America's Lost Trains

"When the story begins, in the late 1920s, railroads were in trouble. The Depression -- coupled with the advent of the car -- had driven the industry to the verge of collapse. No one knew how drastic the situation was better than Ralph Budd. The tall, lean railroad man was desperately looking for a way to turn around the fortunes of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The solution came from a cash-strapped auto-body maker who believed that "a depression is a period in which you have time to think." The result was a revolutionary diesel-powered rail car made of a new light steel alloy. The design caught Budd's attention. "Using a car that weighs less, but carries as much or more load," he explained, "saves work just as surely and simply as does shortening the line." He soon commissioned construction of the Zephyr."The documentary also features an interview with Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk who discusses the the damage done to cities by the post-war building of auto-oriented suburbs.