Norman Eggleston | Obituary | The Independent dailyindependent.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyindependent.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
HUNTINGTON â In 1869, rail tycoon Collis P. Huntington, who played a successful â and highly profitable â role in construction of the long-dreamed-of Transcontinental Railroad, came to the rescue of the all-but-bankrupt Chesapeake & Ohio.
The little railroad desperately needed new capital to rebuild the damage it had suffered during the Civil War and push its tracks westward from Richmond, Virginia, to the Ohio River, where passengers and cargo could readily be transferred between the railroad and the riverboats that traveled the Ohio.
The C&Oâs board of directors turned for help to Huntington, who made them an offer they couldnât refuse. He said he would gladly supply the new funds needed â if he was made the railroadâs president. The board quickly agreed.