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The following appeared in an Association of American Railroads publication, titled A Chronology of American Railroads, in 1951. The purpose of the booklet was to promote railroads and educate the public about their importance to our nation.

THE AMERICAN RAILROAD SYSTEM

I am the Burden Bearer of the Nation. I am the Nation's Number One Delivery Boy.

I carry the products of millions of American farms to thousands of American factories and to millions of American homes.

I take the coal from the mines, the ore from the hills, the stone from the quarries, and carry them to the market places.

I keep the factories of the Nation supplied with raw materials. I distribute the products of these factories to cities and towns and hamlets from Maine to California, from Washington State to F'lorida.

I meet the ships of the Seven Seas at our seaports. I receive the coffee, the sugar, the spices, the rubber, the copra, and the countless other things which these ships bring to our shores, and I deliver them to the factories and stores and homes where they are wanted. I gather up the surplus products of farms, forests, mines, and mills and carry them in endless streams to fill the ships that come for cargo.

I bring the circus to your city, the entertainers to your theaters, the films to your movies.

I speed across America, from city to city, from town to town, with your express shipments-parcels and crates and boxes-picking them up or delivering them at your doors.

I am the mail carrier for the Nation. I carry ninety-nine out of every hundred pieces of non-local mail in this country. I bring you letters from distant relatives and friends-letters that mean so much in your life. I also bring you post cards, packages, and your favorite magazines.

I am the Nation's safest carrier of passengers. I am the swiftest carrier of pas- sengers by land.

At this very moment, tens of thousands of people are speeding across America in my comfortable traveling hotels-businessmen on important missions, students going to and from schools and colleges, newlyweds on their honeymoons, vacationists en route to distant resorts, parents going to visit their children, children going to visit their parents.

Not only do I carry the American people on their myriad errands, I provide them with comfortable beds in which to sleep; I serve them food and refreshments; and I look after their every want while they are my guests.

I am an employer as well as a transporter. One and one-quarter million men and women work for me and with me in performing my great transportation tasks.

I am one of the chief shoppers of the Nation. I am constantly buying; yet my wants are never satisfied. Yesterday I spent millions; today I am spending millions more; tomorrow I shall spend other millions with mines and mills and factories and wholesalers for the many things I must have to keep my millions of wheels rolling.

I am one of the chief supporters of government. The taxes I pay-amounting to millions of dollars a day-help pay the salaries of our public officials, meet the expenses of our public schools, protect the health of communities, provide police and fire protec- tion, build roads, airports, and waterways all over America.

I am an empire builder and a promoter of unity. I have knit this far-flung Nation together, linking North with South, East with West, in one great community of com- mon interest and common understanding.

I never sleep. Night and day, month in and month out, year after year, summer and winter, rain or snow, in storm or flood-I carry on!

I am a vital part of the Nation's economic life.

I am the American Railroad System!