Atlas Shrugged/Companies

Companies in Atlas Shrugged, the Ayn Rand novel, generally, are divided into two groups, these that are operated by sympathetic characters are given the name of the owner, while companies operated by evil or incompetent characters are given generic names. In Atlas Shrugged men who give their names to their companies all become Strikers in due time.

Amalgamated Switch and Signal
A company run by Mr. Mowen and located in Connecticut. They have supplied Taggart Transcontinental for generations. Dagny Taggart orders Rearden Metal switches from them.

Amalgamated Switch and Signal appears in section 171.

Associated Steel
Associated Steel is the company owned by Orren Boyle. The company was started with just a few hundred-thousand dollars of Boyle's own money, and hundreds of millions of dollars in government grants. Boyle used this money to buy out his competitors, and now relies on influence peddling and political favors to run his business.

Associated Steel is mentioned in sections 111, 114, 131 and 171.

Ayers Music Publishing Company
Ayers Music Publishing Company is the publisher of the music of Richard Halley. Dagny Taggart contacts Mr. Ayers to inquire as to the existence of Halley's Fifth Concerto.

Ayers Music Publishing Company is mentioned in section 114.

Barton and Jones
The company, located in Denver, that supplies food for the workers rebuilding the Rio Norte Line. They go bankrupt in the middle of the project.

Barton and Jones is mentioned in section 171.

d'Anconia Copper
A copper and mining company founded by Sebastian d'Anconia in Argentina during the time of the Inquisition. Each man who ran the company saw it grow by 10% in his lifetime, so by the time Francisco d'Anconia heads the company it is the largest in the world. His dream, from childhood, is to increase the size of the company by 100%.

d'Anconia Copper is mentioned in sections 152 and 171.

Hammond Motors
A car company in Colorado. They make the best cars on the market until the founder disappears.

Hank Rearden buys a Hammond on his trip to Colorado in section 171.

Incorporated Tool
A company that is contracted to deliver drill heads to Taggart Transcontinental but who fail to do this. It is mentioned in section 171.

Phoenix-Durango
The Phoenix-Durango is an old, small railroad located in the Southwest run by Dan Conway that has been insignificant for most of its existence. However, the Phoenix-Durango grows rapidly when Ellis Wyatt revives the economy of Colorado and Taggart Transcontinental's Rio Norte Line fails to service Wyatt adequately. Later, James Taggart conspires to get the Phoenix-Durango driven out of Colorado with the Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule.

The Phoenix-Durango is mentioned in sections 111, 114, 131 (alluded to), 132, 145, 146, 147 and 152. The Phoenix-Durango is the only company run by a sympathetic character that is not named after the founder.

Rearden Coal
A business founded by Hank Rearden prior to the founding of Rearden Steel. It is mentioned in section 121.

Rearden Limestone
A business founded by Hank Rearden prior to the founding of Rearden Steel. It is mentioned in section 121.

Rearden Ore
The first business founded by Hank Rearden. It is mentioned in section 121.

Rearden Steel
A company founded by Hank Rearden about ten years prior to the start of the story in the novel. Rearden bought an abandoned steel mill in Philadelphia at a time when all the experts thought that such a venture would be hopeless. He turned it into the most reliable and profitable steel company in the country.

As Dagny Taggart struggles to save Taggart Transcontinental, she becomes increasingly dependent on Rearden Steel.

Rearden Steel is mentioned in sections 111, 114, 121, 131 (alluded to), 161 and 162.

Summit Casting
A company in Illinois under contract to deliver rail spikes to Taggart Transcontinental. They go bankrupt before they can deliver, prompting Dagny Taggart to fly to Chicago and buy the company to get it started again.

Summit Casting is mentioned in section 171.

Taggart Transcontinental
The fictional railroad run by Dagny Taggart. Her commitment to the railroad creates one of the book's major conflicts.

Taggart Transcontinental was founded by Nathaniel Taggart who lived three generations (or so) prior to Dagny's generation. It was built without any grants, loans, or favors from the government; it thus differs profoundly from the transcontinental railroads of our history, which financed themselves with their extensive land grants. It was the last railroad that was still owned and controlled by its founder's descendants. Its motto is, From Ocean to Ocean.

The 'flagship' of Taggart Transcontinental is the Taggart Comet which runs from New York to San Francisco, and which has never been late.

United Locomotive Works
An incompetent company that is supposed to deliver Diesel engines to Taggart Transcontinental. The order is delayed in perpetuity, and the president of the company refuses to ever give a straight answer as to why this is so.

The United Locomotive Works is mentioned in sections 133 and 141.

Wyatt Oil
The oil company run by Ellis Wyatt. Wyatt's father had squeezed a living out of the oil fields in Colorado, but when Ellis Wyatt took over the business took off. He discovered a technique for extracting oil from wells that had been abandoned as dried up. The success of Wyatt Oil that followed this discovery suddenly and unexpectedly turned Colorado into the leading economy in the country.

Wyatt Oil traditionally relied on Taggart Transcontinental's Rio Norte Line to ship its oil. But when that company could not grow fast enough to keep up with the booming Colorado economy, Wyatt started using the small but well-managed Phoenix-Durango instead. This prompted James Taggart to make deals with his friends to drive the Phoenix-Durango out of Colorado. Afterwards, Dagny Taggart has to rebuild the Rio Norte Line so it can supply transportation to Wyatt Oil - if she fails, the economy of Colorado, and of the whole country, could collapse.

Wyatt Oil is mentioned in sections 111, 132 and 171.