The transformation of American railroads: From industrial revolution to sustainable strength
America's rail network stands as one of the most significant technological and economic achievements in our nation's history. From the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's first run in 1830 to today's integrated systems covering over 140,000 miles, railroads have been the backbone of American commerce and connectivity. This National Train Day, we recognize the force that has shaped our nation's landscape and economy for nearly two centuries.
And yet, the railroad industry now faces a critical turning point. Climate change, resource conservation, and environmental responsibility require us to rethink the traditional infrastructure solutions we've used since the 19th century. This isn't abandoning our heritage—it's applying the same innovative spirit that built the transcontinental railroad to today's challenges of delivering operation excellence and unmatched safety with sustainability and ecological responsibility.
The engineering marvel of American railways
The early American railroad showcased industrial ingenuity at its finest—steam locomotives running on tracks secured to wooden ties cut from old-growth trees. Trees were felled along the right of way as the railroad expanded across the continent. These wooden foundations powered the transportation revolution that drove westward expansion and transformed America into an industrial powerhouse. Simply put, the wooden tie became the bedrock of our entire rail network.
The thing is, this historical approach has had significant environmental costs. We replace about 20 million wooden ties annually, harvesting 6 million trees in the process. The concrete alternatives developed in the early 20th century and expanded in the 1970s created their own problems: high embodied carbon, susceptibility to cracking in extreme conditions, and substantial lifecycle costs. To truly honor the railroad's legacy, we can't just replicate old solutions. We need to advance toward more sustainable alternatives that maintain the industry's core values of service and excellence.
The sustainability imperative in modern rail infrastructure
The railroad industry has clear environmental advantages that make it essential for a sustainable transportation future. Rail freight moves a massive portion of America's long-distance cargo while producing far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than trucks. Each railroad, from the Class 1s to the shortlines, has a well-articulated sustainability vision and plan. But this advantage doesn't let us off the hook for addressing our infrastructure's environmental impact.
At Evertrak, we've developed composite railroad ties as a direct response to this challenge. Made with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer from recycled plastic, these ties divert waste from landfills and eliminate toxic preservatives completely. Our engineering meets or exceeds traditional materials in performance—lab and field testing proves superior resistance to moisture, freeze-thaw cycles, and mechanical stress, all while maintaining stability throughout their longer service life.
The economics of sustainable infrastructure
While the shift to sustainable infrastructure is environmentally necessary, it's also smart business. Wooden ties should last decades, but 4 to 6 million ties in high-rot regions fail in less than 12 years. This premature failure forces regular track outages, maintenance costs, and disposal problems. Evertrak's composite ties, by comparison, perform reliably for 50 years in high-rot region 1, cutting replacement costs, reducing deforestation, and eliminating dangerous creosote. We have a forest of plastic available to make better ties outside the doors of every community in America.
This economic logic mirrors railroads' broader efficiency advantage. Just as rail transport maximizes freight moved per unit of energy, sustainable infrastructure maximizes longevity per installation effort. Reduced maintenance creates a cascade of benefits: lower labor needs, less equipment mobilization, fewer traffic disruptions, and better track geometry—all improving operational reliability. These advantages benefit not just railroad operators but the entire economy through stronger supply chains and lower transportation costs.
Continuing the legacy of innovation
On National Train Day, we honor both America's railway achievements and their ongoing evolution. The innovative drive that moved the industry from steam through diesel electrification to today's precision scheduled railroading must now tackle infrastructure sustainability. This isn't abandoning tradition—it's its logical next step, adapting proven principles to today's challenges.
At Evertrak, we're advancing this vision through ongoing research, rigorous testing, and industry partnerships. Our composite ties aren't just a product but a philosophy: preserving our railroad heritage requires forward-thinking innovation, not rigid adherence to old methods. By embracing sustainable solutions, we honor the industry's transformative legacy while ensuring its future for generations. The iron horse transformed 19th century America, but its 21st century successor must combine that revolutionary power with environmental responsibility and resource stewardship.
