It's a nice find. I'm always struck by the fact that so many folks worked for RR's during the war at peak RR employment in the US. And, the speed and efficiency of the transition to full wartime production, the ability to get things decided and done, is something unheard of today. Today, we'd spend about six or eight years on the public hearings and comments, just for the EIS, to raise the ships at Pearl Harbor....

The increase in US productivity statistics during this period is truly amazing, not just because we were coming out of the great depression, but because they were so huge, and that no one has seen anything like it, before, or since.

Don't get me wrong, I like the modern safety and science, with no more asbestos, and clean air, and all. But, even in that, we are often hobbled in taking timely, effective, or efficient actions. Today, we can't seem to even take a crap, without years of delays, repeated studies, and endless "process", and certainly not without consulting every fringe group, special interest, or corporate donor, to insure that everyone has a say, no matter how stupid, or self serving, or time consuming (like taking 30 years to complete even "no brainer" high cost benefit projects like the LAUPT run-through...)