The railroad originally was as completely dissociated from steam propulsion as was the ship

The United States as we know it today is largely the result of mechanical inventions, and in particular of agricultural machinery and the railroad. One transformed millions of acres of uncultivated land into fertile farms, while the other furnished the transportation which carried the crops to distant markets.

Consequently many large railroad systems of heavy capitalization bid fair to run into difficulties on the first serious falling off in general business

The construction of extensive railways, however, and particularly the consolidation of small, experimental lines into large systems, dates from the days of the discovery of gold in California

While no one railroad can completely duplicate another line, two or more may compete at particular points

The railroad originally was as completely dissociated from steam propulsion as was the ship

Great men are usually the products of their times and one of the men developed by these times takes rank with the greatest railroad leaders in history.