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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
A good run
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Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Over there
Tennessee-Class battleship USS California passes Clifton Gardens on Sydney Harbour during a naval visit, pictured from The Sun newspaper's aeroplane. — Otago Witness, 4.8.1925 Otago Museum needs friends Sydney, July 30: There is a distinct American flavour about Sydney just now — in the shops, in the streets, in the trams, in fact, wherever one moves. The American sailors, like our own British tars, appear to find one of their chief delights in wandering about the streets and establishing chance acquaintances. The procession of American sailors and marines through the crowded city streets was frankly disappointing for the comparative lack of cheering. In a big procession like this the crowds look for the martial air, for the rousing music of bands at short intervals, and for that something that stirs the blood. In this big march there were only two bands, which set such lively American tunes that the tars rushed through the city rather than marched with that clock-like, disciplined step which is one of the glories of British marching. Again, the entry of the fleet lacked something of the spectacular because of the very slow progress of the ships, at long intervals, up the harbour. But it was a fine pageant, nevertheless, especially with the great flock of aeroplanes and seaplanes (the latter from the visiting ships) circling about. It was the greatest air pageant Sydney has seen. — by ODT Sydney correspondent At the present time the Museum is confronted with two problems. First is the provision of accommodation for the large and rapidly-growing collections that have in existing circumstances to be housed in the basement. There are thousands of articles which are lying on shelves. A very great increase in the annual income is required. Fortunately the Museum has a number of warm supporters, and the creation of an Association of Friends of the Museum will assure additional revenue. The whole of the subscriptions of members will be available for the purchase of material in clearly defined fields, and, though for a period the proceeds may not be great, they will be highly welcome. A grant of £200 is made by the City Council, but although the payment of such a sum involves a distinctly inadequate recognition of what the existence of the Museum is to the citizens, there is no absolute certainty as to the continuance of the revenue from this source. The establishment of an endowment fund, from which an assured income will be obtained, is greatly to be desired if the Museum is to be supplied with the finance that will enable it to be furnished and equipped in a manner that will admit of the effective exhibition of the wealth of collections of the greatest possible interest of which it is the repository. Substantial support must be offered by residents of ample means who realise the importance, practical as well as scientific, of the maintenance of a museum of high standing in the city. The Otago Museum is fortunate in the possession of a number of collections of rare value. The limitations of its finance prevent it from housing and displaying these collections advantageously. Trees felled on trunk road A start has been made on cutting down the large trees in the plantations which run between the two tram lines on the Anderson's Bay road. Only small shrubs will in future be grown on the plantation. It was found that the high-growing trees were a source of danger, as they prevented a clear view being obtained of vehicular traffic at the various intersections. — ODT, 8.8.1925
NZ Herald
01-08-2025
- NZ Herald
The legacy of Sir Michael Hill: Jeweller, violinist, philanthropist
And now he's gone, aged 86. Despite the green smoothies and the vigorous health regime, cancer sadly caught up with him in the end earlier this week. Hill's story is so familiar that most Kiwis from his era will know it: The shy, picked-on boy who hated school but found solace learning the violin at primary school and later at Whangārei Boys' High. He went on to build a multi-million business with 287 stores in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. He dreamed of becoming a professional violinist, practising up to eight hours a day after he dropped out of school. Hearing about a Herald violin competition, his parents agreed to support him if he won. Young Michael played a Haydn violin concerto, came fourth and that was the end of that. Young Michael Hill dreamed of playing the violin as a career. He was put to work as an apprentice watchmaker