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Notes -
I discussed this in the TG group.
In 1886 the US standardized all rail gauges, moving 11,500 miles of track in 2 days: http://southern.railfan.net/ties/1966/66-8/gauge.html A few decades before, they raised Chicago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago That was more track than modern Spain, 5x more than modern Ireland. Yet they can't change their gauges... Similar issues occur in the Baltics, although they're building new lines using standard gauge to link Poland to Finland. At any rate, the Spanish do build high speed rail, while California...
Self organizing was very common, with public committees of leading citizens popping up left and right to solve common ills and dissolving themselves when the task was done. (We can also contrast this with modern charities which find new goals, to maintain the bureaucracy, funding pipelines etc.) https://scholars-stage.org/lessons-from-and-limitations-of-the-19th-century-experience/ goes into the decline in self governance. During the civil war, Elizabeth Blackwell (et al.) created the 3rd biggest organization, after the army and republican party, with 7000 chapters, who believed they could do a better job than the government: https://www.palladiummag.com/2023/03/30/a-school-of-strength-and-character/
Hell, look at the canal building around 1820, far more than Africa, Latam, Central Asia or Southern Europe are doing. Look at the crane sketches: https://www.thoughtco.com/building-the-erie-canal-1773705 Also Dismal Swamp, Bellows Falls, Santee, Middlesex... They built many canals at this time. (The Dutch are at least still reclaiming land. China is also doing things, including in Africa.)
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