Existing comment:
Gold cup and rail spike
18-karat gold cup and spike given to John Skelton Williams, president of the Seaboard Airline Railway, upon its completion at Richmond in 1900. Williams consolidated a dozen lines into a system providing through service from Washington, D.C., to Tampa, Florida. It was entirely owned by southerners -- briefly -- then taken over by Wall Street. Driving the spike tripped a telegraph key that sent a message along the railroad's route announcing its completion. |