in his Uncle Arthur's Whangārei jewellery shop. Uncle Arthur thought his nephew was pretty 'useless' and eventually sent him out to the shop front instead, a move he might one day have lived to regret. The teenage Michael loved the retail side, the thrill of a sale. He might have stayed there forever – he endured it for 20 years – had it not been for a devastating house fire. By then Hill had met the love of his life, Christine Roe, a young arts teacher from Yorkshire. They met in November 1964 and married four months later. Sir Michael and Lady Christine Hill shared a love of art and music. Photo / Mark Hill They had two children, Mark and Emma, and slowly built their Claude Megson-designed dream home, inspired by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, on the Whangārei Heads. The family went to the movies one night and came home to find it ablaze. Rescuing the violin and the jewels Shocked at the sight, Hill rushed inside to rescue his 150-year-old violin and his wife's jewellery. Those rescued items were to dominate the rest of his life. Devastated by the smouldering – and uninsured – remains of his house, he vowed that things would change. When his uncle refused to sell him the business, he opened his own shop – Michael Hill Jeweller – five doors away in 1979. But this shop was nothing like Uncle Arthur's or any other jewellery shop at the time for that matter. Gone were the traditional clocks, china, crystal, trophies, china and silver. Michael Hill Jeweller would sell only jewellery and watches. The shop had a wide entrance and the goods were temptingly displayed in generous-sized glass counters. Michael and Christine Hill, with their children Mark and Emma, outside their first shop in Whangārei in 1979. He did a turnover of $400,000 in his first year; six years later the turnover had increased to $7 million with the help of six shops and 70 staff. Hill might have had a late start but the 'useless' jeweller was on his way. He wrote in his book Toughen Up, by which time he was a multi-millionaire, 'I took him [the uncle] at his own game ... and I won.' The school drop-out went on to build a global business which made him rich enough to own a Stradivarius violin, build a beautiful home near Arrowtown, and establish The Hills, an 18-hole championship golf course and a nine-hole course known as The Farm, built on a 200ha estate dotted with stunning sculptures. The Hills golf resort near Arrowtown showing the clubhouse and the 18th hole. He used to drive his Aston Martin very fast on the private road between his home and the golf club, just for the thrill of it. Hill named his first superyacht (34m) VvS1, a jewellery term for an almost flawless diamond. That was something he had learned in life, he said. 'Nothing is perfect, that's what keeps you striving for more.' Sir Michael Hill on board his super yacht VVSI in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour in 2015. Photo / Nick Reed Some wacky ideas Hill's ambition was limited only by his imagination and, by all accounts, he had plenty of it. Family friend Anne Rodda described him as 'an entrepreneur, a dreamer and a big thinker'. 'There was a lot to Michael. That fizzy brain, the one that's always coming up with ideas, some brilliant, some absolutely unattainable and wacky. One out of 10 of his ideas would be absolutely brilliant and we'd go with that.' Rodda, a trained classical cellist, met Hill 25 years ago in her role as artistic manager for the Auckland Philharmonia. She heard he wanted to organise a violin competition and she helped make it happen. Since then she's been the competition's executive director. Anne Rodda, the executive director of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, pictured with Sir Michael in 2023. Photo / James Robertson The resulting Michael Hill International Violin Competition (the next one is in May 2026) is now recognised as one of the most important events in the cultural calendar. Sixteen competitors, selected from 160 applicants around the world, are flown to Queenstown to audition in front of seven international judges. The finalists then perform in front of a packed Auckland Town Hall audience and the judges. In 2023, 350,000 people watched the livestreamed finalists' performance, and the competition auditions attracted 1.3m views online. Hill was not just invested financially in the competition but on a deep personal level, Rodda says. 'He was sitting in the front row of every competition. He would bounce up in the interval full of enthusiasm, sure that the last one he heard play was going to win. He sat through all the auditions as the panel selected the competitors.' In his own way, Hill was helping talented young musicians achieve what he had been unable to do, have a career as a professional artist. 