Sublime

The resulting avoidance of grades and curvature spelled out once again the torah of his credo: a highly efficient, low-cost line that could, better than any competitor, carry long-distance cargoes of heavy tonnages.

During the ensuing years, the Burlington system, which Jim Hill had acquired primarily for its west-east connections, proved to be equally valuable for its north-south extension.

An eminently practical man, the courtly Perkins knew well what Hill had earlier ascertained: that even profitable regional roads like the “Q” must either expand to the sea, in order to secure the transcontinental through-rates they needed to compete, or be absorbed by other such systems. He knew that it would be wiser for the Burlington to consolid

Aspinwall, with the help of a generous government franchise to carry the mail to California, had established steamship lines to and from Panama on both oceans. So except for the land barrier at Panama he could provide through steamer passage from New York to San Francisco. The railroad, then, was to be the vital land link in the system—in a grand,

Freight trains ran on volume. Customarily, when the car was full, it would depart. Neither the railroad nor the customer knew when that would be. He said, we’re going to flip this very basic premise and run on schedule. By doing so, the railroad would utilize its assets at maximum efficiency and get rid of ones that it didn’t need, saving huge amou