The Railroad Comes to Town

Contract details

The contract called for Sheffield & Farnam to be paid $3,987,688: $500,000 in cash, payable at $25,000 per month; $1,487,688 in stock certificates bearing 10 percent interest; and $2 million in 7 percent bonds. Along with the completed road, Sheffield & Farnam was to deliver 18 locomotives, 12 passenger cars, 150 covered freight cars and 100 platform cars.

Mr. Farnam's son, Henry, said the final cost was slightly less than $4.5 million, and attributed the overrun to the need for additional equipment. He said Sheffield & Farnam actually delivered 28 locomotives, 24 first-class passenger cars, four second-class cars, 170 covered freight cars and 170 platform cars. A Chicago newspaper put the final figure at "about $4,750,000" in a report on the completion of the road. Besides the extra rolling stock, right-of-way costs and interest on stock resulted in the overrun, the paper said.