'It's an incredible story,' Rodda says. 'The competition is what was closest to his soul and the thing that gave him the most resonance and the most joy in his life.' Although he never played professionally, his love of the violin endured. In his 80s he still practised Bach on his 190-year-old Italian violin, kayaked on Lake Hayes and played golf. Sir Michael Hill practising Bach on his violin at home in / Mark Hill In a moving video tribute to their violin mentor, the 11 first-prize winners from the violin competitions contributed to a recording of Bach's Chaconne in D minor in his memory, each playing a different part of the movement. 'Michael Hill ... jeweller' But the wider public rarely saw the dedicated violinist who practised for hours. Instead. many will remember Hill from his excruciating TV ads that ran through the 80s. 'Hello,' he'd say in his best nasal tone, smiling at the camera, 'Michael Hill ... (pause) jeweller.' He'd purse his lips to emphasis the 'M'. The ads were irritating, to the point where DJs would mock and impersonate him. The jeweller even tried to teach his daughter Emma to impersonate him, but no one could quite pull it off. "Hello, Michael If anyone pointed out to him how awful his ads were, Hill would laugh. He was the first to admit they were 'unbelievably boring and amateurish' and that he looked 'terrible' in those early ads. But the point was, they worked. Everyone in New Zealand knew who Michael Hill was and what he sold. And they came to buy his jewellery. In 1987, Michael Hill International listed on the NZX, buoyed by steadily increasing sales and successful shop openings. Four months later the stock market crashed, a day that became known as Black Monday (October 19). Kiwis investors lost fortunes overnight and billions of dollars were wiped off the value of New Zealand shares. (The company had a less eventful listing on the ASX in 2016). It could have been the end of Michael Hill, jeweller, but no. Several smaller jewellery businesses didn't survive and Hill saw it as an opportunity to pick up new business when the economy recovered. That year he won the Air New Zealand enterprise award for business entrepreneurship and made it to the big smoke, opening his largest shop in Auckland's Queen St. And he started moving into the Australian market. Sir Michael Hill at the company's flagship Queen St store in Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs Not one to arrive quietly, a September 1989 newspaper clipping trumpets: 'Michael Hill's sale a riot.' And indeed it was. Hundreds of bargain hunters broke into a Canberra shopping mall at 4am, eager to get first dibs on $1 diamond rings, stock that Michael Hill International wanted to clear from a shop before displaying its own range. By the time the shop opened, 700 people were crowded outside and a woman punched a shop assistant when she was told she could only buy one ring. It took four carloads of police and the mall security guards to clear the crowd. Australians were also incensed to see a series of jewellery bargains scrolling in a TV ad, accompanied by the piercing sound of a bugle playing The Last Post. The ad caused pandemonium at the Michael Hill head office as complaints poured in, the Australian Ministry of Defence was enraged, there were bomb threats in Sydney and it made front-page news. But, as Sir Michael said at the time, 'sales went through the roof'. In his own way, he was a showman, full of ideas – often quirky - designed to make a splash. In 1988, he hired a woman, clad in a black sports bra, a striped bikini bottom and black tights to show off $450,000 worth of jewellery at the maiden annual shareholder meeting in Whangārei. Hill wasn't one for clustering his shareholders into boring meeting rooms. Instead, he'd take them for a joyride on the Waitematā Harbour, entertained by a jazz band; or a cruise to a vineyard on Waiheke Island, or to Pakatoa Island, or to the Ellerslie Racecourse. Sir Michael Hill entertained his shareholders with a jazz band on the Quickcat catamaran in 1989, with his accountant John Ryer (left) and joint managing director Howard Bretherion (right). One time his shareholders met in an aircraft hangar in Auckland's Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat). At each AGM they were usually told the joyous news that the company could expect another tax-paid profit, and that new shops were about to be added to the fast-growing chain. For the company's 10th AGM in 1997, 250 shareholders were loaded onto a train in Auckland bound for Waimauku. Hill, nattily dressed in pinstriped pants and sporting a red tie