Railroads

 Madison Blackburn

Geography 101

This week we had two readings that were known as “Railroad Space and Railroad Time” by Wolfgang Schivelbusch and then the second one was “Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space” by Mike Davis. I enjoyed reading both of these because I felt they both had good perspectives and view points. I think out of these two readings the “Railroad Space and and Railroad Time” kept my interest the longest. 

This reading told about how railroads changed things especially the time to travel somewhere and the space between your travel destinations by railroads. By using a railroad you will arrive at your destination so quick, that you almost forget about the space in between the two places. Before trains, the travel took much longer. With a longer travel also usually means more sight seeing, and more stops for various things, but with a train, you often don’t need to stop due to the shortness of the trip. 

The reading, “Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space” talked about the security for different travel options and what people need to follow. Before this, there weren’t as many regulations. The city of Los Angeles has changed a lot with security and and enforcements. It is so crazy how this common town has made it so segregated from certain types of people in certain public places. 

Overall, these both linked to each other talking about their geography and landscape. I think they are both important topics, but the first reading about railroads, time, and space kept my interest longer, and made me glad to have gotten the opportunity to read it.