In 1843, the British economy plunged into railway mania. The public had seen the success of the earlier railway projects, and a newly-minted class of middle-class investors wanted their piece of the rapidly-expanding pie. Within two years, stock prices doubled, and the number of railroad securities listed on the London Stock Exchange trebled. In the press, rapturous commentary heralded “the arrival of a time when the whole world will have become one great family, speaking one language, gove...
