Chapter 159: The Beginning of the Railway Empire

Vanderbilt had begun an aggressive push into the railroad industry, which was new territory for him.

He re-planned and became the president of the Stonington Railway Company. A small Stonington Railway Company obviously could not meet his ambitions. He would either not do it or be the strongest. This was Vanderbilt. life creed.

Last year, Liang Yao exchanged shares of Xiangshan Gold Mining Company for some shares of Stonington Railway Company, and now he is also one of the shareholders of Stonington Railway Company.

Liang Yao also supported Vanderbilt when he was elected president of the Stonington Railroad Company.

In addition to the Stonington Railroad Company, Vanderbilt also annexed the New York and Harlem Railroad Company, preparing to start his railroad empire based on these two railroad companies.

When railroads first emerged in the United States, Vanderbilt had a strong interest in railroads, a new mode of transportation. However, a small accident in 1834 made him have a shadow on railroads.

It was the summer of 1834, when he was 40 years old. He and his friends were admiring the beautiful scenery along the Hudson River by the railroad tracks. A train broke away from the unreliable train like a wild horse that broke free of its reins. Railroad tracks, barreling toward Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt nearly died in the train accident.

Derailed trains, passengers crushed by trains on the tracks, cold corpses, panicked people covered in blood, and crying children, these images always appeared in his mind whenever he wanted to enter the railway transportation industry.

This accident left a big shadow on Vanderbilt and changed his mind about entering the railway transportation industry. He even vowed never to get involved in the railway transportation industry in his life.

"I heard that you bought out control of the railroad from New York to Albany along the Hudson River, and that you purchased the New York & Harlem Railroad."

After Liang Yao and Vanderbilt got off the boat, they left the noisy little dock in Berkeley.

Vanderbilt bought out control of the railroad from New York to Albany along the Hudson River, and his intention to acquire the New York and Harlem Railroad Company was very obvious.

He planned to monopolize rail transportation in New York and start building his own railroad empire.

This is very clever. Vanderbilt has already controlled all the ferries in New York State, and now controls the railway transportation in New York State. In the future, people in New York State who want to travel, whether they choose to travel by water or land, cannot do without Vanderbilt. Especially this transportation tycoon.

New York has a large population and is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.

As long as the railway company is operated properly, it will make profits in a relatively short period of time.

"I originally wanted to acquire the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company and the New York Central Railroad Company, but I didn't expect that you had already taken over the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company. The acquisition of the New York Central Railway also encountered some resistance."

Vanderbilt said with regret.

“I could have started at a higher level.”

Liang Yao used the shares of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company purchased from Wu Yuanhua as the basis, and later asked Strauss to acquire some shares from retail investors, thereby controlling the railroad company.

His personal holdings in the Delaware and Hudson Company already exceeded half, and it no longer made sense for Vanderbilt to acquire the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company.

Even if Vanderbilt wanted to acquire the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company, Liang Yao would not agree.

The Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company is one of the few railroad companies in the United States that masters advanced technology.

Liang Yao used the technical reserves of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company to develop the Pioneer, otherwise the development of the Pioneer would not have gone so smoothly.

Many of the technical backbone of the California Railroad Company also worked for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company.

Liang Yao of the New York Central Railway originally planned to hold some shares, but last year his relationship with the state of New York was relatively delicate, and the acquisition of the New York Central Railway encountered some obstacles.

Liang Yao did not expect that Vanderbilt, who was also a New Yorker, would be hindered in his acquisition of the New York Central Railroad Company.

"This is really a pity." Liang Yao sighed, "I didn't expect that doing business freely in the United States, which advocates freedom, would encounter so many unfree things."

"There are a lot of unfreedoms. I envy you very much. In California, you control the sky and can do whatever you want. No one can stop you. But in New York, I have nothing but some bad money. In order to make the future To grow your business, you have to deal with all kinds of people.”

Vanderbilt asked doubtfully, pointing to the small train station in Berkeley Village.

"Is such a small village building a railway?"

"It's a small village now, but with California's population growth rate, within a few years it will develop into a city with a population of tens of thousands."

Liang Yao saw that Vanderbilt was interested in the train station in Berkeley Village, so he took Vanderbilt towards the train station in Berkeley Village.

The engineering technology of the day was not sufficient to support him in building a bridge spanning eight or nine miles across Jinshan Bay.

When Liang Yao wanted to build a railway from San Francisco to Sacramento, he could only choose to go around Jinshan Bay. Later generations also did the same. The railway route planned by Liang Yao was very different from that of later generations. He just moved the time of building the railway ten years earlier. several years.

Because in another time and space, although gold was discovered in California, all the gold was plundered by the eastern consortium, who did not care about the development of California.

Liang Yao's sudden appearance changed all this, and now most of California's gold will be used to develop California.

The railway line from San Francisco to Berkeley Village has been completed. After completing the loop around Jinshan Bay, the railway will continue to extend northeast until it reaches Sacramento.

"How much dividend will I get from Xiangshan Gold Mining Company? In order to support you and protest to the government and Congress, I stopped all my routes and suffered a lot of losses."

Vanderbilt asked as he walked towards the Berkeley train station.

Obtaining dividends from Xiangshan Gold Mining Company is the purpose of Vanderbilt's trip.

Buying out the control of the railway along the Hudson River from New York to Albany and acquiring the New York and Harlem Railroad Company has cost him $4.6 million in bank deposits.

In order to monopolize the sea route from the East to California, he had to fight a price war with Aspinwall's Pacific Mail Steamship Company. This route, which originally brought him millions of dollars in revenue every year, now had to be operated at his own expense.

Coupled with some expenses on other routes, Vanderbilt now had very little cash left.

The original $8.2 million in bank deposits now only had $3.3 million left.

He urgently needed California gold to make up for the loss. Only with a larger cash flow could he continue to expand his railway empire.