Moguls and Iron Men; The Story of the First Transcontinental Railroad

New York: Harper & Row, 1964. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. 25 cm,. viii, [4], 392, [10] pages. Endpaper map. Illustrations. Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Ex-library with usual library markings. DJ has some wear, tears, soiling and chips. The author came from 'a railroad family.' He worked as a caller and a roundhouse clerk for the New York Central before becoming a feature writer for the Brooklyn Eagle. During World War II he served as an anti-submarine warfare with the U. S. Navy. He then became a full-time writer. The building of the first transcontinental railroad is one of the great set pieces in the repertoire of American epics. James McCague's prose reverberates with the snorting of diamondstacked locomotives, the clang of hammers on spikes, the scrape of Ames Old Colony shovels and the roar of gunpowder blasts gouging rights of way through mountains. He has done much original research and offers shrewd new insights into the personalities of those who profited or lost the most by promoting the railroad. His account begins in Washington, D. C. The Pacific railroad could not have been built if the Federal Government had not supplied enormous subsidies ? including 23 million acres of land and $64 million in easy loans?to the railroad companies. In fact, private enterprise among the top promoters consisted largely of getting help from the Government. And the Government was eager to oblige. Construction began in 1863, and President Lincoln withdrew one of his most promising young generals, Grenville M. Dodge, from Grant's army to supervise construction of the Union Pacific.