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((Short description|WWI-era temporary railroad nationalization program))
((about|the nationalized rail system during World War I|the corporation that oversaw [[Conrail]]|United States Railway Association))
((More citations needed|date=November 2010))
[[File:"Clear the Track!" by Satterfield on January 12, 1918.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Political cartoon characterizing the startup of the USRA in 1918]]
The '''United States Railroad Administration''' (USRA) was the name of the [[nationalisation|nationalized]] [[railroad]] system of the [[United States]] between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920.<ref>U.S. National Archives. Washington, D.C. ((cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/014.html|title=Records of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA)|access-date=2009-02-27)) Record Group 14, 1917-38.</ref> It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency following American entry into [[World War I]]. During its brief existence, the USRA made major investments in the United States railroad system, and introduced standardized locomotive and railroad car classes, known as [[USRA standard]]. After the end of World War I, while some in the United States advocated for continuing nationalization, ultimately the railroads were returned to their previous owners in early 1920.

== Background ==
Although the carriers had made massive investments in the first years of the 20th century, there remained inadequacies in [[rail terminal|terminals]], [[rail tracks|trackage]], and [[rolling stock]]. [[Inflation]] struck the [[Economy of the United States|American economy]], and when in 1906 [[United States Congress|Congress]] empowered the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) to set maximum shipping rates,<ref>''See'' [[Hepburn Act]] (1906).</ref> the rail firms had difficulty securing revenue sufficient to keep pace with rising costs. The ICC did allow some increases in rates, however. Ownership of the ((convert|260,000|mile|km|adj=on)) United States rail network was divided among 441 distinct corporations. Investors had overexpanded the nation's trackage, so by late 1915 fully one-sixth of the railroad trackage in the country belonged to roads in [[receivership]] ([[bankruptcy]]). The national railway investment of $17.5 billion, of which more than half was funded by debt, had an estimated worth of $16 billion.<ref name="March">((cite book |last=March |first=Francis A. |title=History of the World War |url=https://archive.org/details/historyworldwar00beamgoog |publisher=United Publishers of the United States and Canada |date =1919 |location=Philadelphia))</ref>((rp|515–16))

European nations engaged in [[World War I]] ordered $3 billion of munitions from United States factories; and most of this production was routed through a few Atlantic [[port]] cities. Terminal facilities in these cities were not designed to handle the resulting volume of export tonnage, though German destruction of Allied cargo ships was ultimately a bigger problem.  Thousands of loaded railroad cars were delayed awaiting transfer of their contents to ships; they were essentially used as warehouses. This resulted in a shortage of railroad cars to move normal freight traffic. The United States' declaration of war on April 6, 1917, increased rail congestion by requiring movement of soldiers from induction points through training facilities to embarkation points.<ref name="March" />((rp|513))

[[File:Burlington employee pass 1919.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] employee's pass issued by USRA]]
The railroad [[labor union|unions]] (commonly called "brotherhoods"), desiring shorter working days and better pay, threatened [[strike action]] in the second half of 1916. To avert a strike, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] secured Congressional passage of the [[Adamson Act]], which set the eight-hour work day as the industry standard.<ref>United States. Adamson Act, Sept. 3, 5, 1916, ch. 436, ((USStat|39|721)). ((USC|45|65)) et seq.</ref> When the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] ruled the law [[constitutionality|constitutional]], the carriers had no choice but to comply.<ref>''Wilson v. New,'' ((Ussc|243|332|1917)).</ref>

The railroads attempted to coordinate their efforts to support the war by creating the [[Railroads' War Board]], but private action ran into [[anti-trust]] and other regulatory barriers.<ref>((cite book |title=The United States in the First World War<nowiki>:</nowiki> An Encyclopedia |series=Garland Reference Library of the Humanities |last1=Venzon |first1=Anne Cipriano |year=1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8153-3353-1 |pages=490–492 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YiZRC8bsOuoC&pg=PA490 ))</ref> Observers((who|date=November 2010)) noted, for example, that sometimes competitive practices prevailed that were not in the best interests of efficient mobilization. Also, government departments sought priority for shipment made on their behalf, and congestion in [[rail yard|freight yards]], terminals, and port facilities became staggering.<ref name="Huddleston">((cite book |last=Huddleston |first=Eugene L. |date=2002 |title=Uncle Sam's Locomotives: The USRA and the Nation's Railroads |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VxlbccjDu68C |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0-253-34086-1))</ref>((rp|3))

