This map shows all of the different
railroad tracks across the world. At first, I was not going to use this picture
because it was hard to tell the detail of the exact number of railroads, but
then I decided that viewing this picture at a distance was much more valuable. The
red lines (look more like red splotches when viewed from far away) represent
the routes that the railroad trains use. When you view this picture from a
distance there is an obvious link between developed countries and the number of
railroads. The more developed economically the more railroads there are. I
think this has to do with the fact that people have more money to spend on
travel and have jobs that involve national and international traveling. For
example, in the United States there are many more railroads than in less
developed countries- like parts of Mexico and
South America.
When you look at the United States
it is clear that there are more railroad lines in the eastern part of the
United States than in the western part of the United States. This could be due
to the fact that the eastern part was developed much faster and at an earlier
time than the west. It could also be inferred that people in the east travel
more or there is a larger population of people in that area.
I also thought that railroads
represent a way to cross borders. By traveling from city to city, state to
state, or even country to country, you are yourself crossing borders. I think
that railroads are a great example of a way to break physical borders. Trains
have been around for the greater part of the century, with little changes in
the routes that they take. Yes, routes can be added, but the tracks that most
trains use were built over a hundred years ago. It is interesting to note that
trains are still utilized and have even been adapted to being used in the city.
These trains that are used throughout cities nationwide are commonly referred
to as subway trains.
I also made a connection between railroad lines and Dodd’s
travel from Mexico into the United States in It Came From Del Rio. Dodd walked into Texas from Mexico, but it is
interesting to consider that railroads could be used as a way to smuggle things
across borders. These borders could be states or countries. Railroads are a
much slower way of transportation than planes, but they are known to have much
less security. Maybe if Dodd had used a train, he might have been successful in
his smuggling effort.
This is really interesting and this was the map I chose to discuss when we were first toying with the radical cartography site. I think it is also good to note how while everyplace is separated by some extent of physical landmass, every part is connected via some mode of transportation. No one place is truly "undiscovered" territory which then leads to the whole thought presented by Salman Rushdie of how we will function in a post-frontier world. Additionally, after reading this post I thought of not only the connections made by the various rail lines but also the modern day connections throughout the U.S. of our interstate highway system. These roads reach to almost all corners of our country and connect people from the west and east coasts. I would say along with the subway mention that highways are the new connections points to replace the railroads that were the preliminary groundwork for our modern day society.
ReplyDeleteThis map in particular relates very much to our class regarding borders. Railroads today are used as a method of transportation, but alternatively used for crossing physical borders. At the end of your post, you briefly incorporated It Came From Del Rio and how Dodd could have used a train to cross the US-Mexico border. While this would have been a lot easier than walking to his destination, crossing the border probably wouldn't have been as significant to the story. Crossing a physical border by foot or by horse seems to be a lot more important to a novel than it would be if crossed by a car or train because it basically sets up the climax. Also, I found the map to be very interesting because it showed how modernized Europe and the United States are compared to the rest of the world.
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