Pushbutton railroading in 1939

Here’s what I want for Christmas, 67 years ago.

(Scanned from Popular Mechanics magazine, December 1939 issue, as World War II begins.)

“Want to load a coal car? I’ll do it! Press button and I’ll fill it to the brim!”

“What’s become of our coal? Press button… and presto… car tilts, unloading coal wherever you say.”

“Here’s a neat trick. Press that button and we’ll uncouple — electrically!”

“This is tops! Press button: car door opens, out pops freight.”

I’m torn.

On one hand, this is undeniably cool. Press the button to make the railroad system go. Load the coal, dump the coal, join the cars, just like you’re a real railroad engineer. I’m not sure how this is all accomplished with just those two buttons. Unfortunately, you can’t read the button labels in the ad.

But on the other hand, I wonder if the magic of pressing the button is replacing the magic of invention and creativity. If a little kid is sitting there playing with their trains that don’t have pushbuttons, they have to make up the story. They create their own narrative. They use their own hands to load and dump the coal.

Could this era have been the beginning of the decline of engineering studies in the United States? Up to this point, everything was “build it yourself.” Make your own radio. Learn chemistry in your basement. Build something with your Erector Set. Doing it with your own hands teaches you what the problems are and how to approach them. But does pushbutton railroading begin to reduce thinking? Is this where convenience took priority over creativity?

It reminds me of when Legos began producing sets of pre-conceived constructions. Build this exact castle. Build this exact Millenium Falcon. By buying the recipe, the kid loses creative possibilities. The Legos can no longer be anything, they must be a castle. (But of course, Lego created Mindstorms which brings the creativity right back in.)

But either way, it’s still cool.