Changes

'''Dagny Taggart'''(born 1982), in [[Ayn Rand]]'s [[novel]] ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', was the Vice-President in Charge of Operations of the [[Taggart Transcontinental Railroad]]. More than any other single person, she tried to keep the railroad, and the larger society, moving when it was suffering from the double threat of crippling regulation and a "brain drain" of the best and brightest minds in industry and engineering. Yet, in the end, she joined that "brain drain," otherwise known as the [[strike]] of the men of the mind called by [[John Galt]]—a man she once swore that she would kill on sight.

From that day forward, Francisco became a regular visitor to the Taggart family compound, and he and Dagny played together often, along with one other child, a younger boy named [[Eddie Willers]]. The three would often build some simple structures, and Francisco always took charge. As they grew older, Francisco and Dagny grew romantically interested in one another, and eventually would become lovers.

As they grew older, Francisco and That would come later. Dagny grew romantically interested in one another, and eventually became loverswas nine years old when she confidently predicted that she would run the TTRR.

In 1996, Francisco went away , at the age of sixteen, to the [[Patrick Henry]] University in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]] (not to be confused with the real-life [[Patrick Henry College]] in northern [[Virginia]]) and earned a degree in [[physics]] and [[philosophy]], an unusual double major. When Francisco returned from collegeDagny turned sixteen in 1998, he was very enthusiastic about his plans for and took a job as the family [[copper]] [[mining]] combine that he would inherit, night telephone operator in the D'Anconia Copper CompanyTaggart station in nearby Rockdale.

In May of 1999, Dagny's mother insisted on throwing a "coming-out party" for Dagny. By all accounts, Dagny was as stunning as the original Dagny Taggart, the wife of her ancestor Nathaniel, had once been. But thenDagny found the party a great crashing bore. Thankfully, Francisco had come back from his junior year at PHU, so the evening was not completely wasted. In fact, they would become "an item" within a month. Francisco finished at PHU in 2000. Upon his return to New York for one last summer with Dagny, he was very enthusiastic about his plans for the family [[copper]] [[mining]] combine that he would inherit, D'Anconia Copper SA. In 2003, Francisco's father died, and now Francisco became President of D'Anconia Copper SA. Dagny started advancing in the Operating Department of the TTRR. She and Francisco continued their romance for another four years. But then his entire demeanor changed. On one a March night in 2007, a night that Dagny was never to forget, Francisco talked very urgently, even tearfully, of a meeting he had had with another man whom he would not identify. He begged Dagny to give him a reason to say that this man was wrong, but would not say what the subject was, or ''how'' that other man might be right or wrong. Then, suddenly, he changed his mind again and said that he had only to look at Dagny to understand that the other man was right (again, without saying about what) and that he would have to do what he would now do.

In the fall of what was probably the year 19272016, Dagny Taggart, now the Operating Vice-President of the TTRR, took in hand the renovation of a railroad line that had fallen into severe disrepair, the Rio Norte Line in [[Colorado]]. After personally inspecting the line, she conceived a twelve-month plan to restore it to proper operating condition. As part of that plan, she ordered new rail from [[Henry Rearden]]'s Rearden Steel Company, and indeed took another, more radical step in that order: she ordered rail made of Rearden Metal, a new [[alloy]] of [[copper]] and [[iron]] that Henry Rearden had recently invented and announced.

=== The Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule ===James probably thought Dagny also sensed that he could forestall the project by rendering it unnecessary. So he personally lobbied his friends in the National Association People's State of Railroads in [[Washington, DC]] for Mexico would move at once to nationalize the passage San Sebastián Line. In anticipation of a new industry regulationthat, known she started moving as much rolling stock and as the Anti-dog-eat-dog Rulemany locomotives out of Mexico as she could. Under that Rule, a competitor would not be allowed to take "unfair" advantage of another competitor who was already the first to provide She cut service to any given region. In short, the first railroad in any region would be the guaranteed one passenger train a day (pulled by a [[monopolywood]]-burning [[steam]] [[locomotive]], and not a modern [[rate warDiesel]]s (which in real life led -electric locomotive) and one freight train every other day. Jim found out about these service cuts on one of his Washington political trips, and tried to Pyrrhic victories of some railroads over others) would not be allowedorder Dagny to rescind the cuts, but she refused.

