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Railroad History - Why They Built the Railroads

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I too have read White's book. I agree with much of what he wrote.   It is import, I believe, to recognize that White is an historian. He is looking in the rear view mirror and describing judgmentally what happened. He was not part of the action; he was not charged with moving in uncharted waters; he did not have a dog in the hunt; he cannot see into the minds of the key players. Monday morning quarterbacking is easier than running the plays on Sunday afternoon. Having said that, the book is a good read, with many valuable insights and lessons, and I recommend it. From my point of view a key takeaway from the read is how politics and government can stuff things up. Building the railroad before there was a viable market for it was pushed by the government, perhaps for legitimate reasons, i.e. Manifest Destiny, bind the nation together, create jobs for Civil War veterans, etc. Clearly, many of the promoters and builders stole the projects blind, which is inexcusable, but they were able to do so because the government threw gobs of money and assets at them without any meaningful controls to oversee the projects. At the time the federal government had little concept of internal controls, accountability, audits, etc.  At least we have gotten over that hurdle. Whether we humans learn from history is problematic.  Many of the problems associated with the transcontinental railroad(s) cropped up again in the U.S. Space Program and the building of the Interstate Highway System.     Stephen Ambrose was more forgiving of the follies of the builders. He saw the project in a different light, as we all tend to do, and described it as a great achievement. That it was, albeit flawed in many respects. But then what major human project is not flawed in some respects?
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