National History Day Questions

From: "Sophie Su" rongxian21@yahoo.com

... Here are a few questions ...

1. Did the Chinese workers who immigrated benefit from their time in America despite the dangers of working on the railroad as well as from the animosity they faced from the public?

2. What types of tasks were Chinese workers assigned to do and what was their typical work day? (as in breaks, treatment by supervisors, hours, wages)

3. After the potential of Chinese workers were realized (despite their small build) were they generally forced to work on the railroad, or was there a type of contract enacted? (if so, could the workers dissolve them as they wished, or were they generally violated by their employers)

4. Did the Railroad at all help the U.S. during the mini-economic depression of the Reconstruction Era?

5. How beneficial was the Railroad as a whole? (considering the overproduction of goods in the late 19th Century that led to extreme deflation and the smaller farmers who could not afford the price of transporting their goods by Rail)

Thank you so much for your time and effort in contributing to our project! We are extremely grateful! ...

—Jennifer Li, Kelly Sharpless, Sophie Soo

Correct job title of the person in charge of locomotive Machine Shop

From: "Hans-Jörg Siepert" hans-siepert@online.de
Subject: Name of Machine Shop

I have visited [your] nice homepage and would have another two questions which they can maybe answer.

I search the name with the railroads of the USA for "Bahnbetriebswerk" (Germany) or "Railway centre" (Great Britian).

I found on the web page of the UPRR the name " Machine of shop ", is in order.

In addition, which official name the boss of such an arrangement. In Germany these persons "Lokomotivbetriebsinspektor" were called.

How is this person called with the Railroads of the USA ?

I have liked their web page with many photos very well and I drop by with pleasure once again. ...

—Hans-J. Siepert