| ICG GP38-2 9614, Chicago, Illinois, October 1979, photo by Chuck Zeiler. Built in December 1974 (c/n 74646-15) , this locomotive was named "Henry S. McComb". In 1872 Colonel Henry Simpson McComb, a Director on the Union Pacific Railroad and also the President of the New Orleans Jackson and Great Northern Railroad (later absorbed by the IC) decided, for moral reasons, to move the locomotive and car maintenance shops to a location outside of New Orleans. Land was purchased in Pike County and building lots in the city were offered at low prices to employees with families. Not being a drinking man, Colonel McComb wanted to remove his men from the dreadful influences of the New Orleans saloons. It was later stipulated in the McComb City charter that there would be no alcoholic beverages sold within the city limits. News about the brand-new city even reached as far north as New York City when an article was published in the newspapers to advertise for jobs. In the new town, almost every family was involved with the railroad in some way. There is more to the story of Colonel McComb. The Credit Mobilier of America (CMA), incorporated by the Pennsylvania legislature on March 26, 1864, was a firm designed to enhance profits from federal funding of the transcontinental railroad, partially through bribes to federal officeholders. The second section of track, totaling 267 miles, began construction in 1867. United States Representative Oakes Ames (who also held the position of Director on the Union Pacific Railroad) became president of CMA and oversaw the project. During his oversight, CMA began the process of wooing members of Congress. When Congress assembled in December 1867, Ames and a CMA official, the eccentric George F. Train (ironic name!), travelled to Washington DC to offer shares in CMA at reduced value as a means of enticing them into investing. This first offer appeared to be legitimate, unlike future such offers. By encouraging investment by members of Congress, Ames and Train hoped to increase their willingness to vote for needed legislation (particularly voting to pay CMA for its trackwork at a higher rate than originally agreed upon). One means of retaining his tie to members of Congress was to issue stock in the corporation to members of Congress without their knowledge. Ames then held the profit in trust for the member of Congress until needed in the future, which came sooner than he had anticipated, when Representative Washburn of Wisconsin introduced a bill to regulate rail rates. In order to defeat the measure, Ames entered into the first agreements clearly falling into the realm of bribery. In one such transaction, a bribed Congressman from the South promised to "take care of the Democratic side of the aisle". By the end of 1867, CMA billed the U.S. Government $57.1 million for work costing the corporation $27.3 million. News of the scandal broke two months before the Presidential Election of 1872. McComb had a disagreement with Ames and delivered documents to leading newspapers. Though members of Congress on both sides of the aisle were implicated, the Democratic newspapers took up the issue as a means of undermining President Grant's re-election effort. The New York Sun in particular carried stories of how Ames had skimmed off profits for his friends in Congress. The stolen profits represented staggering numbers for 1872, including $19 million from the last leg of the transcontinental railroad. One of the elected officials implicated in the scandal was then U.S. Representative from Ohio (1863-80) James A. Garfield, who went on to become (you guessed it) the President of the United States. |