained the primary means of transportation until the development of the Thoroughfare system and airlines in the 1960s and 1970s, from which point ridership began to decline, but it still remains relatively high. In 1976 the company received its current name "Continental Rail." There were very few direct rail connections between Western North American countries and the United Commonwealth for much of the 20th century because of geopolitical tensions, but as the Cold War ended in the 1990s and 2000s Conrail has increased its cooperation with other railroads, such as Superior's Great Northern Railway, Sierra's Royal Pacific Railroad, and the Manitoban National Railway.
In the present day, CR passenger trains are divided into three categories: high-speed intercity trains, higher-speed and normal-speed intercity trains, and regional/local trains that connect small towns and suburbs to large cities in their area.
History
Corporate structure
Continental Rail is regulated by the People's Commissariat for Transportation and is controlled by the Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth, like many other government-owned corporations in the country.
Most employees of CR are members of the Continental Union of Railway Workers, the labor union representing railroad workers in the Commonwealth.
Service divisions
The train service is organized into four functional branches.
CR InterCity
CR Regional
CR Cargo
CR High-Speed
Operating divisions
CR has several regional divisions, with most of them being roughly approximate to the trackage of some of the former railroads that existed prior to the Continental Revolutionary War, which were absorbed into the unified Continental Rail System in 1921. The regional divisions correspond to the region in which their employees operate.
Boston and Maine Division
Trackage primarily in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine (the former Boston and Maine Railroad).
New Haven Division
Trackage primarily in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts (the former New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad).
Penn Central Division
Trackage primarily in New York, Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvanian Dutch Autonomous Republic (the former New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad).
Virginian Division
Trackage primarily in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and the Appalachian Autonomous Republic (the majority of the former Norfolk and Western Railway).
Atlantic Coastline Division
Trackage primarily in North Carolina and South Carolina (parts of the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad).
Baltimore and Ohio Division
Trackage primarily in Ohio and Indiana (the western section of the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad).
Grand Trunk Division
Trackage primarily in Ontario (the former Grand Trunk Railway).
Cotton Belt Division
Trackage primarily in Arkansas, Missouri, Acadiana, and Louisiana (the former St Louis Southwestern Railway).
Illinois Central Division
Trackage primarily in Illinois and Mississippi (the former Illinois Central Railroad).
Southern Division
Trackage primarily in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee (the majority of the former Southern Railway).
Passenger service
Conrail has a monopoly on passenger service across the United Commonwealth, which consists of high-speed (210 mph), higher-speed (125 mph), and normal-speed (80 mph) trains, including long distance as well as regional and local trains. There were over 5.3 billion riders on its passenger trains in 2019.
Locomotives and rolling stock
Conrail was reported as operating nearly 9,000 locomotives and 87,000 rolling stock as of 2019. Continental Electric is the main manufacturer of locomotives for the railroad while the TTX Company is the main manufacturer of rail cars.
Color scheme
Blue, red, and white are the main colors used on locomotives and certain rolling stock.
Heritage fleet
Conrail maintains a fleet of heritage units that are painted in the colors of some of the historic Continental railroads that had been absorbed into the company when it was created in 1921.
Popular culture
Throughout the history of rail service in the United Commonwealth, the People's Commissariat for Transportation has utilized several advertisement schemes to promote the image of Continental Rail. In the 1940s, Continental Rail utilized "Wabash Cannonball" as the service's theme song after its popularization by the Carter Family. Continental Rail utilized Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion" throughout the 1960s.
The Continentalist Party popularized the song "Love Train" by the O'Jays in connection to Conrail as it sought to export Conrail's technology across the world. Rupert Gardner was the first President of the United Commonwealth to appear in a music video, where he was depicted waving from a Conrail MP75. Conrail and Gardner utilized the commercial campaign as a propaganda tool to promote détente during the Cold War.
In 1997 the rail service attempted to use Quad City DJ's "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" in its advertisements, although the government quickly pulled the campaign after the Central Committee deemed the song too "salacious". Conrail reverted to using "Love Train", and has since used the song to advertise its service. Continental Rail has been mentioned in a series of songs, including Angry Johnny's "Racing the Train", and MRJSTAR's "Marie la Gata".
See also
- Altverse II
- Continental Rail
- Continental companies established in 1921
- Passenger rail transportation in the United Commonwealth
- Class I railroads in North America
- Economy of the United Commonwealth
- Companies based in Chicago
- 1921 establishments in the United Commonwealth
- Government-owned companies of the United Commonwealth