By the late 1840s, railroad companies, some of which had bribed state legislatures for their charters, were touting their proposed connections to the main Eastern trunk lines. Every Midwest town wanted to be on a railroad line. The companies, supported by local newspaper editors, made wild promises about economic benefits, attracting new settlers, higher land values, cheap shipping for farm produce, investments in mines and quarries, new warehouses, hotels and retail businesses.
Companies raised funds on Eastern financial markets and advertised for individual and local government subscriptions, pitting communities against each other in a bidding war for the line. Some proposed lines were never built, with the company directors making off with the money, others were under-capitalized and their building constantly delayed as companies kept running out of money. Lack of planning and government regulation led to over-dense construction, with some lines going bankrupt before a single train left the station.
Historian and travel writer Dr. David Mould, Professor Emeritus of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University, has traveled widely in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Born in the UK, he worked as a newspaper and TV journalist before moving to the U.S. in 1978. He has more than 30 years experience as a university teacher, graduate program director and academic administrator, and has worked as a freelance video and radio documentary producer. Since the mid-1990s, he has worked as a consultant, trainer and researcher for UNICEF, UNESCO, USAID and other international and government agencies. His travel essays and articles have been published in Newsweek, Christian Science Monitor, Times Higher Education, History News Network and other print and online outlets. He has published three books on travel: History and culture — Postcards from the Borderlands (Open Books, 2020), Monsoon Postcards: Indian Ocean Journeys (Ohio University Press, 2019) and Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia (Ohio University Press, 2016)
