"How Railroad History Shaped Internet History"

"How Railroad History Shaped Internet History", © The Atlantic, November, 2015. (Article)

"It's no accident that Iowa, where the first transcontinental railroad began, is now home to a huge data-center industry. ... Google's decision to place its Iowa data centers in the starting point of the transcontinental railroad ... the actual routes that fiber-optic networks run." [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]

Railroad Depot at Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1882.

"Bloodgood vs. Mohawk & H.R.R., an 1837 easement case describes the inherent value of railroads:"

... they tend to annihilate distance, bringing in effect places that are distant near to each other: tending in their magic influence to the extension of personal acquaintance, the enlargement of business relations, and cementing more firmly the bond of fellowship and union between the inhabitants of the States.

Locomotive "Socrates," the only survivor of the Ashtabula Train Disaster of the 1870's

From: "Joe Daniels" joedan123@gmail.com

I am attempting to find information on a 1800's locomotive named "Socrates." It was the only survivor of the Ashtabula Train Disaster of the 1870's. I have not been able to locate a single detail as to the fate of this locomotive.

I found one report that said it was put on display during the memorial service but I can't find out what happened to it after. ...

—Joe Daniels