Creating an Industrial Empire in 19th Century Parallel World

Back at Columbus, the magnates of the railroad industry, who were interested in the product, followed Poul back to the factory, while those who weren't interested, went straight to a luxurious hotel the city could offer, waiting for the next train.

Poul accommodated the railroad magnates by hiring the best coach in the city and used it as a means of transportation all the way back to the factory.

As for the magnates' families, they were also taken to an hotel where they'll stay as their fathers and husbands do business.

At the factory, the workers cheered Poul's arrival. But that cheering was quickly quieted down when they saw men in blacks and top hats exiting the carriages.

"Uhm…boss, are those the customers?" one of the workers who were opening the gates asked.

"Yes," Poul confirmed. "So tell everyone to be proper. Anyways, where is Jonathan?"

"Sir Jonathan is at the office, sir," the worker Poul was speaking to answered.

"Okay. One more thing, can you help me to tour them around the factory? I'm sure they'd love how the products are made."

"Leave it to me, sir," the worker then joined Poul, guiding the businessman into the factory.

Inside, the businessman took a look around the 50,000 square feet factory. The first thing they noticed was the sound of the hydraulics of the overhead cranes as they lifted heavy cargo from one place to another. The second is the lighting. Despite the gloomy weather of Columbus, the factory is brightly lit thanks to the gas lamps and natural lighting. And the last one is about the working process.

They observed every movement of the workers, from welding metal parts of the locomotive draft gear and connecting one end of the pipes to another in a coordinated manner.

The more they watch, the more they realize that the workers are like ants, doing one job and passing it to another as they assemble the final product.

"Welcome to our humble factory. Everything that was fitted on the train was born here," Poul exclaimed, waving his hands. "Everything you see here is meticulously planned to increase efficiency and utilization of every space within the factory. Despite the sweltering heat of the sun above, the factory has natural ventilation, as you can see from the roof where there is an opening for hot air to escape. We prioritize the safety of our workers by putting guard rails around hazardous places…"

It wasn't long, however, for Jonathan to notice what was happening down the factory. He exited the office, looked down, and saw Poul and a group of men in black trailing behind him.

Morgan noticed Jonathan looking at them from the railings. He stopped in his tracks, prompting the rest of them to halt their steps and gaze up at Jonathan.

"Ahh…that man standing there is my partner, a co-founder if you might say," Poul said before glancing up again to Jonathan. "Oy! Come back down here."

Jonathan walked down the stairs and ran over to them. Once he was two meters away from the group, he stopped and straightened his posture.

"Greetings! My name is Jonathan Axelsen, co-founder of the Axelsen & Nielsen Air Brake Company," he extended his hands, offering a handshake to each and one of them.

The magnates shook his hand.

"Uhm…sorry can I have a moment?" Jonathan said to the magnates before pulling Poul from the group.

"What is it?" Poul whispered.

"What are you thinking? Why did you bring all of them to the factory?" Jonathan whispered back.

"They are our customers, Jonathan. Of course, it's natural that I'd bring them here," Poul replied.

"But we don't have spaces to accommodate them all in the factory. You should have consulted me first."

"Wait what…why are you sounding disappointed? The pitch was a success, they got interested and wanted to place orders. Also, Mister Morgan invested in our company?"

"Really? How much?"

"Three hundred thousand for ten percent of the company…"

"Ahh…good job at that…"

"Excuse me…are you going to stand there and talk while we wait?"

Poul and Jonathan's heads turned to face the man who spoke. It was Sir Potter Huntington.

"Just a couple more seconds..!" Jonathan let out a forced chuckle before facing Poul back. "Okay, here's what we are going to do. We are going to take their orders and finalize them by tomorrow."

"Got it," Poul nodded.

Both of them faced the railroad magnates and Morgan and continued the tour. It took them ten minutes to finish the tour before they went up to the office.

Jonathan sat behind the desk. Sitting across him was the representative of the Union Pacific Railroad. Potter Huntington.

As they were discussing business, Poul spoke with the other two so that they wouldn't get bored from waiting.

Seven minutes later, Jonathan and Potter shook hands. Jonathan beckoned him to take a seat as he will not entertain the next one, Jefferson Garett, from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Eight minutes later, Vaughan Merrick stood as he saw Jonathan and Jefferson finalize their business discussion with a handshake.

Morgan observed the deals being made in the room. Seeing the eagerness of the railroad giants to purchase the products of the young duo is making him want to jump with joy. Although it is unfortunate that Wanderbilt didn't join. He was the largest in the railroad industry and would surely bring profits to the company.

But, it's fine. After all, three of the giants in the railroad industry jumped into the idea.

"Thank you for your interest in our product, Mister Merrick. I will write the papers today so that we can finalize the orders tomorrow and sign the contracts."

Merrick rose to his feet and nodded. They shook hands, sealing the deal.

"I think the last one is Mister John Morgan," Jonathan said.

"I already sealed a deal with Mister Morgan, Jonathan. He was only here to observe how we work. So technically, we are done here."

"I know, Poul. But as a co-founder of the company, I need to know the details clearly from Mister Morgan. You can escort these gentlemen to their hotels as I speak with Mister Morgan."

Poul shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Fine."

As per Jonathan's suggestion, Poul escorted the three out of the factory and to their hotels. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Morgan started a discussion.

"The Union Pacific Railroad wants us to retrofit four hundred locomotives. Three hundred from the Ohio and Baltimore Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad. That represents like ten to twenty percent of their total locomotives? I'm pretty sure, each company has over a thousand steam locomotives. Imagine if we retrofitted all of their trains?"

"So they ordered eleven hundred air brakes and half of it were the locomotive draft gears?"

Jonathan smiled as he shook his head. "No, eleven hundred trains. The cars are also included. So it's a lot more than that. And the number of cars the steam locomotive can pull varies. Specifically, five or ten last I saw," Jonathan corrected.

"That's a lot of air brakes and locomotive draft gear to be built, huh?" Morgan remarked.

"Yeah. They want their orders to be completed at the end of the year. Unfortunately, we don't have the capacity. Our factory right now can make five to ten air brakes and locomotive draft gear per day. There's no way we will meet that demand. So that's where you will come in. The initial deal you made with Poul is quite low. We need double that money."

"You are asking for six hundred thousand dollars?"

Jonathan nodded as he reached out at one of the drawers and pulled a file out from it.

"If you think we are overestimating our value, check out this business plan. It has everything you need to see, including the projected sales, data, and analysis of statistics. Poul underestimated the value of the company. He may be good at making things but he is bad at business."

"You are saying, you're good at business?"

"I'm involved in a lot of projects, so yes," is the thing he wanted to say to Morgan but can't. Because it's from when he was working in the original world. So he simply nodded his head in reply.

"I'd say that's a perfect dynamic duo," Morgan commented as he sifted through the papers. "It's very detailed and grounded. I'm sure you put a lot of thought into this. The projected sales are pretty good, backed by the earlier deals. It's even a lot more than you expected. I like you, Jonathan. Let's do it. Six hundred thousand dollars for ten percent of your company," Morgan reached out his hand to Jonathan.

Jonathan paused for a second as Morgan offered a handshake. Then a smirk appeared on his lips. His expression became serious as he extended his own hand. "We'll sign the terms of the contract tomorrow."