Railway Town
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A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there.


North America

During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, " Hell on wheels" towns, made mostly of canvas tents, accompanied the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
as construction headed west. Most faded away but some became permanent settlements. In the 1870s, successive boomtowns sprung up in
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, each prospering for a year or two as a railhead, and withering when the rail line extended further west and created a new endpoint for the Chisholm Trail. Becoming rail hubs made
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
grow from small towns to large cities. Sayre, Pennsylvania and
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
were among the American company towns created by railroads in places where no settlement already existed. In western Canada, railway towns became associated with brothels and prostitution, and concerned railway companies started a series of
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
s in the late nineteenth century in response.


Role in land speculation

In some cases, a railroad town would be started by the railroad, often using a separate town or land
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
, even when another town already existed nearby. The population of the existing town would shift to the railroad town. This would create a boon for the town company and its railroad founder, which would sell off lots near the station at a substantial profit, often before the railroad ever arrived at the new townsite. Such is the case with
Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. In the spring of 1880, William Bell of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad scoured the La Plata County area in the vicinity of Animas City, located on the Animas River. When negotiations to acquire land through the local homesteaders fell through, Bell acquired property downstream to the south under more favorable conditions in the name of the Durango Land and Coal Company. By the end of the year, a Durango newspaper reported all of "Animas City is coming to Durango as fast as accommodations can be secured". The population, at the time estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 people, crammed into the little "box town", where the only permanent structures were saloons, dance halls, restaurants and stores. When the railroad arrived in August 1881, the train stopped in a jubilant Durango, not Animas City. The railroad pushed on up the Animas River, reaching Silverton in July 1882, passing through Animas City without a stop. Animas City subsisted as a ''de facto''
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of the Durango area before annexation by Durango in 1948. The
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge heritage railway, heritage railroad that operates on of track between Durango, C ...
, a
heritage railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
and successor to the Rio Grande in La Plata County, still passes by the townsite.


Europe

In
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, a related concept is the stationsby or "station town". Stationsbyer are rural towns that grew up around railways, but they were based on agricultural co-operatives and artisan communities rather than on railway industries. Among the Swedish towns mostly influenced by railways include Alvesta as a hub for the inland south and
Hallsberg Hallsberg () is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Hallsberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 7,122 inhabitants in 2010. It is also partly located in Kumla Municipality. Overview This settlement grew up around a railway junction, ...
as a hub for the interior middle of the country. For Norway, towns such as
Bryne Bryne (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Time, Norway, Time municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality of Time and it is also List of urban areas in Norway by population ...
on the west coast, Lillestrøm and Ås in the east and south of Oslo are good examples, while
Skjeberg Skjeberg is a district of Sarpsborg, Østfold County, Norway. Skjeberg was formerly a municipality in Østfold County. The last administrative centre was at Borgenhaugen. As of 2018, Skjeberg has a population of 1,397. The parish of Skjeberg ...
still identifies as a railway town even though no trains stop that any longer.