Finally, in December 1917 the ICC recommended federal control of the railroad industry to ensure efficient operation. The takeover measures were to go beyond simply easing the congestion and expediting the flow of goods; they were to bring all parties—management, labor, investors, and shippers—together in a harmonious whole working on behalf of the national interest. President Wilson issued an order for nationalization on December 26, 1917.<ref>United States. Presidential Proclamation 1419, December 26, 1917, under authority of the [[Army Appropriations Act of 1916|Army Appropriation Act]], ((USStat|39|45)), August 29, 1916.</ref> This action had been authorized by the [[Army Appropriations Act of 1916]].<ref>Army Appropriations Act of 1916. "The President in time of war is empowered, through the Secretary of War, to take possession and assume control of any system or systems of transportation, or any part thereof, and to utilize the same to the exclusion, as far as may be necessary, of all other traffic thereon, for the transfer or transportation of troops, war material and equipment, or for such other purposes connected with the emergency as may be needful or desirable."</ref> Federal control extended over the steam and electric railroads with their owned or controlled systems of coastwise and inland water transportation, terminals, terminal companies, terminal associations, sleeping and parlor cars, private cars, private car lines, elevators, warehouses, and telephone and telegraph lines.<ref name="March" />((rp|514))

== Changes and new equipment ==
[[File:USRA Light Mikado.jpg|thumb|The [[USRA Light Mikado|Light Mikado]] was the standard light freight locomotive and the most widely built type of the [[USRA standard]] designs.]]
Change happened swiftly. The railroads were organized into three divisions: East, West, and South. Uniform passenger ticketing was instituted, and competing services on different former railroads were cut back. Duplicate passenger services were reduced by eliminating more than 250 trains from eastern railroad schedules to allow increased numbers of freight trains to use crowded lines. Costly and employee-heavy [[sleeping car]] services were reduced and extra fares applied to discourage their use. Giving priority to coal trains reduced shortages of locomotive fuel. Ordering all empty box cars to be sent to wheat-producing areas improved the flow of food to European allies. USRA pooled all rolling stock, terminals, port facilities, and [[Workshop|shops]] to reduce congestion in [[Chicago]] and [[New York City]]. All railroad companies serving those metropolitan areas were given [[trackage rights]] over all lines entering the area and equal access to terminal facilities. Available railroad rolling stock inventory of 61,000 locomotives, 2,250,000 freight cars, and 58,000 passenger cars were augmented by new production.<ref name="March" />((rp|516–17)) Over 100,000 [[railroad car]]s and 1,930 [[steam locomotive]]s were ordered at a cost of $380 million, all of new [[USRA standard]] designs. The new rolling stock consisted of up-to-date and standardized types, designed to be the best that could be produced to replace outdated equipment.
[[File:USRA travel California ad.png|thumb|upright=0.6|USRA ad promoting travel to California]]
Before the new USRA standard locomotive types were built and released, locomotives that builders had on hand were issued to various railroads. [[2-8-0]] "Consolidation" locomotives built by the [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]] for transport and use in France were made available. Then [[2-10-0]] "Decapod" locomotives built for [[Imperial Russia]] by both [[American Locomotive Company|ALCO]] and Baldwin, but stranded in the US by the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], were also made available to the railroads. The USRA leased these locomotives.<ref name="Huddleston" />((rp|4))

== Progression ==
On March 21, 1918, the ''Railway Administration Act'' became law, and Wilson's 1917 nationalization order was affirmed.<ref>United States. Railway Administration Act of 1918, ((uspl|65|107)), ((USStat|40|451)). Approved 1918-03-21.</ref> Wilson appointed his son-in-law, [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] [[William Gibbs McAdoo]], as [[Director General of Railroads|Director General]] of the newly formed USRA.<ref name="Huddleston" />((rp|12))

The law guaranteed the return of the railroads to their former owners within 21 months of a [[peace treaty]], and guaranteed that their properties would be handed back in at least as good a condition as when they were taken over. It also guaranteed compensation for the use of their assets at the average operational income of the railroads in the three years previous to nationalization. The act laid down in concrete terms that the nationalization would be only a temporary measure; before, it was not defined as necessarily so.<ref name="March" />((rp|517))

((cns|date=May 2021|text=Both [[wages]] and rates for both passenger and freight traffic were raised by the USRA during 1918, wages being increased disproportionately for the lower-paid employees, which proved unpopular among more senior ones.))

