What happened to railroad workers whose jobs became redundant?

Question

In the early 20th century, the steam locomotive was the king of land transportation. The railroad industry was one of the largest employers in the US, employing massive numbers of workers to build and maintain rails, operate and repair trains, and so on. But since then, American railroads have lost almost all of their passenger business and a significant portion of their freight business to highways or airlines. What I'm wondering is, **what happened to those railroad workers whose jobs became redundant**? Did the railroad companies or unions give them other jobs? Did they receive pensions? Or were they simply fired and left to find whatever work they could? If so, did most of them find jobs (and what kind of jobs), or did many fall into poverty? What happened to towns that depended on railroads for their economy? Were there protests or strikes or other conflicts caused by these changes?

Answer 1

In order to answer the question effectively you need to ask think about the differences between the early 20th century and now. It might also help to ask yourself a couple of questions. Perhaps think about what the railroad does, and what airlines/automobiles have taken from it. What jobs did it do in the early 20th century that it doesn't do now? What jobs does it do now? What jobs, do you think, the railroad does most effectively? In order to answer this question, consider comparing and contrasting the 20th century to today.