At the turn of the 20th century, railroads were the frontier of business enterprise. During the latter 1800s, railroads were being built at a frenzied pace; by 1900, there were more than 193,000 miles of railroad in the United States. Capital poured into the industry. It wasn't long before merger-and-ac-quisition activity was all the rage. In 1900, nearly one in six railroad route miles was involved in some kind of deal. Railroads were the "dotcoms" of the last century.
展开▼
