Study Questions for Walton & Rockoff, Chapter 16 (Railroads) Objective/Short answer questions 1. The piston in a Newcommen engine is being moved down during its power stroke. What is the pressure on the low pressure side? What is the pressure on the side labeled Less Pressure? a. more than one atmosphere b. approximately one atmosphere c. less than one atmosphere 2. The piston in a locomotive (railroad) engine is being moved down during its power stroke. What is the pressure on the low pressure side? What is the pressure on the side labeled Less Pressure? a. more than one atmosphere b. approximately one atmosphere c. less than one atmosphere d. the pressure of several dozen gerbils pushing against the piston Back to work ye mangy curs, or put ye in the plastic ball I will! 3. What is true of the various gauges railroads used in the U.S.? a. Initially, several different gauges existed in the U.S. In the 1840 s Congress passed a law mandating this as the standard gauge for all railroads excepting mountain railroads. b. Initially, most railroads were an English gauge. With the Civil War, the northern states moved to one gauge and the south adopted another. This 2-gauge system persisted until WWII. c. Initially, most railroads were an English gauge. With the Civil War, the northern states moved to one gauge and the south adopted another. This 2-gauge system persisted today. d. Initially, several different gauges existed in the U.S. After the Civil War, the gauges became standardized over a few decades. 4. According to the text, which of the following is technical innovation that increased railroad productivity between 1840 and 1920? a. steel rails which could support heavier loads b. the ethylene glyocol (i.e. condensing) steam engine which had a longer range c. the steam turbine engine which produced more power per weight d. the side exhaust engine which both reduced sparks and smoke produced e. Nuclear fusion man! Clean energy on a track at 480 miles per hours! 5. Many people have argued that numerous railroads ripped off government and tax payers during the construction of railroads in the 1860 s and 70s. How did these railroads rip off the government and taxpayers. a. They did not pay the taxes they agreed to under the loan agreements. Later acts, passed largely by those in Congress receiving stocks, etc. from the railroads, rescinded the initial loan agreements. b. They did not pay the taxes they agreed to under the land grants. Later acts, passed largely by those in Congress receiving stocks, etc. from the railroads, rescinded the initial land agreements. c. They set up dummy business and people to receive to receive the lands set aside for public use. The railroads received both their railroad land grants, and many public land grants. d. They used construction companies to over bill (over charge) for construction, then pocket the money. 1
6. Why was the first transcontinental railroad built when and where it was? a. Southerners in Congress would not vote for a northern route. Northerners would not vote for a southern route. After the southern states succeeded, the northern congressman voted for a (relatively) northern route in 1862. b. Market preserving federalism. Southerners in Congress would not vote for a northern route. Northerners would not vote for a southern route. Therefore, the middle or Missouri route was chosen in the middle 1850 s. c. It began as an example of fiscal federalism. California appropriated state funds in 1858. Once its railroad reached the California-Nevada border, other states became fearful of losing out. Congress appropriated the funds to buy California s railroad and complete it the rest of the way. 7. When left to the private sector, U.S. ante-bellum transportation improvements, especially roads, tended to: a. suffer from externality problems. The private company could not capture all the benefits and was unlikely to make the improvement. b. be very profitable until the federal government began its widespread national system of transportation improvements. c. be overbuilt because of competing sectional interests. Every town and port wanted a connection so more roads were built than was socially optimal. d. have low start up costs but very high operating costs. Many fraudulent firms obtained a government charter, took the seed money and ran. Use this information to answer questions 9-10 Alternative history! In the early 1400 s the Chinese under the Ming Dynasty explored as far as India and East Africa and even Madagascar. They almost began a colonizing power. Assume that: Ming China did colonize Madagascar. Chinese want at least some of both Moo Goo and Gai Pan regardless of where they live. China is by far the larger market. Only a few colonists have arrived in Madagascar so far. Neither Madagascar s supply of or demand for the products markedly affect the price in China. It is 9,000 kilometers, as the ship sails, from China to Madagascar. It costs.01yuan per kilometer to ship 1 kilogram (1 kg) from China To Madagascar (or from Madagascar to China). 