Quote:
Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280
We intentionally made ourselves a choke point so we could control the industry
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Where did you get that idea? Railroads in the 19th century were as cutthroat and uncoöperative as it's possible to imagine. But railroads were initially ways to link busy waterways overland to distant ports, or to bring commodities from agricultural and mining hinterlands to ports. Decades before a transcontinental railroad was even thought possible, no one gathered in a room and decided to make Chicago a chokepoint. And a dozen railroads built routes that completely bypassed Chicago in one way or another.