(2)The railroad Vanderbilt created, the New York Central has gone bankrupt (Penn Central), been taken over by the Government (Conrail), run into the ground, and finally sold back to private industry (CSX NS) who are once again running it efficiently.
(3)And if you can throw out Cornelius Vanderbilt as an example of everything that is wrong (and for what it is worth I would have gone with J Gould, he was a lot worse) then I can just as easily site James J. Hill who was an example of everything that was right. Built the Great Northern line without land grants or subsidies, never went into receivership, never "Watered" his stock. He didn't pull the swindles of the Gould or Vanderbilt, didn't need to, just made money running the greatest railroad in the west. The line he built has never gone broke, and constitutes the core of the BNSF railway system today.
Oh and getting back to the original topic of this thread the Empire Builder, the train named after James J. Hill and that runs on the railroad that he built, is one of the best ways to visit Glacier National Park. Glacier will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and was created on land that was donated by the Hill Family and the Great Northern. Since it was always intended to be a "Railway Park" there are two stations in the park itself with excellent lodges, built not surprisingly, by the Great Northern Railway. Not for charity mind you, but so that they could make money selling railroad tickets to them.
With respect to a few of the earlier comments about today's Empire Builder service they don't have to worry about stale food, as there is a dining car with food cooked on board. When I took the trip two years ago they actually served fish caught that day in rivers along the line. And if they are willing to put up the extra money for a room in the sleeper they don't have to share a bathroom. The line is one of Amtrak's 10 busiest and breaks even from a financial standpoint.