The passage Not long afterward, the People's State of that Rule forced Mexico did indeed nationalize the mines and the line. James Taggart Transcontinental's one remaining competitor along response was to take personal credit for the Rio Norte Line, service cuts and the Phoenix-Durango Railroadwithdrawal of locomotives and rolling stock, and to cease operations within nine months. Dagny encouraged call for the owner resignations of the PDRR to fight economist who had written the Rule, but he would notreport recommending the San Sebastian Line, and even suggested that he was going the TTRR's representative in Mexico, this although whether either man could have done anything to retirestop the [[nationalization]] was debatable at best.

Not long after Though the nationalization did not surprise Dagny in the least, the next revelation did: that, the San Sebastian Mines were worthless. Francisco d'Anconia had in effect driven his mines into a mountain that yielded nothing of value. Dagny went to see Francisco at the Wayne-Falkland Hotel in [[Ellis WyattNew York City]], owner where he had a permanent hotel suite. Francisco refused to explain his seemingly negligent action, and instead talked airily of how surprised and embarrassed the Wyatt Oil Company, famous for extracting oil from shale, came to see DagnyMexican authorities must have been when they discovered the truth. In a very angry mood, Wyatt told Dagny that if he did He then left her with this clue:{{cquote|Contradictions do not get the transportation he needed within nine months, he was quite prepared to "take all the rest of exist. Whenever you down find yourself faced with mean apparent contradiction, check your premises." Dagny did not bother to ask what he meant or even whether his threat was credible. Instead she assured him You will find that he ''would'' get the transportation he needed, and on scheduleone of them is wrong.}}

Dagny went to explain to Henry Rearden that she would have to rush the orderThat statement, and told him why. Rearden charged her twenty dollars extra per tonhowever, and left Dagny accepted that as a required cost of business. She realized at once that puzzled as she had earned been before, because Francisco simply would not explain his respect by so actingbehavior.

== The San Sebastian Line Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule ==In the meantime, Dagny had another problem to deal with: the San Sebastian Line into [[Mexico]]. James Taggart had opened probably thought that line after Francisco dhe could forestall Dagny'Anconia had driven a mine into s Rio Norte project by rendering it unnecessary. So he personally lobbied his friends in the National Association of Railroads in [[Sierra MadreWashington, DC]] range. Dagny knew full well that Mexico, which now called itself for the ''People's State'' passage of Mexicoa new industry regulation, would soon [[nationalization|nationalize]] known as the mine and the railroad lineAnti-dog-eat-dog Rule. In anticipation of Under thatRule, she started moving as much rolling stock and as many locomotives out a competitor would not be allowed to take "unfair" advantage of Mexico as she could. She cut another competitor who was already the first to provide service to one passenger train a day (pulled by a any given region. In short, the first railroad in any region would be the guaranteed [[wood]]-burning [[steam]] [[locomotivemonopoly]], not a modern and [[Dieselrate war]]-electric locomotives (which in real life led to Pyrrhic victories of some railroads over others) and one freight train every other day. Jim found out about these service cuts on one of his Washington political trips, and tried to order Dagny to rescind the cuts, but she refusedwould not be allowed.

Not long afterward, the People's State The passage of Mexico did indeed nationalize the mines and the line. James that Rule forced TaggartTranscontinental's response was to take personal credit for one remaining competitor along the service cuts and Rio Norte Line, the withdrawal of locomotives and rolling stockPhoenix-Durango Railroad, and to call for cease operations within nine months. Dagny encouraged the resignations owner of the two officials who represented PDRR to fight the TTRR in MexicoRule, this although whether they could have done anything but he would not, and even suggested that he was going to stop the [[nationalization]] was debatable at bestretire.

Though the nationalization did not surprise Dagny in the least, the next revelation did: Not long after that the San Sebastian Mines were worthless. Francisco d'Anconia had in effect driven his mines into a mountain that yielded nothing of value. Dagny went to see Francisco at the Wayne-Falkland Hotel in , [[New York CityEllis Wyatt]], where he had a permanent hotel suite. Francisco refused to explain his seemingly negligent action, and instead talked airily owner of how surprised and embarrassed the Mexican authorities must have been when they discovered the truthWyatt Oil Company, famous for extracting oil from shale, came to see Dagny. He then left her with this clue:{{cquote|Contradictions do In a very angry mood, Wyatt told Dagny that if he did not exist. Whenever get the transportation he needed within nine months, he was quite prepared to "take all the rest of you find yourself faced down with an apparent contradiction, check your premisesme. You will find " Dagny did not bother to ask what he meant or even whether his threat was credible. Instead she assured him that one of them is wronghe ''would'' get the transportation he needed, and on schedule.}}

That statementDagny went to explain to Henry Rearden that she would have to rush the order, howeverand told him why. Rearden charged her extra per ton, left and Dagny accepted that as puzzled as a required cost of business. She realized at once that she had been before, because Francisco simply would not explain earned his behaviorrespect by so acting.

