The Underground Railroad is not a railroad that is underground, instead, it is referring to a secret passage for slave escaping in safe houses. The conductor of the Underground Railroad could be the person who helps the slave escape, the lines could refer to the road or the passage which the slaves escaped from one safe house to another, the station could refer to the stops they make in the safe houses, and the freight may refer to the slaves that are escaping.
trade came to a halt
workers were in great shortage
and possibly demanding higher wages. Depends on the overall economy of the certain area of the pandemic
D Roosevelt took a commuter approach towards passing legislation that would help he nation recover from the Depression