July 7, 1946

  Three Main Lines for Part I

  I. The gradual disappearance of the creators.

  They are pulled out on strike at crucial moments in the story—in connection with TT’s disintegration. Each time, the loss is a specific blow to TT (as in Rearden’s quitting). Preferably, each desertion must cause a specific step lower for TT. The men can be TT’s big executives, or key suppliers, or key shippers (or one of each). Each time, the loss of one man in a business causes failure for all the others in it. (Probably four instances, at the most—but clear-cut, crucial ones.)

  Show Dagny seeing her net of rails breaking and falling apart in her hands. If the strikers are the life blood of the world, then TT is the world’s blood system; as the blood goes, the vessels shrink, emptied, and dry off; then the body withers, in growing paralysis. By the time Dagny finds that Galt is a minor employee of hers, she has realized, in despair, that TT is a dying net of vessels without blood. (And Galt is the one who watches the operations of TT and knows when, where, and whom to strike.)

  II. Dagny’s quest in connection with Galt’s old engine.

  There are two lines of search on her part. First, trying to find someone to understand the importance of the engine, to restore it and make it work. This is futile, except for Rearden (or, every time she has a chance at a good engineer, Taggart ruins it). Second, trying to trace its history and find the man who designed it. Here there is a chance for flashbacks, in strange, half mysterious hints and conversations, a chance for a gradual movement of Dagny toward Galt. And a chance to show all the variations of the parasites’ attitude toward brains and achievement, and toward material property.

  III. “What is wrong with the world?”

  This is the overall, miserably bewildered question in all the minds, but particularly in Dagny’s (and, next, in Eddie Willers‘). This must be conveyed in small touches, small but tremendously significant in unstated implications. Here there is a chance for such things as: the music, “the cigarette made nowhere” (or some such equivalent, an extremely well-made small gadget that could not have been made in the factories and by the industries which Dagny knows), the girl-writer’s book “published nowhere,” etc. The feeling of “Ergitandal”—just exactly that—first, with the hopeless yearning of an impossible dream—then growing into an ominous reality (ominous in being inexplicably real somewhere)—leading to and climaxed by Dagny in the valley. [What “Ergitandal” refers to is unknown.]

  Galt as a TT employee. Either: night watchman for TT’s research laboratory ; or track walker; or switchman on lonely division; or plain laborer in the repair yard, which is connected with the laboratory; or terminal worker in the underground tunnels of the main terminal in New York. (If this last—then their first love scene is in the underground tunnels that vibrate with the motion of the great city above.)

  Galt’s reason for being an obscure TT employee: he chose TT for the same reason I did, as the crucial blood system that gives him access to the whole economy of the country; by stopping TT and the key industries connected with it, he can stop the world. But while working on TT, he has fallen in love with Dagny Taggart, long before she meets him (he knows all about her activities and her character, and he has seen her in person many times). That is his conflict. He knows that he is her worst enemy, in her terms, her secret destroyer—but he knows that he must go on. (This is reflected in his attitude toward her in the valley—but we actually learn it much later, when she does, in Part II.)

  Bits for Part I

  Chapter II: “The Theme.” Dagny on the train—listening to the “Heroic Concerto.” The young porter—his evasive answers. The railroad incident where we learn who she is. When they reach the underground terminal in New York—the sense of exaltation returns to her. As she gets off the train, she is whistling the Concerto. She feels someone looking at her—turns—the younger porter is staring at her tensely.

  This music is then used twice again: when Dagny approaches the houses of the valley—and at the very end. (Unless the strikers use it for a code signal.) ([Note added some time later:] “The Concerto of Deliverance.”)

  The gold dollar sign placed by Francisco d‘Anconia at the entrance to the valley.

  The oil man whose wells are “nationalized” (directly or indirectly) quits and sets fire to the wells. One gusher—the best—cannot be extinguished. It remains flaming for years, to the end of the story. (The constant reflection of the red glow—the reminder, like the calendar.) At the end—this is the stubborn fire which Galt sees in the distance. (“Wyatt’s torch.”)

  July 9, 1946

  Notes for Part II (Tentative)

  Galt and Dagny

  He is the lowest kind of track laborer in the underground tunnels of the Taggart Terminal.

  They meet when she is called there because the signal-switch system has broken down; there is no one to repair it—and no one takes the initiative on what to do. (This occurs after a sequence where Dagny was in despair over her inability to find intelligence and competence.)

  The love affair in the underground tunnels.

  She learns that he has loved her for years—and that he is her worst enemy. (She tries to stop him from “getting” someone—perhaps Rearden.)

  The scene where Dagny and important leaders (Mr. Jones) are held up in a train stalled in the Taggart Terminal tunnels. They are discussing important collectivist measures to come. She glances out of the window. Galt is standing by the switch, holding a red lantern.

  After the broadcast, Dagny returns to her own ofnce—and finds Galt waiting for her. He tells her that she must leave with him—hell is going to break loose now. She wants to remain. Then, he will remain, too; all the others have left; but he will save her—or go down with her. He tells her she can always find him at his job—and leaves.

