Prelinger Archives: Skyline Railways

     This film from the Prelinger Archives, shows the story of the railways in New York City.  I was drawn particularly to this film because of the amount of time I spent commuting into New York City this summer or my internship on a train.  The movie showed many clips of different transportation systems used in the city from horsecars to trains.  First it showed horsecars and their speed at 4 miles per hour.  It also showed large crowds walking through the streets of the city.  They began the film with this to set the stage for the need of a faster and more efficient way of transporting people and knowledge.  The film then follows the development of the train from the James H Scott elevated railway, to Charles T Harvey’s cable system, to a four track, electricity ran structure. This directly relates to the information of the Control Revolution, with the idea that through different technologies, including the train, could bring together a widened society and connect people and ideas throughout the US.  Although the film discusses only the growing history of trains from the first transit plan in 1833 to the end of the high and staggered structure of railways to the subways in 1904, the same themes are shown.  This idea of the control revolution and the importance of trains and vehicles to transport people and technology fast and easily is still an important factor in society.  People are constantly trying to create faster and more technologically advanced means of transportation.

https://archive.org/details/0890_Skyline_Railways_08_09_13_00