The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 21

and the Transcontinental Railroad
Phineas Taylor Barnum, July 5 1810–April
7, 1891, photographed by Matthew Brady.
National Portrait Gallery NPG.97.63
when completed became just as much
about technology and industrialization
as cultural representation and a conquering
of time and space. 22 Railroads
operated on strict time schedules, and
during this time of railroad expansion,
time became so important that popular
phrases developed, such as “time is
wasting,” “time’s up,” and “the train is
leaving the station.” The railroads are
also a main reason that the country was
divided into four time zones. 23
The Transcontinental Railroad
became the longest stretch of iron ever
built. 24 With this cross-county stretch
of railway, a person could travel at six-