On December 10, 2016, Henry Rearden's wife [[Lillian Rearden|Lillian]] gave a dinner party at their home in honor of their wedding anniversary. Dagny was invited, and attended. That occasion was memorable to Dagny for two reasons:# Several of the ladies discussed a series of loud noises coming from the [[Delaware Bay]] regionthe night before, noises that had been reported as thunder. At least one lady was convinced that the noises were not thunder at all, but Naval Coast Guard gunfire. The [[United States NavyCoast Guard]] had spotted the ship commanded by the notorious buccaneer [[Ragnar DanneskjoldDanneskjöld]] in Delaware Bay and were trying to capture him, but he escaped.

The controversy grew from the mildly annoying to the absurd. Finally, the [[State Science Institute]] issued a report that effectively damned Rearden Metal with faint praise, as "unproved." Dagny traveled to Washington Lyme, [[New Hampshire]], to speak to the Institute's director, [[Robert Stadler]], and urge him to reopen the investigation. Stadler admitted that Rearden Metal was everything that Henry Rearden said it was, but said that in "matters of state," the report should read as it was. On this occasion, Stadler told her a story that made little sense then, but would make perfect sense later on: that while he was chairman of [[physics]] at Patrick Henry University, he had had three pupils who "were the kind of reward a teacher prays for." But two of them, [[Francisco d'Anconia]] and [[Ragnar DanneskjoldDanneskjöld]], had disgraced themselves; one was now a playboy, and the other was a bandit. She asked Stadler what happened to the third student, and Stadler replied that perhaps he was a "second assistant bookkeeper somewhere."

But even by organizing her own railroad, she could do nothing about another problem that kept frustrating her plans. Every time she tried to subcontract a key portion of the work she needed to have done, the subcontractor would quit doing business, and usually vanish without a trace. She also Back in September, she had lost one of her own executives, Owen Kellogg, the same way: he said that he was quitting and refused to say where he was going. Dagny gradually came to conclude that this raft of people quitting and vanishing was not coincidental. Some unknown person was ''telling'' those people to quit and vanish. She came to call this person "The Destroyer" and swore to kill him if she ever found him.

The day cameon July 22, and the 2017. The first train made the run successfully. This brought an instant change of attitude in the whole country. Whereas first people had been afraid that the rails and bridge of Rearden Metal would fail, now they couldn't get enough of Rearden Metal.

In the middle of these events(Monday, September 4, 2017), Dagny and Henry took a driving vacation to [[Wisconsin]]. There, Dagny spotted the remains of the [[Twentieth Century Motor Company]], which once had had a branch line served by the TTRR, and suggested that they stop there. They did, and Dagny strolled through the desolate and abandoned factory. But she soon was calling excitedly to Henry to join her, after she had found the wrecked prototype of what could only be an [[John Galt#The electrostatic motor|electrostatic motor]].

Dagny sought to track down the inventor of this motor, because she knew that such a motor would revolutionize railroading (and stationary power generation, and shipbuilding, and many other industries besides). But the trail of the inventor seemed hopelessly tangled. For one thing, the current ownership of the building was in dispute, after an unscrupulous real-estate dealer had sold the building to one set of investors while also pledging it as collateral for a loan. Dagny and Henry first visited the current immediate previous owner of the building, who was the [[mayor]] of the neaby nearby town of Rome. From him they learned the name of the last banker to lend money to the last ownerbefore him.