With the [[Armistice]] in November 1918, McAdoo resigned from his post, leaving [[Walker Hines]] as the Director General.<ref name="Huddleston" />((rp|12))

== Winding down ==
[[File:Uncle Sam returns railroads in 1920.png|thumb|upright=0.9|Cartoon characterizing the return of the railroads to private ownership]]
There was support among labor unions for continuing the nationalization of the railroads after the war. However, this position was not supported by Wilson nor the public generally. Because the United States was not a party to the [[Treaty of Versailles]] ending the war in 1919, which would have been the legal basis for returning the railroads to private ownership under the Railway Administration Act, legislation was drafted to effect the return.<ref>((cite book |title=Trains Across the Continent: North American Railroad History |last=Daniels |first=Rudolph L. |year=2000 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21411-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/trainsacrosscont00rudo/page/105 105] |url=https://archive.org/details/trainsacrosscont00rudo|url-access=registration ))
</ref>

Congress passed the [[Esch-Cummins Act]] (Railroad Transportation Act) in February 1920, which substantially increased the ICC's powers over the railroads, and the USRA's authority ended on March 1, 1920.<ref>United States. Esch–Cummins Act, ((uspl|66|152)), ((USStat|41|456)). Approved 1920-02-28.</ref> The ICC was given powers to approve or reject railroad [[merger]]s, to set rates, to approve or reject abandonments of service, and additional oversight responsibilities. The government also made financial guarantees to the railroads after control was handed back to them, to ensure their financial survival after the restoration of control.<ref>((cite book |title=The American Railroad Problem: A Study in War and Reconstruction |last=Sharfman |first=I. Leo |year=1921 |publisher=Century Co. |location=New York |pages=382ff |url=https://archive.org/details/americanrailroa01shargoog))</ref>

== Aftermath ==
The Esch-Cummins Act maintained and expanded a complete railroad regulatory system after the war. During the 1920s the railroads, with rates and routes set by the ICC, were facing increasing competition from other modes of transportation: [[Trucking industry in the United States|trucking]] and airplanes. These competing modes were basically unregulated at the time, and received extensive financial assistance from the federal government. This competition contributed to the railroads' decline in the 1920s and beyond, and which was amplified in the 1930s during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="Martin 1992">((cite book |last=Martin |first=Albro |title=Railroads Triumphant: The Growth, Rejection, and Rebirth of a Vital American Force |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0195038533))</ref>((rp|356-362)) <ref name="Stover">((cite book |title=American Railroads |last=Stover |first=John F. |year=1997 |edition=2nd |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-77658-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4vjgmic44QC))</ref>((rp|192-196))
== Notable personnel ==
*[[Charles Keller (military)|Charles Keller]], former U.S. Army Brigadier General and the oldest Army officer to serve on active duty during World War II. In 1918 he served as secretary of the Committee on Inland Waterways.<ref name="Kellerbio2">[https://www.usace.army.mil/About/History/Historical-Vignettes/Military-Construction-Combat/079-Oldest-Officer/ Historical Vignette 079 – The Oldest U.S. Army Officer to Serve in World War II Was an Engineer]</ref><ref name="Kellerbio4">[https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/charles-keller.htm Charles Keller – Brigadier General, United States Army]</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of rail transport in the United States]]
* [[Federal Railroad Administration]] - Established in 1966
* [[Amtrak]] - Quasi-public corporation established in 1971 for inter-city passenger rail service
* [[Conrail]] - Government corporation operating a freight rail service (1976-1987)

==References==
((Reflist))

==Further reading==
((commons category|United States Railroad Administration))
((Refbegin))
* United States Railroad Administration, ''Report to the President'' (1918) [https://archive.org/details/reporttopresiden00un online]
*((cite book | editor =Kalmbach Publishing | title = The Historical Guide to North American Railroads | edition = 2nd | year = 2000 | publisher = Kalmbach Publishing | location = Waukesha, WI | isbn = 0-89024-356-5 | pages = 11–12 ))
((Refend))

((Woodrow Wilson))

[[Category:United States Railroad Administration| ]]
[[Category:United States railroad regulation]]
[[Category:1910s in rail transport]]
[[Category:1920 in rail transport]]
[[Category:1917 in the United States]]
[[Category:United States home front during World War I]]

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