Empire Builders (Illustrated Edition)

Empire Builders concerns a young superintendent of a line running from Denver into the Rocky Mountains. Stuart Ford is an ambitious fellow, who hatches a plan to extend the line to eventually connect Chicago and the West Coast. His chief competitor is the Transcontinental with its eye on hauling freight to and from the same regions of the West, profiting from the mining and crop-raising industries. In other words, there is a lot of money to be made for the railroad that can first lay its tracks there.

Ford's main difficulties are right there in the company that owns and operates the railway he's hoping to expand. First he has to persuade the line's Board of Directors that they should invest in his scheme. Then he has to outwit an immediate superior, General Manager North, who doesn't like Ford and sabotages his efforts.

Ford is not without friends, however. He gets help from Charles Edward Adair, a wealthy nephew of the Board of Directors' stubbornly crotchety chairman, Sidney Colbrith. And then there is Adair's pretty sister, Alicia. Both coach Ford on how to deal with their Uncle Sidney and how to take advantage of the political factions on the Board. Adair's wealth also comes into play.

The plot thickens as money, politics, corporate greed, graft, espionage, and stock market manipulation complicate Ford's efforts. Suspense builds on several levels as Ford and his handful of allies work to outmaneuver their rivals and the unpredictable Uncle Sidney. - Adapted from "Buddies in the Saddle,"