  After the desperate search for him—Dagny comes to Galt’s garret. She begs him to help them, to save TT—the temptation through love. He refuses. She asks him to escape—or she will betray him. He hands her the phone.

  July 10, 1946

  Notes for Part I: The “Three Main Lines ”

  I. The gradual disappearance of the creators.

  Galt “gets”:Railroad men:

  Dagny’s Operating (?) Manager (which causes traffic snarl).

  Dagny’s Freight Manager (which causes loss of crucial freight).

  Dagny’s Traffic Manager (which causes death of section).

  Chief Engineer (loss of tunnel and bridge).

  Inventor or young engineer (resorting to old engines).

  Shippers and suppliers:

  Oil man—lack of fuel which [leads to the] end of diesels. (The burning well—near the future dead section.)

  Lumber man—lack of ties, cars, terminal buildings.

  Utility man (electricity)—New York loses electricity near the end (tie with Taggart surrendering power plant to “the city”).

  III. “What is wrong with the world? ”

  The music (“Heroic Concerto”).

  The book (part of a book, found by Dagny, “published nowhere”).

  The flashlight: the small gadget with immense significance. This is a good example of the fact that technical civilization is an end product of intellectual civilization. (Have d‘Anconia make some crack about this, such as: “Who made this flashlight? The idea that a table is a table.”)

  The way the key people quit.

  The actions of Francisco d‘Anconia.

  The incident of Ragnar Danneskjöld’s refusal.

  The cigarettes.

  July 12, 1946

  Here is the state of TT at beginning of Part II:The system has shrunk to little more than a single transcontinental line—largely useless (because the productive areas on its route have been killed) and unable to pay its own cost.

  The desperate need for Rearden Steel rails—the track is hopelessly worn out.

  Schedules are hopelessly mixed—nobody now expects a train to be on time. Therefore, people (producers and shippers) are not counting on trains any longer. (Breakdowns of signals, equipment, and lack of supplies.) Trains are expensive, dangerous, uncomfortable, unreliable.

  Most of TT’s main shippers are gone.

  The Taggart Bridge is in a desperately precarious condition.

  Refrigerator cars and tank cars are gone. Sleepers and heating are eliminated at the end of Part I. Air-conditioning is long since gone. (Water and lighting go in Part II.)

  Diesels are gone—Old steam locomotives are run with coal—and there is a first return to the use of plain wood (if this is technically feasible).

  The Taggart “research laboratory ” is gone.

  Possible line:

  Dagny is searching desperately for the genius who invented the motor. She is searching also for the mysterious enemy who is destroying TT. When she traps the enemy, to deliver him to those who will destroy him, she discovers that he is the genius who designed the motor, the man she wanted.

  July 17, 1946

  For Part I

  The ending: Either the freight car manufacturer has quit, or Dagny is afraid he will; he is the last good man left in that line and something has just happened to “put the burden on him.” Dagny hurries to stop him. She arrives too late; she sees his plane taking off at the airport. She follows.

  Before that: she hurries by train, but this is “the frozen ride,” so she can’t make it. She escapes from the abandoned train, steals or buys someone’s plane, and goes on to the small town of the car manufacturer.

  The “frozen ride”: wrong signals, wrong switches, burned-out brakes—every kind of lesser sabotage. It ends with the train being abandoned in the middle of a plain at night. Half an hour or more passes before Dagny finds out that they are abandoned. Nobody else cares. (This is a complete example, “in a teaspoon,” of a frozen, parasite society.)

  The “freeze” [Directive 10-289] is applied because Taggart and the other parasites cannot find people to take positions of responsibility, and there is a wave of quitting and pleas for demotion. This happens because of the double-cross.

  The “double-cross” is that Taggart’s executive assistant (a deliberately chosen patsy) and a train engineer are blamed for the tunnel catastrophe and convicted of manslaughter.

  The tunnel catastrophe: a parasite, who is in charge at a station where a diesel engine breaks down, sends a passenger train into the tunnel with an old steam engine. The tunnel is in bad condition; its ventilation system doesn’t work. The engine cannot quite handle the grade in the tunnel—the passengers begin to choke—a fool panics and pulls the brake-cord—the train cannot get started again. A freight train, loaded with explosives, is speeding through the tunnel (because of the poor ventilation) and smashes into the stalled train. The explosion wrecks the tunnel for good. (After this, Dagny has to organize the “return to pre-tunnel days,” using the old track.)

  The oil sequence. A single successful oil man buys a whole section of country. (This is a mountain region, not too far from the valley.) He is using, for shipping, the efficient railroad of Taggart’s competitor. Taggart whines that his branch line would be all right ( it is losing money) if it weren’t for the “destructive” competition. Taggart has a law passed (or a railroad association vote) about “duplication” and “seniority.” His line is the oldest, so he remains and the competitor is forced out. The oil man goes frantic with Taggart’s poor service: endless delays and uncertainty, no cars when needed, lost cars, accidents. (Accidents are always claimed to be “acts of God.” Here someone remarks: “Funny how active God’s getting to be lately,” and is answered: “He always is when man isn’t.”) The oil man loses a great deal of business (and industries are forced to close) because he cannot deliver the oil on time. (Taggart’s poor freight service makes prices rise in the oil town. The workers demand a raise, and the oil man is ordered to grant it, while not being allowed to raise the price of oil. Or—the oil man wants to build his own railroad line, and he is not allowed to, on grounds of “monopoly.”) He quits, setting fire to his wells.