Henry Rearden returned to his mills, and Dagny traveled to Washington. There she saw the former banker, Eugene Lawson, now an official with the Bureau of Economic Planning and Natural Resources. He referred her to the last owner of the plant, one Lee Hunsacker, a man now reduced to penury and working (though not very conscientiously) as a live-in cook for an elderly couple. That man mentioned that he had taken over the plant after the original founder, Gerald "Jed" Starnes, had died, and his three children "ran it into the ground pretty fast." He also mentioned that before he had gotten a lone loan from Gene Lawson's bank (the failure of which had destroyed the factory town), he had applied for a lone from [[Midas Mulligan|Michael "Midas" Mulligan]], a famous [[Chicago]] banker. Mulligan had refused the loan, and Hunsacker had sued him. The trial judge had found charged the jury to find for Mulligan, but that verdict had been reversed on appeal. The trouble was that after Hunsacker had won the judgment, the Mulligan Bank had wiped itself out in what was remembered as a "controlled run," and Midas Mulligan had disappeared.

But finally Ivy Starnes gave Dagny the name of the chief engineer at the Twentieth Century : [[William Hastings, but ]]. She also mentioned that Hastings and his assistant had quit the company shortly after the Starnes heirs had taken it over. Dagny next learned that Hastings was dead, but his widow told Dagny that the actual inventor of the motor was Hastings' young assistant, who had urged him to quit the firm and to quit working in general.

Dagny's travels took her back to [[Denver]], Colorado, and to her horror she learned that all of the laws and regulations, or "directives," that James Taggart had boasted to her about, were in force. Quickly she boarded the next westbound trainto Wyatt Junction, hoping to see Ellis Wyatt before the story reached him. Fifteen minutes into the journey, the train stopped. Dagny got out and beheld a horrifying sight: the entire face of a mountain, the very mountain that Ellis Wyatt owned, was a sea of flame. This came to be known as Wyatt's Torch, after it proved impossible to extinguish. She learned later that only one artifact remained on Ellis Wyatt's property: a sign that read,{{cquote|I am leaving it as I found it. Take over. It's yours.}}

Colorado was collapsing, of course, so Dagny pinned most of her hopes on reverse-engineering the electrostatic motor she had found in Wisconsin. She In May of 2018, she called Robert Stadler, described the motor to him as best she could, and asked for his recommendation. Stadler professed amazement at the concept of an electrostatic motor and suggested that a mind that could invent such a thing belonged in "pure science," a declaration that might not have made much sense to Dagny at the time. Stadler then gave her the name and contact information of an engineer, one [[Quentin Daniels]], who might be able to reconstruct the motor.

Dagny contacted Daniels and , who now was the only man left at the [[Utah]] Institute of Technology, that had closed a year ago. She turned over to him such notes as she had. The ruined prototype remained in the old generator room in the bowels of the Taggart Terminal.

On September 2, 2018, Dagny and Henry attended the wedding reception for her brother Jim and a young woman named Cheryl Cherryl Brooks. That reception broke up early when Francisco d'Anconia made a shocking display of desperation and revealed that his company was in an unsound financial condition, because several mines had suffered a series of accidents and were no longer productive. Jim, his friend Orren Boyle, and most of the male guests rushed from the reception in a panic, and it was very clear to Dagny that all those men had been invested in D'Anconia Copper and were about to lose a lot of money. The hypocrisy of their positions made for delicious irony, certainly, but that did not explain why Francisco would allow his company to get into such deplorable condition. She would learn the truth of the matter only later.

In the spring of Later that yearfall, Henry Rearden and [[Ken DannagerDanagger]] were indicted for a violation of the Fair Share Statute, by which no one was to receive any more Rearden Metal (or any other product) than anyone else, without the proper clearances. Dagny was confident that Henry would fight the indictment in the special court that would try him. But Ken Dannager Danagger might decide to quit and vanish.

So Dagny rushed to Ken DannagerDanagger's office to see him. She found him in conference with a visitor, who left by a private entrance that Dagny never knew that DannagerDanagger's office had. Then when Dannager Danagger agreed to see Dagny, he announced that he was going to retire. He said that his visitor had told him that he had "a right to exist," and that was the most important reason why he would listen to that visitor and quit business. The last thing he told Dagny was that, someday, Dagny would join him. Dagny, of course, found that proposition incredible.