United Kingdom

In Victorian Britain, the spread of railways greatly affected the fate of many small towns.
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
and
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
became successful due to their status as railway towns; in contrast, towns such as Frome or
Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...
remained small after being bypassed by main lines. Some entirely new towns grew up around railway works.
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
was the first new town to be developed due to the railways, growing from a hamlet of 40 into an industrial port after the
Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...
was extended in 1830.
Wolverton Wolverton ( ) is a constituent town of Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban ar ...
was fields before 1838 and had a population of 1,500 by 1844. Other examples of early railway towns include Ashford (Kent),
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
,
Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 (Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Brent Reserv ...
and Rugby.
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
came to be dominated, first by the
North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a railway line and Great Britain, British railway company, which opened a line from the city of Derby in Derbyshire to the city of Leeds in Yorkshire in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby J ...
, and later the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...
, which based all their engineering works, as well as their company headquarters, in the town; a large area of the town was built by the company architect, Francis Thompson.
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...
grew greatly after the
Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...
Company moved there in 1843; the two rural towns that became Crewe had a population of 500 in 1841 and the population had reached more than 40,000 by 1900. The railway town of 'New Swindon' displaced the neighbouring pre-existing town after the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
moved there; a market town of 2,000 in 1840 became a railway town of 50,000 in 1905. Railways became major employers, with 6,000 people employed by them in Crewe in 1877 and 14,000 in Swindon in 1905. The growth of railway towns was often in the mould of the ' paternalistic employer' providing housing, schools, hospitals, churches and civic buildings for their workers, similar to Cadbury's
Bournville Bournville () is a 19th century model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alc ...
; there was a "very rigid and unimaginative control" of the workers by GWR in Swindon. Workforces were loyal and obedient;
industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...
in railway towns was rare because the workforce depended on the company. Railwaymen dominated local politics in railway towns, particularly Francis Webb's 'Independent Railway Company Party' in Crewe and George Leeman in York. The chief mechanical engineer of GWR,
Daniel Gooch Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Locomotive Superintendent, Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Ra ...
, was MP for Swindon for twenty years. Crewe was a 'company town' for its first few decades as workers moved in their thousands from other parts of the country. Most social amenities and organisations were sponsored by the railway, but moves such as the establishment of a town council in 1877 slowly reduced company influence and the railway company began to consider spending on town amenities as a municipal concern. Workers organised their own institutions such as clubs, trade unions and co-operatives to gain independence from company control; they became the basis for political opposition in railway towns.


Germany

Railway towns due to traffic junctions are Aulendorf, Bebra, Betzdorf, Buchloe, Falkenberg/Elster, Freilassing, Hagen, Hamm, Lehrte, Offenburg, Plattling and Treuchtlingen. Railway towns as locations of depots for pusher locomotives at the foot of gradient lines are Altenhundem or Neuenmarkt. Railway towns with large border stations are Freilassing or Weil am Rhein.


Austria

Knittelfeld is a railway town based on main workshops, with the Austrian Federal Railways as by far the largest employer. Arnoldstein was once an important border station to Italy.


Switzerland

Examples in Switzerland are Olten or as the location of a railway depot for push locomotives Erstfeld. One place with a large border station is Chiasso.


France

Examples of railway cities in France are Tergnier and Miramas. Examples of a railway town by its border station is Cerbère, where the tracks of the Spanish broad gauge end.


Belgium

In Belgium, the town of Montzen is of outstanding importance in railway transport.


Lithuania

As of 2021 Lithuanian census, 8 settlements in Lithuania have the legal classification of a Railway Station, with the largest of them being , which is larger than the nearby town of Panemunėlis.


Luxembourg

With its marshalling yard and other railway facilities on the international Brussels/Amsterdam-Luxembourg-Metz line, Bettemburg has gained great importance in transit traffic through Luxembourg.


Poland

After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the city of Bentschen (today Zbąszyń) was ceded by
Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
to
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Subsequently, the German Reichsbahn established the station Neu Bentschen, which functions as a border station and as a junction for three lines leading to the west. Since there was no larger town near the new station, the Deutsche Reichsbahn had a railway settlement built, which subsequently grew into a town. It was given the name Neu Bentschen (today Zbąszynek).


Portugal

An example of a railway town in Portugal is Entroncamento.


Romania

Simeria in Romania grew into a city through new railway facilities.


Czech Republic

After the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy disintegrated and the state of Czechoslovakia was created. In 1920, Czechoslovakia was granted some areas of Austria close to the border, including the railway station of the Lower Austrian town of Gmünd with the surrounding district. From this the new town České Velenice developed. The reason for drawing the border was the meeting of the railway lines to České Budějovice and Prague in České Velenice.


