the original construction of the Erie’s 500 plus miles took almost 20 years to complete…when it was started it was the grandest scheme in Railroad construction…when completed in 1851 it was the longest single line railroad in the world…the first RR telegraph train orders where on the Erie…in fact members of the Erie board went on to start Western Union…it was run by competant managers with forward thinking board members…and was on the way to being a major if not THE major business in the country…sadly Daniel Drew James Fisk and Jay Gould got thier hands on the Erie and the rest is history…but…where would railroading in the east be if the Erie prospered early in its life…? thoughts?