On November 22, 2018 (Thanksgiving Day), Henry did appear Rearden showed up at his the Taggart Tower and explained to Dagny that he would fulfill her next order of rail with Rearden Metal rail. He intended this as an act of defiance of the laws under which he was to stand trialthe next day. Instead At that trial, instead of offering a formal defense, he rebuked the court directly and said that he did not consider what he had done to be a crime. The court fined him $5000, and then suspended the sentence. == The John Galt Line Closes ==Henry Rearden was not able to fulfill that order. It was the first failure in the history of Rearden Steel. Dagny would learn the reason only later: a load of copper, on a fleet of ships flying Francisco d'Anconia's company flag, fell under the guns of Ragnar Danneskjöld, who sent them to the bottom of the Caribbean. But by the time the new rail would have been needed, it no longer mattered. A series of delays, mainly due to the mismanagement of the Dannager Coal Company by Ken Dannager's ne'er-do-well cousin, had contributed their share to more economic destruction and chaos. Then on February 15, 2019, the Board of Directors of the TTRR voted to close the John Galt Line for lack of revenue. The line had its last run on March 31, 2019. Dagny and Rearden rode on that train, in her private car. She would learn later that this act would enable Lillian Rearden to figure out that Dagny and Henry were "an item." The only person to express any sympathy for her was Francisco d'Anconia. But his sympathy meant little to her, since he could not and would not do anything about the situation.

The next significant event that affected Dagny was the promulgation of [[Directive 10-289]], on May 1 of what would be , 2019, the last calendar year before history as she knew it would stop. Dagny learned of it first from Francisco, who called her at her office and asked her, "Well, what do you think of the moratorium on brains?" Francisco would not elaborate, so Dagny ordered someone to bring her a morning newspaper. [[Eddie Willers]], with a pained expression, brought her the paper and said that none of her employees had wanted to be the one to break the news to her.

Henry Rearden did not join her. But on the morning of May 28, Francisco d'Anconia did. (How he even learned where she was staying, she would learn only later: Eddie Willers had let this slip to John Galt, not even knowing whom he was talking to, and John Galt had told Francisco. Dagny accused Francisco of pumping Eddie directly for the information, a charge Francisco denied.) And on that occasion, Francisco told her an incredible story.

Dagny had suspected for some time that Francisco d'Anconia's persona as an irresponsible playboy was a sham. Now Francisco admitted it. He then said that he was destroying D'Anconia Copper, and doing so deliberately. He said,{{cquote|I am will not leaving leave it as I found it; I am leaving will leave it as Sebastian Sebastián d'Anconia found it, and then let the world try to get along without him or me.}}

Dagny was torn between Francisco and Henry, and perhaps one cannot infer what decision Dagny would have made, had not a breathless special [[radio]] bulletin interrupted them. That bulletin was the announcement and description of the destruction of the [[Taggart Tunnel]]. "Gross violation of safety regulations...[[coal]]-burning [[steam]] [[locomotive]]...Passengers were breaking windows...overcome by the fumes...Freight Special crashed into the rear...explosion..." The description filled Dagny with horror and revulsion. She knew that she had to go back, to untangle the mess that had been made. Francisco tried to tell her, "In the name of anything held sacred to you, don't go back!" But she went back anyway.

That night, Dagny had intended waited at her apartment for Henry Rearden to travel westbound on the Taggart Cometcome and see her. Francisco showed up first, the TTRR's signature coast-to-coast expressuninvited. Dagny accused him of being "The Destroyer, to inspect " but he denied that. But neither did he deny any knowledge of such a new track person. Francisco also insisted that she had ordered laid in the wake of end she would take the Taggart Tunnel disaster. But her apartment house superintendent handed her same road he had—to a special-delivery letter from place he called [[Quentin DanielsAtlantis (Atlas Shrugged)|Atlantis]] that forced her to go west immediately. Daniels had written to say that he This was not going to do any useful work anymore. He would work on the motor, but accept no remuneration, so that he would owe no classical [[taxAtlantis]] on itof Greek myth, but, she saw, a different kind of place, or perhaps only a concept.

Dagny reasoned that he was ready to quit completelyBefore Francisco could explain further, and she might dissuade him from thatHenry Rearden let himself in. The two men were each shocked to confront the other in this place of all places. They argued—but only if she could reach him before the mysterious "Destroyer" could. She wasabout Dagny—and finally Henry, of course, convinced realizing at once that the Destroyer was on his way Francisco had been Dagny's original lover (a secret she had never before revealed to visit him), as he had visited Ken DannagerRearden struck Francisco in a jealous rage. Francisco almost brutally restrained himself from striking back, and then left without another word.

