“He’s got stiff competition for very little business, taking it through unsettled territory,” Colonel Prime said with a laugh. “Hell, there’s nothing up there but Indians and goddamn bears! ’Scuse me, Mrs. Morgan.”

More interested in the intriguing prospect of railroads crisscrossing America and into Mexico than the colonel’s deliberately rough language, Ginny nodded politely.

“But I think the idea has merit, Colonel. It wasn’t so very long ago that Texas was largely unsettled. Look at it now. In ten or twenty years, there will be towns full of people all over America. And a privately owned railroad would not have to rely on government subsidies to fund the company, but on private investors who are more interested in business dynamics than politics.”

The colonel looked slightly surprised at a woman having any interest in a business conversation. Steve smiled.

“My wife owns a considerable amount of railroad stock herself, so you’ll pardon her for having such a keen interest in how her money’s being spent.”

Lott smiled slightly. “Then, with a woman’s inherent wisdom, I imagine she sees the advantages to a privately owned railroad.”

Ginny shrugged. “Perhaps. But I have a few questions. How will you compete with the Northern Pacific, the Union Pacific and the Santa Fe? All three of those railroads were financed by the federal government, and as such, have their expenses paid for by the government. Have you considered how long it will take to recoup building and operating costs before you begin to make a profit? Is there a comfortable margin of error in your estimations of construction costs in building a line far enough to pay for itself?”

Chuckling, Lott shook his head. “I see you have made a study of it, Mrs. Morgan. I read Hill’s proposals in which he concludes that building one extension at a time would keep costs down and pay for expenses. If farmers are moved in from back East to settle the land along the railroad, they would use my trains to ship produce to markets back East. It would take time. Without giving in to government subsidy, each extension would have to build up red-to-black business before another extension could be built. Plus, by utilizing short, direct routes, it minimizes operating costs.”

“Do you intend to go into a partnership with Hill?” Steve’s eyes were narrowed against the curling smoke of his cigar. “I understood him to prefer the north country to the south.”

“No, we have different areas of interest. I plan on providing reliable, low-cost farm-to-market rail service in Texas and Mexico, and eventually join with Hill’s planned routes to go up into Canada. Goods will be able to move all over the North American continent by rail. Americans will be more prosperous than ever.”

Steve asked, “And your investors? Are they aware of the risks? Or do they prefer government subsidy?”