dropped out of the railroad to open a gold mine in the area which 

 later proved a failure. Sellers was not, however, without influ- 

 ential friends. Trautwine had been a personal friend since early 

 school days, and Horatio Allen, who remained as consulting engi- 

 neer with the Panama company, continued to favor the center- 

 rail system. 



Writing to John L. Stephens, president of the Panama Railroad 

 in July 1850, Trautwine urged the company to use "Sellers' plan 

 of a locomotive to overcome high grades instead of making heavy 

 excavations." ^^ Some years later, however, in the Journal of the 

 Franklin Institute, Trautwine disclaimed any advocacy of the Sellers 

 plan beyond ". . . the use of such engines on that road, further 

 than as a temporary resort, while making the summit excavations; 

 and even that idea originated with the Board of Directors, who 

 were determined to leave nothing unprovided for that could expedite 

 the work. I expressed to them the conviction that no such pre- 

 caution was necessary . . . ." ^^ 



Sellers consulted with the directors of the Panama Railroad during 

 the summer of 1850. In early August they offered to hire him as a 

 mechanical engineer and began negotiations for the use of his 

 patents. "00 On September 6, 1850, Sellers accepted an annual 

 salary of S3, 500 as engineer and $10,000 in stock "... for use of 

 his patent right for locomotives in case the same should be used and 

 prove satisfactory . . . ."101 Sellers was to supervise and inspect 

 the construction of all locomotives, cars, pile drivers, and other 

 equipment. He was also to inspect the timbers and pilings which 

 were to be precut and treated here before shipment to Panama. 

 (About five miles of line was to be built on piles and cribbing.) 

 His main interest, of course, was in seeing that his locomotive be 

 given a trial, and he quickly became irritated by his many adminis- 

 trative duties, which included among other things buying a used 

 locomotive from the Reading as a construction engine. 



George set his brother Coleman and J. L. Whetstone to work in 

 Cincinnati on the general arrangement drawings for the Panama 



^^ Ibid., July 23, 1850. 



^^ (January 1868), vol. 55, p. 15. 



^°° Panama Railroad, executive committee minutes, August 9, 1850. 



'*^' Ibid., September 6, 1850. 



76 



