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From acclaimed historian Walter R. Borneman comes a dazzling account of the battle to build Americas transcontinental rail lines. Rival Rails is an action-packed epic of how an empire was bornand the remarkable men who made it happen.After the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the rest of the country was up for grabs, and the race was on. The prize a better, shorter, less snowy route through the corridors of the American Southwest, linking Los Angeles to Chicago. In Rival Rails, Borneman lays out in compelling detail the sectional rivalries, contested routes, political posturing, and ambitious business dealings that unfolded as an increasing number of lines pushed their way across the country. Borneman brings to life the legendary business geniuses and so-called robber barons who made millions and fought the elementsand one anotherto move America, including William Jackson Palmer, whose leadership of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad relied on innovative narrow gauge trains that could climb steeper grades and take tighter curves Collis P.
