In 1879, Ford left home to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit, first with James F. Flower & Bros., and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm, where he became adept at operating the Westinghouse portable steam engine. He was later hired by Westinghouse to service their steam engines.
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With a POD occurring during his employment at Westinghouse, what if Henry Ford fell in love with the steam engines he was assigned to work on and subsequently applied his inventive and industrial genius to railway industry (rather than motor car) for the rest of his life?
How would both the lack of him in the motor car industry, and his presence in the railway/rail car industry effect the transportation innovations of the early 20th century?
Might we see a massive "Second Renaissance" of the train in America? The world?