This series of four thirty-minute programs offers "a fresh perspective on how railroads created and shaped America's financial institutions, America's singular brand of capitalism and its unique way of doing business. The growth of American railroads from 1830 to 1930 is identical with the growth of the nation into the premier industrial power in the world. It is a colorful story that examines the roles and contributions of Johns Hopkins, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould and E.H. Harriman. It is a story that begins a new era in the 21st century with Warren Buffett and his purchase of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
In 1830, America was an agrarian nation slowly inching its way west across the continent, but that was about to change spectacularly with the introduction of the steam locomotive and railroads.
By 1840 the railroad building boom was on and all of America was gripped by railroad fever and the expectation railroads offered to become a leading industrial power.
During the Civil War Railroads dramatically changed the way war was waged forever. But even more significantly for America, President Abraham Lincoln set the course for railroads to place the nation on the path to greatness as a world power.
The Gilded Age, an era of great wealth and vast power, was driven by the railroad industry. It was also a period when the Federal government finally decided to step off the sidelines and help direct the nation's economy by controlling the railroads.