Asia


China

Zhuzhou Zhuzhou ( zh, c=株洲, p=Zhūzhōu, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is ...
used to be a small town that sits next to the
Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the second-largest tributary (after the Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the fifth-largest ...
in Hunan. The mining of Anyuan Coal Mines in Pingxiang, Jiangxi requires a rail line to transport the coals out of the coalfields and Zhuzhou became the destination. The railway transformed Zhuzhou into a prosperous industrial city in Hunan Province and one of the most important rail hubs in China.
Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...
in China was built by the Japanese, then occupying Manchuria, as a 'model town' as part of Japan's imperialist modernisation. The first railway town at Changchun was begun by the Russians in 1898, but it excluded Chinese residents. A second major railway town was designed and built from 1905 by the
South Manchuria Railway The South Manchuria Railway (; ), officially , Mantetsu () or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operation of railways on the Dalian– Fengtian (Mukden)–Changchun (called Xinjing from ...
, inspired by Russian railway towns such as
Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
. It was based on a rectangular system that contrasted with the circular walled town of old Changchun, and grid patterns became the standard for Chinese railway towns. The SMR developed dozens of railway towns in north-east China from 1906 to 1936, such as at Harbin and Mukden.


South Korea

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...
City in South Korea was a small village before the 1900s, the construction of
Gyeongbu Line The Gyeongbu line (''Gyeongbuseon'') is a railway line in South Korea and is considered to be the most important and one of the oldest in the country. It was constructed in 1905, connecting Seoul with Busan via Suwon, Daejeon, and Daegu. It is ...
and
Honam Line The Honam Line is a major railway line serving the Honam region (North and South Jeolla Provinces) in South Korea. The line is served by frequent passenger trains from Seoul (via the Gyeongbu Line) to Gwangju and Mokpo. History A Honam Ra ...
, and the subsequent transfer of the provincial capital from historic city of
Gongju Gongju (; ) is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. History Gongju was formerly named Ungjin and was the capital of Baekje from AD 475 to 538. In this period, Baekje was under threat from Goguryeo. Goguryeo had overrun the previ ...
made Daejeon grew into a major transportation hub in Korea.
Korail The Korea Railroad Corporation () is the national railway operator in South Korea. It is branded as KORAIL () and changed its official Korean name () in November 2019. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed by Ministry of Land, ...
's headquarters is located in Daejeon.


Oceania


Australia

When the
Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta railway station, Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie railway station, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. Built to standa ...
was built in the mid-1910s, much of it across the uninhabited
Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...
, the federal government erected almost 50
villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...
to accommodate railway employees and their families – but few if any facilities, other than a schoolroom in the larger settlements. A special train, with an onboard butcher, ran weekly to provide supplies. When a change was made in the early 1950s from steam to diesel locomotives, with their longer fuel range and far lower repairs and maintenance, the need for such settlements decreased greatly. Subsequently, computerisation of operations, radio communication, and upgrading to concrete sleepers and continuously welded rail reduced track inspection and maintenance considerably. Since 2001, maintenance work has been undertaken by contractors whose families do not live on the line. Consequently, almost all buildings on the railway have been demolished. Elsewhere in Australia, many settlements also originated as support places along railway lines. Often in those cases, the town plan provided for the railway to be located at, or near, the centre. Far from being viewed as a dirty, noisy, dangerous, disruptive intruder, the railway's placement reflected the social outlook and economic conditions of its time and the central importance of its service to the community. As a result of subsequent economic and social change, not least the availability of motor vehicles since the 1920s, good highways since the 1960s and a steep decline in farm employment since 2000,After many years of slight decline, farm employment dropped by one-third in the 20 years after 2000. few but the largest railway-induced settlements have endured into the 21st century.


New Zealand

The
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
suburb of Frankton is located at the junction of the
North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...
and the East Coast Main Trunk. Frankton was originally an independent borough but it merged with Hamilton Borough in 1917. In the 20th century, Frankton was a busy railway town, with both industrial and passenger uses. Frankton includes a historic area of 1920s pre-fabricated cottages originally built for railway workers.


See also

*
Crossroads village In Colonial American history, a crossroads village is a settlement that was situated where two or more roads would intersect. The owners of farmland along a frequently traveled trail, path, or road, often paralleling a water route, would plan a ...
*
Company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
* List of railway towns *
Streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...


Notes


References

{{reflist, 2 History of rail transport Types of towns da:Jernbaneby