This is the tenth in my series of posts about the five businessmen the History Channel profiled in a terribly inaccurate and un-historical TV miniseries titled The Men Who Built America. I’m writing these posts in response to several comments and e-mails from TV viewers who have expressed interest in a more accurate version of the story. (Click here to see all Al’s columns on the program and its subjects.)
Post #10: Carnegie Builds a Railroad and a Portfolio
In Altoona, Carnegie’s position as Thomas Scott’s go-to guy continued to open up opportunities both inside and outside the railroad. In 1858 an inventor named Theodore Woodruff persuaded J. Edgar Thompson and Thomas Scott to order two of the sleeper cars he had developed (some accounts say it was four cars). It would be an important milestone in Andrew Carnegie’s career.