Timothy Starr

Interesting discussion of railroad construction and financing in the “Gilded Age” of New York. Each chapter covers a different “war”. “Canal Wars” is about attempts to build railroads parallel to the Erie Canal. The catch was the Erie Canal belonged to the State of New York, was paid for with taxpayer money, and returned money to the state treasury. Thus the state government had an interest in blocking railroad construction, even though it was more convenient for shippers and show more didn’t ice over in the winter. First railroads were opposed altogether; then they were allowed, but only to carry passengers; then to carry freight, but only as long as they charged the same rates as the canal; and finally the state gave up and let the railroads build (several small railroads eventually combined to make the New York Central). The canal remained competitive for some time for bulk cargoes – grain and timber – but the last freight hauler on the canal ceased operations in 1994. (see Wedding of the Waters.

Next is “Rate Wars”, where the railroads engaged in rate competitions to try to drive others out of business. In some cases rates changed several times per day. A further complication was construction of new railroad lines parallel to existing ones, so the existing road was forced to buy out the new one to preserve its revenue stream. The “robber barons” of the Gilded Age were especially adept at this: Cornelius Vanderbilt and his son William; Jay Gould; Jim Fisk; and Daniel Drew. Interestingly enough, the “robber barons” were all self-made millionaires (except for William Vanderbilt). Cornelius Vanderbilt owned a small sailboat that he eventually parlayed into a fleet of steamboats and one of the first railroad “trunk lines”. Jay Gould was the son of a dairyman, who studied mathematics on his own until he qualified as a surveyor, then went into stock market speculation. Jim Fisk started out as a tent hand in the circus, then became a peddler (using his circus experience to apply an extravagant paint scheme to his wagon. He took up stock market speculation on a whim. Daniel Drew hired himself out as a draft substitute, then worked as a cattle driver. He invested his cattle profits in steamboats and eventually railroads. Of the five, the Vanderbilts were the most ethical; Vanderbilt’s strategy was to buy failing railroads, then invest heavily in track and rolling stock improvements. Once the railroad was operating at a profit, Vanderbilt would “water” the stock – offer stock at artificially inflated value without corresponding increase in the railroad’s assets. Gould, Fisk, and Drew did much the same thing except they didn’t bother to make their railroads efficient and profitable; Gould’s looting of the Erie Railroad was legendary.

The ”Hudson River” war and the “New York Central” war were somewhat similar to the Erie Canal situation. Steamboats had plied the river since the 1807s, so river navigation companies were resistant to parallel railroads. However, the railroads didn’t freeze over in the winter. On the other hand, there was no bridge over the river at Albany until 1866, so railroads had to unload freight, ferry it across, and reload on the other side; in the summer when the river was open it made more sense to just keep it on boats and send it to New York City that way. The railroads were thus plagued by highly variable expenses. Once again, Cornelius Vanderbilt eventually took control of the situation.

The ”Susquehanna War” revolved around build a railroad into the agriculturally rich southern part of the state. In this case, towns along the route all owned shares. Gould and Fisk, who ran the Erie Railroad and coveted the Albany and Susquehanna, went to the towns with literal bags of cash, buying up shares; in the meantime the president of the Albany and Susquehanna tried to block them. At the time, any district judge in New York could issue rulings valid for the entire state. The interested parties therefore toured the state finding compliant judges and obtained injunctions and counter-injunctions. Finally the Erie, armed with a court order and a cooperating local sheriff, seized an Albany and Susquehanna train at Binghamton, New York, and headed toward Albany, capturing each station as they passed and replacing the locals with Erie employees. The Albany and Susquehanna countered with a train going the other direction; the two trains collided outside Binghamton and the occupants went at each other with clubs and fists. Eventually the Albany and Susquehanna prevailed.

The ”Erie War” was another conflict involving Daniel Drew, Gould, Fisk versus Vanderbilt. In a comic scene, a United States Marshall crowbarred his way into a hotel where Gould had barricaded himself; Gould ran around the room in a circle throwing chairs behind himself to impeded pursuit. Eventually, he was gang tacked and served with a writ demanding he hand over the Erie Railroad’s books for inspection.

The last chapter is “Labor Wars”, detailing the sad conflicts in union organization. In general the public was sympathetic to the unions, and the unions responded by allowing passenger and U.S. Mail cars to proceed while blocking freight. The unions were decidedly defeated in their first labor strikes but eventually government regulations settled the situation.

Not a book for people looking for pictures of rolling stock, but still very interesting. Lots of illustrations but mostly of the people involved. No footnotes or endnotes but a reasonable bibliography. For a somewhat similar account about Colorado railroad wars, see The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. show less