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The Taggart Transcontinental Railroad was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century by Nathaniel Taggart, who by all accounts given in the novel was a flamboyant and fearless tycoon and innovator. He was never quoted as saying anything quite as audacious as what a certain railroad man in [[South America]] is reported to have said:{{cquote|Anywhere a [[llama]] can go, I can take a train.}}

The Taggart Transcontinental Railroad was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century by Nathaniel Taggart, who by all accounts given in the novel was a flamboyant and fearless tycoon and innovator. He was never quoted as saying anything quite as audacious as what a certain railroad man in [[South America]] is reported to have said:{{cquote|Anywhere a [[llama]] can go, I can take a train.}}

But Nathaniel Taggart seems to have approached the building of a railroad with that same spirit. He blasted and drilled an eight-mile-long [[tunnel]] through the [[Continental Divide]] near Winston, [[Colorado]]; the [[Taggart Tunnel]] would remain until it was demolished in 1929 in a tragic accident involving a passenger limited and a special train carrying [[ammunition]]. And he built what eventually became the only railway bridge across the [[Mississippi River]]: the [[Taggart Bridge]], that would become a symbol of connection between the eastern and western [[United States]].

But Nathaniel Taggart seems to have approached the building of a railroad with that same spirit. He build the first [[Taggart Bridge|bridge]] across the [[Mississippi River]], though barge operators took legal action against him to stop the bridge. In later generations, his grandson blasted and drilled an eight-mile-long [[tunnel]] through the [[Continental Divide]] near Winston, [[Colorado]]; the [[Taggart Tunnel]] would remain until it was demolished in 1957 in a tragic accident involving a passenger limited and a special train carrying [[ammunition]].

Nathaniel Taggart also gained a reputation for ruthlessness. In the novel is attributed to him this quote which in real life is attributed to "Commodore" [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] of the [[New York Central Railroad]]:{{cquote|The public be d****d.}} More ominously, when a certain [[United States Congress]]man attempted to block one of his initiatives with a law that Taggart saw as serving no higher purpose than to obstruct him, Taggart had the man murdered. The offending bill died with that politician. This last episode is important because his granddaughter [[Dagny Taggart]] would threaten to do something similar if any politicians tried to stop one of her own initiatives.

Nathaniel Taggart also gained a reputation for ruthlessness. In the novel is attributed to him this quote which in real life is attributed to "Commodore" [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] of the [[New York Central Railroad]]:{{cquote|The public be d****d.}} More ominously, when a certain [[United States Senate|Senator]] attempted to block one of his initiatives with a law that Taggart saw as serving no higher purpose than to obstruct him, Taggart had the man murdered. The offending bill died with that politician. This last episode is important because his descendant [[Dagny Taggart]] would threaten to do something similar if any politicians tried to stop one of her own initiatives.

== Decline and Collapse ==

== Decline and Collapse ==