  Less than a year later, Taggart has to close his branch line because there is no business in this section; the industries supported by and dependent on the oil-field have closed or moved away. This is the “death of a section”—the small farmers, shop owners, and workers are left behind and find themselves without transportation to the outside world. (These are the people who believe that small private property is all right, but big fortunes should be limited.)

  The young man who wants to organize a “pony express.” He is asked: “So you want to make money on the community misfortune?” The community passes rules: special rates on babies’ milk, priorities on food, free rides for the unemployed, etc. That evening, a stranger comes to town. He is present at the town meeting. In the morning, the young man has disappeared with the stranger.

  There are earlier references to “dead sections.” The first one we see is when Dagny goes to the abandoned motor factory. (So later, in the above sequence, the readers know what is in store for the inhabitants of the town.)

  The iron ore squeeze. Parasite steel manufacturers [accuse] Rearden of “destructive competition” because he owns his own mine. Mrs. Rearden’s pet parasite enlists the help of Taggart—the deal being that the parasite will acquire the mine and give Taggart the ore freight business, instead of shipping it by lake boats (which is much cheaper). Taggart and the others get a law passed that no business can own another business. Rearden has to sell the mine—and Mrs. Rearden pushes him into selling it to the parasite. The parasite has no money (except a government loan for the down payment), so Rearden has to take a time-payment arrangement.

  Taggart gets the transportation business from the mine and this destroys the lake shipping. Later, in Part II, close to Rearden’s final awakening, there is an emergency when the parasite is making a mess of the mine and it is running at a loss; Mrs. Rearden urges Rearden to “give the man a hand,” teach him how to run the mine—“since, after all, you’ll lose money if the mine goes bankrupt.” This is when Rearden has a fit of fury, his first one against his wife; he realizes that he is asked to make the man a present of the mine that he, Rearden, created, and also teach the bastard how to use his own stolen property. Rearden refuses. This is one of the important steps to his awakening.

  Later, when the wheat section is destroyed, Taggart raises freight rates on the ore (there is no lake shipping available)—the parasite raises the price of ore—yet Rearden is not allowed to raise the price of steel. “You’ll do something.”

  An incident in which Dagny tries to stop an important shipper from quitting—and it is too late. While she waits in the anteroom, Galt is in the man’s office. (We don’t know this, of course.) Galt leaves through another door, not through the anteroom. By the time Dagny is admitted into the office, it is too late: the man has decided to quit.

  The Francisco d‘Anconia disaster: D’Anconia has made a big deal with Taggart to build a branch line for his new copper mine in Mexico. Taggart builds it, at great expense, because he is appeasing the Mexican government. The Mexican government nationalizes the line and the mine. D‘Anconia loses more than Taggart, but he has made the mine worthless. Dagny realizes that it was done on purpose. (Taggart’s motive was the typical one: not any actual facts that d’Anconia presented, but that d‘Anconia presented them.) (After that, d’Anconia cannot deliver the copper which TT needs. He uses the weakest shipping company he can find, in order to “help” them-the ships sink. Previously, he had used Hastings’ ships.)

  Minor possibility: the cigarettes with the dollar sign are used as a code signal among the strikers.

  Possibility: Galt, who is getting most of his information through Eddie Willers, learns from him about Dagny’s affair with Rearden. Eddie is the only one who knows of it—he is jealous, [but] doesn’t realize it. He confesses it to Galt—while he, Eddie, is drunk. (“What’s that to me—if Dagny Taggart is sleeping with Hank Rearden?”)

  Possibility: Dagny calls on Francisco d‘Anconia and Ragnar Danneskjöld to help her save Galt. They have remained in the city, without Galt’s knowledge or approval, to stand by him and save him when necessary. When Dagny calls d’Anconia (from a pay booth), he tells her that he expected her call. When he comes to meet her, she makes the sign of the dollar with her fingers, smiling, even though she wants to cry.

  July 18, 1946

  The reason that society does not collapse into civil war and violence in my story (as it would have in historical reality) is that even a civil war is caused by some element of independence in men, some active impulse, no matter how misguided. It is the element of decision which makes men revolt, even if blindly, because they realize that conditions are unbearable, cannot be allowed to go on and something must be done. So they resort to violence, in sheer anger and despair—violence being the only resort against the parasites (since reason is what the parasites have discarded, and since they rely on and advocate violence).

  So it is still some kind of creator, a man of action or decision to some extent, who is necessary to lead men into revolt and civil war. This is what happens in history when collectivism, the rule of the parasite, becomes unbearable. (Besides, it is the parasites who resort to force when they need more loot and hope to make men produce for them through terror.) Actually, in history, societies are a mixture—no principle is observed consistently, and individualism is allowed to function by default. This is what holds the creators in society, their hope for that accidental chance. But this is no longer true of modern collectivism, such as Russia or Germany.