Sometimes promotion was given for merit, but for the most part the men who made progress came from technical colleges and famous engineering works.
An accident in the ranges on the Pacific slope, when a mountain locomotive jumped the track and plunged down a precipitous hillside, gave Lister his first chance.

He got the locomotive back to the line, and being rewarded by a better post, stubbornly pushed himself nearer the front.

Now, however, it looked as if he must stop.

Rules were not often relaxed in favor of men who had no highly-placed friends.

Yet Lister wondered.
Not long since, a gentleman whose word carried some weight at the company's office had visited the construction camp with his indulged daughter.