The statistic is usually presented as a percentage figure each month, even though it reflects all trains at all times, and rush-hour trains, when most riders use the railroads, often perform far worse.
One is the Oyster Bay railroad station, often used by Roosevelt when he traveled to and from Washington when he was president.
In much of the rest of the country, where trains run infrequently and ridership is low, the railroad is often seen as a waste of money.
In the autumn the cowboys rounded up the cattle, including ownerless ones from the open range, and branded those not already branded; in the winter they kept watch over the herd; and in the spring they selected the cattle ready for market and drove them to the nearest railroad town, often hundreds of miles away.
Mr. Green and Ms. Revis, instead of talking exclusively about the black community, unexpectedly told the youngsters that their Setalcott ancestors helped escaped slaves from the South reach freedom in Canada by providing safe houses and directions along the Underground Railroad's often complex routes.
Survivors said railroad workers often refused to provide water or food during the gruesome journeys because they didn't want to slow the trains.
The financial performance of large railroads is often assessed by their operating ratios, or the railway's expenses as a percentage of operating revenues.
Moreover, railroads had often, in the fierce struggle for business, established unremunerative rates.
There was pressure to nationalize the railroads, which often meant operating them like a modern interstate highway, with the government owning and controlling the infrastructure and allowing regulated private carriers to use the tracks.
