Gould transcontinental system
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The Gould transcontinental system was a system of railroads assembled by George Jay Gould I and the Fuller Syndicate in the early 1900s. This was Gould's attempt to fulfill a goal of his late father, financier Jay Gould.{{cite book |title=Railroads of Pennsylvania: Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape |last=Treese |first=Lorett |year=2003 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |isbn=978-0-8117-2622-1 |chapter=Section Seven. Pittsburgh Area |page=229 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WU83s_xdIF4C&q=lorett%20treese&pg=PA229| via=Google Books |accessdate=2009-09-06}}{{Schafer-More-Classic | page=141}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126452/the-houston-post/| title=George Gould's Plans| newspaper=The Houston Post| date=August 18, 1901| page=20| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Due to financial troubles following the Panic of 1907, the system was never completed as a fully transcontinental line.
The system competed with systems similarly amalgamated and controlled by other railroad magnates including that of E. H. Harriman{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58117536/marysville-evening-democrat/| title=Harriman Has A Through Line| newspaper=Marysville Evening Democrat| date=September 20, 1906| page=7| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126261/the-san-francisco-call/| title=Harriman and Gould Begin Strenuous Race| newspaper=The San Francisco Call| date=June 30, 1907| page=43| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17646211/st-louis-post-dispatch/| title=What The Deal Is to St. Louis| newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch| date=November 11, 1906| page=39| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} (who controlled the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific and B&O lines{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126166/san-francisco-chronicle/| title=Confirms Report of Harriman's Big Deal| newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle| date=September 18, 1906| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126220/oroville-daily-register/| title=Western Pacific Threatened By Deal| newspaper=Oroville Daily Register| date=September 19, 1906| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}) and James J. Hill (who controlled Great Northern).{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126322/el-paso-herald/| title=Harriman Lines Rivaled By The Gould Holdings| newspaper=El Paso Herald| date=November 25, 1905| page=5| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} Both Harriman and Hill were involved in the Northern Securities Company antitrust litigation during this time. Gould sought to avoid similar litigation by acquiring control of railroads that could be chained together at their endpoints to make a longer system; under Gould's plan, Missouri Pacific Railroad would become a holding company owning the other lines in the system.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126563/deseret-news/| title=Ocean To Ocean By 1908| newspaper=Deseret News| date=March 18, 1904| page=10| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} After the 1907 financial panic, there were rumors of a merger of the Harriman and Gould systems.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58117090/omaha-daily-bee/| title=Peaceful Trade Conquest| newspaper=Omaha Daily Bee| date=August 12, 1908| page=5| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} But as many of the eastern roads controlled by Gould entered receivership after 1907 despite receiving investment funds from John D. Rockefeller,{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58127011/the-baltimore-sun/| title=Final Steps in New York| newspaper=The Baltimore Sun| date=June 9, 1908| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58127232/the-indianapolis-news/| title=Rockefeller Will Soon Have No Rival| newspaper=The Indianapolis News| date=August 12, 1903| page=6| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} and Gould's ouster from Missouri Pacific leadership in 1915,{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58127377/the-washington-post/| title=Oust Goulds from M.P.| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=March 10, 1915| page=10| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} the complete transcontinental plan fell apart.
At its peak the system stretched from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, and comprised the following railroads:
- Western Pacific Railway{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58116178/stockton-daily-evening-record/| title=Is Rockefeller The Backer| newspaper=Stockton Daily Evening Record| date=August 28, 1903| page=2| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
- Rio Grande Western Railway
- Denver and Rio Grande Railroad
- Missouri Pacific Railroad{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58116435/daily-arkansas-gazette/| title=Goulds Are Ousted From Mo. P. Control| newspaper=Daily Arkansas Gazette| date=March 10, 1915| page=8| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58127312/the-baltimore-sun/| title=Goulds To The Pacific| newspaper=The Baltimore Sun| date=November 23, 1902| page=14| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
- Wabash Railroad{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58116789/the-pittsburgh-press/| title=Old Jay Gould's Grip Is Pried Loose at Last| newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press| date=February 26, 1911| page=55| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
- Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad
- Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway
- A {{convert|150|mi|km|adj=on}}gap was left to complete the transcontinental route, including the gap between Pittsburgh and Connellsville, Pennsylvania){{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58115749/the-topeka-daily-herald/| title=Railroad News - Only 150 Miles To Complete Gould Transcontinental Line| newspaper=The Topeka Daily Herald| date=March 14, 1906| page=2| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} The State Line and Southern Railroad was chartered in 1910 to bridge the gap,{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58115971/the-raleigh-herald/| title=Link in Gould Transcontinental System| newspaper=The Raleigh Herald| date=June 9, 1910| page=3| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} and later the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad was also intended to bridge the gap.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58126065/the-morning-call/| title=Valley and Central Important Factors in Railway 'War'| newspaper=The Morning Call| location=Allentown, PA| date=May 4, 1929| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
- Western Maryland Railroad{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58115143/the-baltimore-sun/| title=Rockefeller Said to Control W. M. R. R.| newspaper=The Baltimore Sun| date=May 20, 1908| page=1| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}