Tourism through the Ages - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 41

Older-style rail travel is still available in many places across the United States so that tourists can
experience this memorable mode of transportation. The steam train shown here carries visitors in, '' gold,
country'' California. Docents provide history and make the ride more enjoyable. PhotocourtesyofTuolumne
CountyVisitorsBureau.

railroad s directors did not expect much passenger business, but time proved them wrong. The typical

charge of only 1 penny per mile created a sizable demand for rail travel

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much to the delight of the rail
companies. Because these fares were much lower than stagecoach fares, rail travel became widely
accepted even for those with low incomes.
Early rail travel in Britain was not without its detractors, however. Writers in the most powerful
organs of public opinion of that day seemed to consider the new form of rail locomotion a device of
Satan. When a rail line was proposed from London to Woolrich to carry passengers at a speed of
18 miles per hour, one aghast contributor to the Quarterly Review wrote,

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'' We should as soon expect

the people of Woolrich to be fired off upon one of Congreve ' s ricochet rockets as trust themselves to

the mercy of such a machine going at such a rate. '' Another writer deemed the railroads for passenger

transportation '' visionary schemes unworthy of notice. '' Between 1826 and 1840, the first railroads

were built in the United States.

Automobile and Motorcoach Travel

Automobiles entered the travel scene in the United States when Henry Ford introduced his famous
Model T in 1908. The relatively cheap revolutionized travel in the country, creating a

demand for better roads. By 1920, a road network became available, leading to the automobile

'' tin lizzie ''

s
current dominance of the travel industry. Today, the automobile accounts for about 84 percent of
intercity miles traveled and is the mode of travel for approximately 80 percent of all trips.

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Automobile

travel brought about the early tourist courts in the 1920s and 1930s, which have evolved into the

motels and motor hotels of today. Motorcoaches also came into use soon after the popularization of
the automobile and remain a major mode of transportation.