Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati,
Indianapolis--these are a few of the great traffic centers which
were included in the Vanderbilt preserves. The population of all
these cities, as well as that of the hundreds of smaller places
and the countryside in general, was growing by leaps and bounds.
Furthermore the Northwest, beyond the Great Lakes and through to
the Pacific coast, saw the beginnings of its great development at
this time; and the wheat fields of the far western country became
a factor of profound importance in the national development.
Consequently when the period of depression arrived with the panic
of 1893, the Vanderbilt properties were, as a whole, in a strong
position to meet the changed situation and, like the great
Pennsylvania property, they all passed through to the advent of
the new industrial era without the defaulting of a bond or the
passing of a dividend. The remarkable character of this
achievement is evident in view of the fact that in the period
from 1893 to 1898 more than sixty-five per cent of all the
railroad mileage in the United States went into the hands of
receivers.

After the close of this era of panic, the Vanderbilt lines began
expanding again, though on a much smaller scale than in their
more active time. In 1898 William K. Vanderbilt, then president,
made the announcement that the New York Central had leased the
Boston and Albany Railroad, at that time a lucrative line running
from Albany across Massachusetts into Boston. This gave the
system an entry into the New England field, which it has
continuously held since. A few years later this New England
interest was increased by the acquisition of the Rutland Railroad
in Vermont, thus making connection with the Ogdensburg and Lake