Following the panic of 1837 there was little industrial development and a lull in railroad construction, but with 1850 begins the era of rapid extension and the welding of short connecting lines under single ownerships. The consolidation was vigorously objected to at first. Originally there were eleven companies owning and operating the line between Albany and Buffalo. Between Buffalo and Cleveland, changes of passengers and freight were made at Dunkirk and Erie. The latter change was made necessary by the difference in gauge; to the east six feet and to the west four feet ten inches. Plans for the consolidation of some of these lines made in 1853 entailed for through operation the change of the gauge east to conform to that west of Erie, to obviate transfer. This proposition so aroused the inhabitants of Erie that they resorted to violence. In December, 1853, they tore down the railroad bridge, no trains going through until February, 1854. This same bridge was rebuilt in 1855, but again torn down and burned by a mob. Finally a compromise ended what is known as the Erie War and the gauge was changed, from which time dates the beginning of definite through operation. In 1851 the Erie Railroad joined New York with Lake Erie. The Baltimore & Ohio reached the Ohio River. Two years later the Atlantic seaboard and Chicago were connected by rail, which the following year reached the Mississippi River. These extensions to the Western Frontier opened the traffic between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In the early days the public desire for rail transportation facilities led to numerous enterprises securing public financial support, but owing to the disaster that was experienced in some of these enterprises the Ohio law prohibited any town, county or State from rendering such assistance. When the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was built, Cincinnati found it imperative to have railroad communication to the South, but the prohibition of the aforesaid law prevented public assistance, and the scheme was devised of building and owning a line. This line went south through Kentucky to Chattanooga, was built and operated, and eventually leased to the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific. The railroads played an important part in the conduct of the Civil War, many of them being practically devoted to the transportation of Government troops and supplies. Great damage was done to the many lines in the South owing to the military operations. By the close of the war there had been no pronounced advance in protection by the appliances which are now commonly employed in the control of train operation. This was largely due to the light equipment, slow speeds and sparse traffic.