View From a Train

From 1900 to 1950, more people in the United States traveled by rail than any other means of transportation available. The railroad helped usher in the industrial revolution, pushing innovation and technology forward by connecting people and places. A.C. Gilbert traveled to New Haven by rail in order to attend Yale University. On one of his trips to New York City from New Haven, he was inspired by the iron and steel construction he viewed from the train. Soon after, he began to design his famous Erector toys. Like Gilbert, we will start with a train and a track. Then we will add bridges, stations, cities, towns, and stops along the way.