made the Pacific and the Atlantic coast near neighbors--the Santa
Fe, the Southern Pacific, the Northern Pacific, and the Great
Northern--is described in the pages that follow. Here it is
sufficient to emphasize the fact that they achieved the
concluding triumph in what is certainly the most extensive system
of railroads in the world. These transcontinental roads really
completed the work of Columbus. He sailed to discover the western
route to Cathay and found that his path was blocked by a mighty
continent. But the first train that crossed the plains and
ascended the Rockies and reached the Golden Gate assured
thenceforth a rapid and uninterrupted transit westward from
Europe to Asia.



CHAPTER II. THE COMMODORE AND THE NEW YORK CENTRAL

A story was told many years ago of Commodore Vanderbilt which,
while perhaps not strictly true, was pointed enough to warrant
its constant repetition for more than two generations. Back in
the sixties, when this grizzled railroad chieftain was the chief
factor in the rapidly growing New York Central Railroad system,
whose backbone then consisted of a continuous one-track line
connecting Albany with the Great Lakes, the president of a small
cross-country road approached him one day and requested an
exchange of annual passes.

"Why, my dear sir," exclaimed the Commodore, "my railroad is more
than three hundred miles long, while yours is only seventeen
miles."