Not long after that, Dagny called 's apartment house superintendent handed her a special-delivery letter from [[Quentin Daniels at once]] that forced her to go west immediately, instead of the next night as she had planned. Daniels had written to ask him say that he was not going to make do any such decision until she could see him in personuseful work anymore. Then she departed New York for what was almost He would work on the last timemotor, but accept no remuneration, and—the key—would refuse to share his solution, if he found any, even with Dagny.

En route to Afton, [[Utah]], where Daniels lived, Dagny spotted the conductor as reasoned that he was about ready to order a hobo to jump quit completely, and she might dissuade him from that—but only if she could reach him before the trainmysterious "Destroyer" could. Something about this hobo convinced Dagny that he She was not an ordinary bum, so she invited of course, convinced that the man Destroyer was on his way to stay and have dinner with her in her private carvisit him, as he had visited Ken Danagger.

Dagny called Daniels at once, to ask him not to make any such decision until she could see him in person. Then she departed New York for what was almost the last time, aboard the Taggart Comet, the TTRR's signature luxury train. En route to Afton, [[Utah]], where Daniels lived, Dagny spotted the conductor as he was about to order a hobo to jump from the train. Something about this hobo convinced Dagny that he was not an ordinary bum, so she invited the man to stay and have dinner with her in her private car. This man was [[Jeff Allen]], who had once been a skilled lathe operator, and last worked that job in Colorado for the [[Lawrence Hammond]] Car Company, until Lawrence Hammond had quit and vanished. But he had held his very first job for twenty years, and had held it at the Twentieth Century Motor Company. In fact, he had worked sixteen years under Jed Starnes, and the last four under the administration of the Starnes heirs. In the course of half an hour, he told Dagny the story of what working at a factory was like where the people worked according to their abilities but were paid according to their needs. As Dagny expected, it was not pleasant. Nor was it successful, because in this manner the Starnes heirs had run the company into the ground.

That night(May 30, 2019), the train stopped unexpectedly. She realized at once that she was on a "frozen train," whose engineer, fireman, conductor, and trainmen had simply stopped and abandoned. She recruited Jeff Allen to take over the situation as "deputy conductor and proxy-Vice-President for Operations," and then walked forward to a track telephone, accompanied by none other than Owen Kellogg, who had also been on the Comet when it stopped. At one point she saw Kellogg smoking a brand of cigarettes that she had never seen before: its filters carried the sign for the United States [[dollar]]. He would not offer her a cigarette for free, but suggested that she might buy it for five cents—payable in [[gold]].

The man answered, "No, we never didhad to."

John Galt then explained what had happened to her aircraft, and why such a green valley had looked rocky until her descent. The valley floor was at an elevation of 8000 feet. At 8700 feet, John Galt had installed "refractor ray" projectors to create a one-way mirror in project the airfalse image of an actual rock tumble five miles away. Dagny had descended to that level, a result that John Galt had never predicted, and the rays had shorted out her motor.

Dagny spent the night alone in a room in what turned out to be John Galt's house. She noticed that the walls of the room were richly inscribed with cryptic messages, and signed by more of the vanished ones. Later that night she received a visit from Francisco d'Anconia.

In the morningLater, she received an even stranger visit: from Ragnar Danneskjold. Mr. Danneskjold took this opportunity to explain what his [[privateer]]ing activities were Dagny attended a meeting with all about: he was seizing government "global relief" cargoes and selling them to smugglers, and bringing the [[gold]] they paid him back to this secluded valleyleading citizens of the little community. He deposited this gold in the bank Each of them told of something new that Midas Mulligan he or she had re-established in the valleyinvented, which he actually owned. (This is why John Galt called the place Mulligan's Valley, though the others called it [[Galt's Gulch]].) Ragnar went on to explain but also that he intended to refund the income-tax payments of the vanished ones and of a few people, including Dagny and Henry Rearden, who had they would not yet quit. But Dagny's refund would be less than that of the others, because Ragnar could not refund to her the taxes paid on the dividend from the stock of Taggart Transcontinental, since her brother had run the company in an unwholesome alliance sharing it with the governmentoutside. She therefore would expect a reimbursement of the taxes Dagny asked them what they were all doing, and finally John Galt explained:{{cquote|We are on her salary as Operating Vice-Presidentstrike.}}

Ragnar went on to describe a meeting John Galt then confirmed that he had been the inventor of the electrostatic motor, and he had with Henry Reardencalled the great strike after the Starnes heirs had put in place a business plan modeled after [[The Communist Manifesto]], but John Galt stopped him before which he could finish describing itnever accept. He and the others gave Dagny a brief history of the valley and of their own reasons for joining the strike.