decorated with yellow worms, served bubbly and wine on the journey to his faithful followers. Again the news was good: a plan to open 100 stores and move to other countries as the market became saturated. Former Herald writer Bernadette Rae was on the train that day. As she put it: 'So many fingers to ring, so many necks to chain.' In the early 1990s, everything Michael-Hill-jeweller touched seemed to turn to gold. (He famously sold his wife's engagement rings four times after they were admired, each time replacing it with a bigger stone). Sir Michael and Lady Christine Hill at the opening of their revamped Whangārei store in 2013. Sir Michael famously sold his wife's engagement ring four times. Then came the stumble of the shoe era. He bought the assets from a Christchurch shoe company and by 1992 had added nine shoe shops to his 41 jewellery stores. The trouble was they not only didn't make money, they lost money, a lot. By 1994 all nine shoe stores had closed and 'Michael Hill ... cobbler' was no more. He later acknowledged that the foray into shoes was a 'disaster' and that the company needed to stick to jewellery and watches. Undeterred by the footwear trip-up, the group continued to expand. Well on his way to saturating the Australian market, Hill based his family in Queensland's Sanctuary Cove in the mid 1990s, with his launch Rough Diamond parked at the back door. 'A wimpy thing to do' He couldn't understand why more people didn't want to get into retail. By 2009, he had 250 stores in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, opening new stores so fast he couldn't find enough staff to fill them. He was puzzled why Kiwis were willing to work in hospitality but thought a male working in a jewellery shop was a 'wimpy, poncy thing to do'. So he wrote Toughen Up (the proceeds of which went to Cure Kids) as a recruitment tool. He told me during an interview that his CEO earned three, possibly four, times more than the (then) Prime Minister John Key. Don't ever suggest working in a shop is a dead-end career, he said. By then he had invested in Joe's Garage in Arrowtown and had no shortage of applicants wanting to work in the cafe, but he was struggling to find good people to join his jewellery empire. Take his group diamond buyer at the time, Galina Hirtzel, he said, a girl from Invercargill who stated on $10 an hour. She was now (in 2009) flying round the world spending $100m of the company's money on diamonds every year. He thought her hippy long hair and floaty dress tricked merchants into not realising she was a tough negotiator. Knighted in 2011 for services to business and the arts, Hill was exhilarated by the company's growth and didn't mind talking it up, describing himself on one interview as 'the Ferrari of the jewellery business'. He was a businessman in the quick lane overtaking the rest of the jewellery world. At the same time he told business journalists he wanted 'controlled, sensible growth'. He and Lady Christine built a home on land that used to be a deer farm. Locals nicknamed it 'Hillbrook' and some took exception to the building, complaining it was too 'pink'. That caused the council to request a colour change; the Hills held firm. The 'terracotta' house later won the South Regional Architectural Award (for its colour scheme), a victory that used to make Hill chuckle. The Hills are a close family. Children Emma and Mark, and the four grandchildren, all live on the estate, with sculptures by Mark Hill among other artworks strategically placed through The Hills. Sculptor Mark Hill with his sculpture "Emergence", made from hand-forged corten steel, at The Hills Golf Club. He preferred to be low key and with the family when he was on holiday, often escaping Otago's winter to cruise in the Pacific on The Beast, his 40m adventure catamaran. In the summer The Beast's captain, Andy Grocott, who has worked for 'the boss' since 2006, would sail to remote places in New Zealand's Far North so the Hills could fish, swim, hike, dive and kayak. Jetskis were not their style. Sir Michael Hill and family preferred to explore remote places on The Beast. Photo / Michael Craig As tributes poured in this week, members of The Hills golf club penned their own. 'Rest peacefully Sir Michael,' it said at the end. 'You will forever be part of The Hills.' Beneath is one of the many cartoons he drew for his own and others' amusement. It shows an aviator clinging to a rocket as it zooms into space. Underneath Hill has signed off with the quote, 'Live every day as if it was going to be your last, for one day you're sure to be right.' Jane Phare is the New Zealand Herald's deputy print editor. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
