Hill couldn't very well buy the Northern Pacific without also buying the land that had been given to it by the government. That may make him an imperfect paragon, but he turned the Northern Pacific into a profitable part of his railroad empire. I would rather have someone like Hill come along and transform a waste of taxpayer money into an enterprise that can stand on its own, rather than see it in the hands of another moocher. As Martin's book makes clear, Hill wanted no part of land grants for his original creation, The Great Northern Railway. He did not want the government strings that came with those grants. I think Hill deserves the praise he got from Ayn Rand, and from me in The Golden Pinnacle. I also mentioned Kennedy, and one of my characters called him the best railroad finance man in New York.

it was a big mess

Back in 1854, railroads were the crony capitalistic hope of the day, kind of like green energy or big urban sports stadiums are today. The K-N Act turned into a big mess, and so did the transcontinental 15 years later.

That may be my favorite chapter in the whole book.

lol. I read the article before I saw you posted it, and I was going to tie it to Golden Pinnacle! Interesting read.