Similar to most countries around the world, the US economy was first settled on the shores by the sea, eventually railways were built to carry goods and people, then highways were built to carry cars and people and now planes help move people around. In the era of the railways in the western US, there were only a few routes to go through the mountains, and the first trains that made it had a monopoly and the seemingly easiest paths. There are many stories about building the first national railroad, suffice to say it was built. After it was built great amounts of coal and minerals including gold were discovered to ensure the need for the freight trains. In the year 2000 David Haward Bain who previously wrote a book about the building of the Union Pacific decided to follow Highway 30 by car with his family – on a road trip. His purpose was to view from the highway what many had done from either covered wagon and trains and go west. The book The Old Iron Road by David Bain published by Penguin Books, NY, 2004 is the result.

There are many stories which result about the west and the opening of it to settlements. While driving and stopping and viewing then researching the history of the sites is the book which makes it a very interesting read and it hoped if anyone goes on road trip they will do something similar. In the end, people wish to make a living and move towards where there is opportunity, In the west, the projects tended to be big and still are for on the plains – there are lots of open space and in the mountains, mountains need to be moved.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, if you read a book such as The Old Iron Road, you will notice chance is not something that happens very often, there tends to be a reason. A town is selected as the switching yards over another community; the promoters of the railway have a side deal with someone who can guarantee them tonnage shipped; what we do now with machines back in the 1880s took lots of people (who all have stories); there are lots of booms and busts; generally we try to remember the positives of what really happened. There are always good stories and some of them will help you make money or by looking towards how sustainable the ventures are will help you keep your money. For example a town is a switching yard, it is hard and expensive to move the institutional investments; it is possible but hard to, asking yourself why will the area continue to generate funds for the company is a good question.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.