That's the point I was trying to make! That everything the railroad bosses were doing in order to build the transcontinental railroad was fraudulent. They fleeced investors, the government, land-owners and customers. The four railroad tycoons who built the western segment from Utah to California made billions. Leland Stanford is one, left Stanford University as a legacy to his son's name, built with scam money. When they got the free land, they enticed people back east to move here by promoting infrastructure that didn't exist, sold them land and high-priced tickets to get there, and upon arrival the people found empty land.
Anytime there is talk of building a huge rail project, look for the public getting ripped off bigtime. This new high-speed rail is unnecessary except for the few who want to scam the taxpayers.