George Jay Gould: Father of Intercontinental Railroads in the US

George Jay Gould was an American financier and railroad owner. He was born on February 6, 1864 in New York City. His father, Jay Gould, was a railroad executive. The elder Gould led Western Pacific Railroad and Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.

When his father died, Gould inherited his father’s fortunes, including his railroad holdings. At the turn of the 20th century, Gould hired surveyors and engineers to survey the Feather River canyon in California for a possible railroad that would reach San Francisco, California. However, there were oppositions and backbiting, especially the ones instigated by E.H. Harriman who was leading Southern Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad at that time. So Gould established third party companies to do the surveying and construction for him and disguise himself. The result of this shrewd undertaking became the mainline for Western Pacific. He used the Western Pacific line as an outlet to the sea to better compete with Harriman. Several years later, the Western Pacific Railroad and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad worked together in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gould also took the east through Wabash Railroad that spans Toledo and Baltimore through Pittsburgh. Aside from challenging the monopoly posed by Pennsylvania Railroad, Wabash railroad was Gould’s outlet to the Atlantic. With his railroads spanning the west and the east, Gould has practically established a transcontinental railroad system.

However, Gould was not able to take good care of his investments. He was believed to have implemented unsound financial principles. So when the Panic of 1907 hit his company, he was not able to carry on with the operations of the company. All his railroads were gone by 1907.

Gould contracted pneumonia and died on May 16, 1923. At his death, he left an estate which was valued at $15,054,627 after debts were paid which amounted to $5,175,590 (US dollars valued in 1933).