There being no permanent membership the only way to finance such undertakings was by popular subscriptions and donations from social, commercial and political bodies. Colonel Moore[140] went to New York and talked to the president of the Illinois Central railroad, Mr. Stuyvesant Fish, and asked for a special “train of fifteen cars to carry modern road machinery.” “How much will this project cost?” asked Mr. Fish. Moore replied, “As near as we can figure it out, to furnish and operate this train for three months will cost you $40,000 to $50,000.” President Fish replied, “That is a large amount to throw in the mud, but we will consider it.” The train was granted. In the language of Colonel Moore, the “railroad company shouldered the burden.” The government through the Office of Public Roads furnished two expert engineers, other engineers and necessary employees were hired. This train made the trip from Chicago to New Orleans. Advance-agents were sent along the way to secure the coöperation of the various communities. They were asked to raise a sufficient amount of money to defray the local expenses. Moore states, “we did not visit a single city in the South where we laid the matter before the mayor, the city council, and the supervisors that they did not promptly respond in the affirmative.” Road machinery carried on the train was explained by men frequently sent along for this purpose by the manufacturers who had donated its use or by engineers and others in charge. Short sections of road were graded and stoned--“object lesson roads were built.” Similar trains were run over the Lake Shore Road, and later over the Southern Railway. The latter at a cost of about $80,000; the road equipped the train, fed the men and furnished Pullman cars for sleeping accommodations. The last such train was over the Northern Pacific. This particular organization (there were others) and its work has been thus fully mentioned to show how thoroughly the propaganda was carried on which resulted later in the greatest road-building campaign in the history of the world. The National Good Roads Association came to grief at the Portland Exposition in 1905, where strenuous opposition developed to the financing methods of Mr. Moore and an unsuccessful effort was made to oust him from the presidency of the association. James W. Abbott, Pacific Coast Agent for the Office of Public Roads in a newspaper interview among other things said:[141]