Publisher's Synopsis
For over a decade, Charles Howard, president of the Baltimore & Susquehanna railroad, was at the epicenter of two separate wars, concurrently waged. Baltimore and Maryland were allied in struggles with Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to capture the growing agricultural and commercial trade of Pennsylvania's interior and the U.S. west. Capturing that trade was the raison d'être of the B&S. In the second war, Baltimore and Maryland fought each other for control of the B&S. Howard had the delicate duty of remaining neutral: Maryland and Baltimore were the sole sources of financing for the B&S. The B&S needed each to survive. Tutored in politics by his father, a governor of Maryland and U.S. Senator, Howard was suited to his role.
The field of battle in the first conflict was authority for the B&S to extend into Pennsylvania to connect with The Main Line of the Public Works at Wrightsville. The fields of battle between Maryland and Baltimore related to appointment of B&S directors, terms of state and city financings, and "lien wars" over B&S assets. After a decade of struggle, in 1839 Pennsylvania granted the B&S permission to extend to Wrightsville. Howard then needed four new locomotives; but could not pay until the new road became operational. For engines and credit, he turned to Patrick Tracy Jackson and The Proprietors of Locks and Canals on Merrimack River. L&C had built other engines for the B&S, including the engine used to open the first B&S road. There were impediments, however. Maryland and Baltimore had claims over all B&S assets, which would include the new engines. And Maryland, which then had control of the B&S, was unable to sell stock to fund the B&S. Howard developed an innovative financing structure to resolve the dilemmas, protecting both L&C and the B&S. That structure was the seed from which equipment finance developed. In a political masterpiece, he preserved the arrangement when the B&S defaulted on its payments. The stories are told in this book. The discussion of Locks & Canals serves as background for this volume and volume three in this series. Available in (a) hardcover, color interior, (b) paperback, color interior, and (c) paperback, black and white interior.