8. 1 kg of Moo Goo can be produced for 200 Yuan in China. 1 kg of Moo Goo typically sells for 202 Yuan in China. Madagascar is twice as efficient at producing Moo Goo. 1 kg can be produced for 100 Yuan in Madagascar. Which of the following is true? a. The colonists in Madagascar should produce Moo Goo both for export and for local consumption. b. The colonists in Madagascar should produce Moo Goo only for export but not for local consumption. c. The colonists in Madagascar should produce Moo Goo only for local consumption but not for d. The colonists in Madagascar should not produce Moo Goo for either local consumption or for 2
9. 1 kg of Gai Pan can be produced for 100 Yuan in China. 1 kg of Gai Pan typically sells for 101 Yuan in China. Madagascar is better at producing Gai Pan. 1 kg can be produced for 50 Yuan in Madagascar. Which of the following is true? a. The colonists in Madagascar should producegai Pan both for export and for local consumption. b. The colonists in Madagascar should producegai Pan only for export but not for local consumption. c. The colonists in Madagascar should produce Gai Pan only for local consumption but not for d. The colonists in Madagascar should not produce Gai Pan for either local consumption or for Use this information to answer # 11 12: Assume that Atlantis really existed. Further, in 500 BC the Phoenicians founded a colony on Atlantis. Assume:. The colony of Atlantis on Atlantis is very small compared to the Phoenician homeland. Only a few thousand are in the new colony and they are relatively spread out. It is 1,000 kilometers, by sea, from the new colony to the City of Phoenician homeland. The Phoenician unit of currency is the talent. It costs 0.2 talents per kilometer to ship 1 kg from the colony of Atlantis to the Phoenician homeland (or vice versa). 10. 1 kg of BeerButter can be produced for 500 talents in the Phonecian homeland. 1 kg can be produced for 720 talents in the colony of Atlantis. Which of the following is true? a. The colonists should produce BeerButter both for export and for local consumption. b. The colonists should produce BeerButter for export but not for local consumption. c. The colonists should produce BeerButter for local consumption but not for d. The colonists should not produce BeerButter for either local consumption or for 11. 1 kg of Tomaccos can be produced for 400 talents in the Phonecian homeland. 1 kg can be produced for 250 talents in the colony of Atlantis. Which of the following is true? a. The colonists should produce Tomaccos both for export and local consumption. b. The colonists should produce Tomaccos for export but not for local consumption. c. The colonists should produce Tomaccos for local consumption but not for d. The colonists should not produce Tomaccos for either local consumption or for Use this information to answer # 13 14: The country of Mamastan established a colony named Baby-opolis. Assume: The colony of Baby-opolis is very small compared to the Momastani homeland. Only a few thousand are in the new colony and they are relatively spread out. It is 4,000 kilometers, by sea, from the new colony to the Momastani homeland. The Momastani unit of currency is the Binky. It costs 0.5 Binkies per kilometer to ship 1 kg from the colony of Baby-opolis to the Mamastaini homeland (or vice versa). 12. 1 kg of Wa-Wa can be produced for 7,000 Binkies in the Mamastaini homeland. 1 kg can be produced for 4,000 Binkies in the colony of Baby-opolis. Which of the following is true? 3
a. The colonists should produce Wa-Wa both for export and for local consumption. b. The colonists should produce Wa-Wa for export but not for local consumption. c. The colonists should produce Wa-Wa for local consumption but not for d. The colonists should not produce Wa-Wa for either local consumption or for 13. 1 kg of Tomaccos can be produced for 6,000 Binkies in the Mamastaini homeland. 1 kg can be produced for 7,500 Binkies in the colony of Baby-opolis. Which of the following is true? a. The colonists should produce Ki-Ki both for export and local consumption. b. The colonists should produce Ki-Ki for export but not for local consumption. c. The colonists should produce Ki-Ki for local consumption but not for d. The colonists should not produce Ki-Ki for either local consumption or for 14. Which of the following is a thesis put forth by Robert Fogel? a. The vast majority of the benefits generated by railroads would have been realized by other forms of transportation if railroads had never been developed. b. Political factors, not economic factors, determined when and where the early canals were built. c. British canals were of higher quality than U.S. canals. This meant Britain had less to gain from railroads than the United States and fell behind the U.S. in railroad development. d. British canals were of lower quality than U.S. canals. This meant Britain had more to gain from railroads than the United States and led the U.S. in railroad development. e. A limited government sentiment arose in the ante-bellum South. This caused southern state governments to shun transportation improvements and led to the South falling behind the North economically. 