19世纪末，美国铁路系统获得的巨额投资和技术进步似乎使除了铁路公司股东和债主之外的所有人受益。 当铁路经济泡沫在繁荣之后破裂时，投资者自食垃圾证券的苦果成为华尔街最受欢迎的游戏。
At the end of the nineteenth century the huge amount of investment and technological progress in America's railroads appeared to benefit everyone but the stockholders and bondholders of railroad companies, as bust followed boom and ramming worthless securities down the throats of investors became Wall Street's favorite sport.