Railroad Corporation of the United States

-with Liberty and Union War (1868-76) total financial collapse ensues

-sees a great many people lose their money with end of banknotes

-railways owned by enemies of Constitutional Government get forcibly confiscated and nationalized

-government deems debts of bank as devolving onto itself

-and waive these debts in return for government getting their railroad shares

-initially these railroads are essentially run by army

-but following end of war in 1878 these railroads are formally spun off into corporation aligned with the government

-partially owned by government on model of national bank

Presidents of the Railroad Corporation of the United States

  1. 1869-1878: Daniel McCallum (as Major-General of the United States Railroad Corps) [1] Appointed to administer railroads nationalized by the United States government and does so very effectively through managerial techniques. Sees the construction of American Infrastructure > Pembina Pacific Railroad, a second transcontinental railroad, to assure to the Constitutional Government of control over its Pacific Resigns upon the formation of the Railroad Corporation because doesn't really want to lead a corporation.
  2. 1878-1883: John V. L. Pruyn [2] Shares of new corporation are often held by owners of private, loyal railroads, creating a unified railroad and corporate interest associated with the government. American Presidents > 1879-1887 Curran Emmet (Justice) declares there's been a corruption scandal connecting Treasury, Railroad Corporation, and a number of corporations in kickbacks and controlling rates, fires treasury secretary, and purges Railroad Corporation of the corrupt.
  3. 1883-1905: Arthur M. Wellington [3] Attempts to distil the principles of laying out and managing railroads into a series of engineering problems. Begins a process of technocracy, associates with National University of the United States of America > Smithsonian Institution to train a class of professionals to manage it. Completes process of reconstructing railroads across South. Lays them across contours with minimal elevation changes, and sets stations at exact intervals. Sees Constitution of the United States (1885), which definitively separates National Railroad shares from others, but also sees railroad shares dissolved by the state with compensation well below market values. On state direction, decreases freights more generally to the extent that Corporation is being run at a loss, causing a mass sale of shares and bankruptcy of other railroads which can't compete with it, causing double-dip recession after Recessions > Panic of 1895.
  4. 1905-1918: Lawrence Siemens [4] Broadly continues policies of his predecessor, and continues to administer the railroads in a technocratic manner. Begins to construct showy "bullet lines" to compete with those of Europe. Due to running corporation at loss, especially with Recessions > Panic of 1911, forced out of power by rise of Free Traders.
  5. 1918-1939: Marius Goodman [5] Makes a series of unpopular freight hikes, but comes with a general program of modernizing the increasingly outdated railroad system. Additionally, sells a great many railroad shares to raise money. Sees the RCUSA make a considerable profit both thanks to the hiked freights and the return of mass membership to the railroads; however, also faces increasing competition from the rise of the Pyreolophore > Autophores and the state-created turnpikes.
  6. 1939-1955: Jarvis Wise [6] With the rise of the oil shocks, and most oil being in United Provinces of Buenaventura the railroads make a comeback. Wise engages in a period of modernization and electrification and constructs new lines to compete with turnpikes.
  7. 1955-1971: Jonah Spendler [7] Sees the rise of modern bullet lines, with one being made to connect the Boston-Richmond Corridor, against the rise of air travel. Popularity sees its further construction, in particular in the Middle West.
  8. 1971-1987: Joseph Bernardo [8]
  9. 1987-2003: Richard Mueller [9]
  10. 2003-2018: Frank Yoshida [10]
  11. 2018-pres. Alexandra F. Kennedy [11]



  1. Appointed to administer railroads nationalized by the United States government and does so very effectively through managerial techniques. Sees the construction of American Infrastructure > Pembina Pacific Railroad, a second transcontinental railroad, to assure to the Constitutional Government of control over its Pacific Resigns upon the formation of the Railroad Corporation because doesn't really want to lead a corporation. ⮐
  2. Shares of new corporation are often held by owners of private, loyal railroads, creating a unified railroad and corporate interest associated with the government. American Presidents > 1879-1887 Curran Emmet (Justice) declares there's been a corruption scandal connecting Treasury, Railroad Corporation, and a number of corporations in kickbacks and controlling rates, fires treasury secretary, and purges Railroad Corporation of the corrupt. ⮐
  3. Attempts to distil the principles of laying out and managing railroads into a series of engineering problems. Begins a process of technocracy, associates with National University of the United States of America > Smithsonian Institution to train a class of professionals to manage it. Completes process of reconstructing railroads across South. Lays them across contours with minimal elevation changes, and sets stations at exact intervals. Sees Constitution of the United States (1885), which definitively separates National Railroad shares from others, but also sees railroad shares dissolved by the state with compensation well below market values. On state direction, decreases freights more generally to the extent that Corporation is being run at a loss, causing a mass sale of shares and bankruptcy of other railroads which can't compete with it, causing double-dip recession after Recessions > Panic of 1895. ⮐
  4. Broadly continues policies of his predecessor, and continues to administer the railroads in a technocratic manner. Begins to construct showy "bullet lines" to compete with those of Europe. Due to running corporation at loss, especially with Recessions > Panic of 1911, forced out of power by rise of Free Traders. ⮐
  5. Makes a series of unpopular freight hikes, but comes with a general program of modernizing the increasingly outdated railroad system. Additionally, sells a great many railroad shares to raise money. Sees the RCUSA make a considerable profit both thanks to the hiked freights and the return of mass membership to the railroads; however, also faces increasing competition from the rise of the Pyreolophore > Autophores and the state-created turnpikes. ⮐
  6. With the rise of the oil shocks, and most oil being in United Provinces of Buenaventura the railroads make a comeback. Wise engages in a period of modernization and electrification and constructs new lines to compete with turnpikes. ⮐
  7. Sees the rise of modern bullet lines, with one being made to connect the Boston-Richmond Corridor, against the rise of air travel. Popularity sees its further construction, in particular in the Middle West. ⮐
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