15. What according to Fogel, was true of shipping via water in 1890? a. Water is the cheapest and best way to ship freight. However, when shipping passengers, the value of their lost time needs to be added to the fare. Therefore, railroad s gain is equal to: Value of saved passenger time extra passenger fare extra freight fare. b. The nominal water rates were roughly equal to that of railroads. However, when one adjusts for the subsidies railroad s received, water is actually cheaper. c. The nominal water rates were lower than railroad rates. However, when one adds in the extra costs of spoilage, storage, wagon haulage, etc., water is slightly more expensive. 16. (5 pts) Which of the following, by themselves, might make railroads build ahead of demand? Check any and all that apply. potential competition from other railroads. a change in the social benefits railroads generate, with no change in the private benefits. government subsidies anticipatory settlement 4
17. Stan is studying the Great Southern Railroad, a western railroad which 1) built lines when population in those areas was still low, and 2) received significant government assistance. He concludes that in it s early years, the Great Southern would have earned above market returns without the government subsidies although the lack of subsidies would have caused to build a little more slowly. Stan concludes that the subsidies to the Great Southern were definitely not socially beneficial. Is he correct? a. Stan is definitely right. The railroad would have built ahead of demand even without the government subsidy. b. Stan is definitely wrong. It was always socially beneficial to offer extra incentives for the private sector to build ahead of demand. c. Stan could be right or wrong.. While railroads can be presumed to be doing the privately beneficial thing, it may be socially beneficial for them to build even more and faster. 18. What was true of the Credit Mobilier (CM), and other construction firm used by railroads? a. The parent railroad company bought land from CM. However, this land was not adjacent to the railroad and therefore worthless. CM then distributed huge dividends to its owners. b. The parent railroad company gave the CM land grants in exchange for constructing the railroad. This land was adjacent to the railroad. Therefore the CM had incentive to build a good railroad. c. CM stirred much political controversy because it was mostly French owned. Its profits flowed mostly to France and to U.S. Senators and Congressman who had been given gifts of stock. d. The parent railroad received federal money, then used this to overpay the CM for construction work it did. CM then distributed huge dividends to its owners. 19. Fogel (1968) and Mercer (1974) studied the question of whether or not western railroads eventually earned enough profits to justify their early losses. What did they conclude? a. As a rule they did earn enough in the long run to justify their early losses b. It varies. Some did earn enough in the long run to justify the early losses. Some didn t. c. As a rule they did not earn enough in the long run to justify their early losses 20. According to the text, which country had the comparative advantage in oceanic shipping 21. Which of the following are considered drawbacks of a Newcommen type engines? Check any and all that apply. Check if it is a drawback Item While very powerful and fuel efficient, it is also very large and complex. Typically, only ocean going ships use this engine. The steam is condensed inside the cylinder. This cools the cylinder and wastes energy. Relatively little pressure differential is created. For a given cylinder size, little power is generated. The machining tolerances have to be quite tight if the engine is to work well. It is more expensive than other stream engines. Newcommen engines required more skill to operate than Oldcommen engines. This meant higher labor costs. 5
22. At right you have a picture of an American railroad locomotive. Which letter(s) indicates the Firebox? 23. Which letter indicates the Valve Box and Cylinder? B B D C C C E (underneath, in between the wheels) A F (underneath, in between the wheels) A 6