LeLand Stanford CEO of the Central Pacific Railroad  May 11, 1869 The NY Sun A bond issued to help finance the Railroad          If you had asked the rail barons pushing to build a transcontinental railroad, "Will you make a profit selling tickets? Will you make a profit hauling farm crops and manufactured goods?" they would answer, "Certainly." If they were being utterly candid, though, they'd add, "Of course, that's not where the really big and quick money is."      A transcontinental railroad was proposed in the early 1840s.  Before the war with Mexico, its route would have been from Chicago and St Louis to the coast of Oregon. Southern senators and representatives in Congress opposed this, fearing it would simply bring more anti-slavery immigrants into the northern plains, creating more free soil states and breaking the grip minority pro slavery states had on Congress.       Adding Texas and the land gained by the...

  From Harper's magazine, Jan. 31, 1858 It's estimated over 7,000 people died in railroad accidents before the Civil War Railroads -- In the late 1830s and early 1840s, increasing numbers of wealthy men saw opportunity to join together to create a “rail road.”  The earliest long rail line ran from Wilmington, NC to Weldon, NC on the Virginia border. Later, Weldon became a major transshipping point to carry slaves from the East to new owners in the Deep South.  Early locomotives were little more than a steam engine set on a flat wood surface with wheels attached to the bottom. The freight and passenger cars were simply open top boxes. Speeds varied from 10 to 35 mph. “Riding the cars “or “taking the cars” was the phrase for “ride the train” or “take the train.” Smoke blew back on the engineer and passengers, sparks frequently burning holes in clothes. If it rained, let’s hope you brought your umbrella. Soon, these cars had canvas tops applied to them and a cover for the en...

The Sultana explodes on the Mississippi north of Memphis April 27, 1865. Over 1,500 people of the 2,000 aboard died. River Boats-- And you think the Boeing 737 is unsafe??!! Most of us have a vision of steamboats formed by movies and TV.    There is the classic musical Showboat. And I remember James Garner in the old TV series Maverick   about a riverboat gambler. The show's theme music ended with the lyrics "Luck is the lady he loves best."  You bet! (pardon the pun.) Safety standards were non existent.   Riverboat journeys themselves were a gamble.  With little to no regulation and no safety features, riverboats were floating death traps. A July 1860 St. Louis newspaper reported matter-of-factly that 267 riverboats had exploded, burned, sunk, collided, or run aground between St Louis and New Orleans  in the previous six months! The deadliest river boat loss occurred when the  Sultanah  exploded in April 27,1865. ...