In the 20th century, people like Alfred Sloan, the creator of modern General Motors, and Big Oil (not to mention Firestone, Ford, power-mad bureaucrats like New York’s Robert Moses etc.) were extremely successful in getting rid of popular electric trains around the world. It’s past time to put ’em back!
Above L. Progress? Ripping out the rails on Cook St., Victoria BC, around 1948. R, the end of an era in front of the Empress Hotel.
With thousands of others, prevented freeways destroying neighbourhoods from Vancouver to Baltimore. Jacobs worked in Manhattan and Toronto.
Fought facsism with the Australian Army in North Africa and New Guinea. Saved and expanded Melbourne’s tram system.
Blew the whistle on General Motors’ anti-streetcar conspiracy. Served on anti-submarine duty in the Gulf of Mexico with the US Navy during WWII.
The technical genius who led Japan’s shinkansen high-speed rail line in 1964. Awarded a string of honours from Japan, US and UK engineering societies.
Old man thunder – Prodded relentlessly to build the shinkansen. Worked with moderate politicians before warlord Tojo Hideki (“Razor”) seized power in 1941.