Dagny furiously declaredIn the morning, when she received a very strange visit: from Ragnar Danneskjöld. Mr. Danneskjöld took this opportunity to explain what his [[privateer]]ing activities were all about: he was seizing government "global relief" cargoes and selling them to smugglers, and bringing the [[gold]] they paid him back to this secluded valley. He deposited this gold in the bank that Midas Mulligan had left re-established in the housevalley, that she would never accept money taken, as she saw it, through brigandagewhich he actually owned. (This is why John Galt said called the place Mulligan's Valley, though the others called it [[Galt's Gulch]].) Ragnar went on to explain that he would draw on her account intended to pay for her room refund the income-tax payments of the vanished ones and boardof a few people, and then including Dagny offered to work for her room and board as his cook and housemaidHenry Rearden, who had not yet quit. For a reason that she But Dagny's refund would be less than that of the others, because Ragnar could not fully appreciate until much laterrefund to her the taxes paid on the dividend from the stock of Taggart Transcontinental, that proposal struck John Galt as uproariously funnysince her brother had run the company in an unwholesome alliance with the government. Nevertheless, he accepted itShe therefore would expect a reimbursement only of the taxes on her salary as Operating Vice-President.

Later, Dagny attended Ragnar went on to describe a meeting with all the leading citizens of the little community. Each of them told of something new that he or she had inventedhad with Henry Rearden, but also that they would not be sharing it with the outside. Dagny asked them what they were all doing, and finally John Galt explained:{{cquote|We are on strikestopped him before he could finish describing it.}}

Dagny furiously declared, when Ragnar had left the house, that she would never accept money taken, as she saw it, at the risk of another man's life. John Galt then confirmed said that he had been the inventor of the static-electricity motorwould draw on her account to pay for her room and board, and then Dagny offered to work for her room and board as his cook and housemaid. For a reason that she would not fully appreciate until much later, that proposal struck John Galt as uproariously funny. Nevertheless, he accepted it. That night, Francisco d'Anconia, whom Galt and Danneskjöld had called the great strike after the Starnes heirs had put in place both missed, finally made his appearance. Galt allowed Francisco a business plan modeled after [[The Communist Manifesto]]tearful reunion with Dagny, at which time Francisco revealed that he could never accept. He and had been searching for the others gave Dagny a brief history wreckage of her plane since the valley and of their own reasons for joining the strikeairport attendant had reported her long overdue.

She had two heart-rending moments during her stay. One of them occurred at the site of "D'Anconia Copper No. 1," a mine that Francisco d'Anconia had driven into one of the mountainsides that ringed the valley. Dagny told Francisco that he was wasting a great deal of time hauling his copper ore to the valley floor on [[mule]]back, and offered to build him a railroad to the valley floor. But then she said that she could not lay a mile or two three miles of rail and abandon a transcontinental system. At this point John Galt told her that, if she decided to stay, she would hear all of the details of the eventual demise of the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad.

Dagny attended the program, but decided to avenge herself and Rearden, een if it cost her her relationship with John Galt. She described their her affair with Rearden in detail. Then she told the radio listeners that Henry Rearden had been forced by blackmail to place his invention in the [[public domain]]. Scudder threw the microphone to the stage when she said that, but the damage was done.

In August, Cheryl Cherryl Brooks Taggart paid Dagny a visit, and told Dagny how unhappy she was being married to James Taggart, a result that Dagny might have predicted. Dagny tried to persuade Cheryl Cherryl not to return home, but Cheryl Cherryl returned anyway. Dagny never learned the full particulars, but apparently Cheryl Cherryl had a humiliating scene with Jim, in which Cheryl Cherryl somehow realized that she was married to a spiritual "killer." Cheryl Cherryl Taggart walked out of the townhouse, ran to the shore of [[Manhattan]], and threw herself into the [[East River]]. Dagny found about it from Jim and told him that she did not want him to tell her his troubles, especially since they had cost a young woman her life.

In the middle of this conversation came an announcement on the [[radio]]. At first Jim asked Dagny to stay, saying that this was the announcement he had wanted her to hear. But as the announcer went on, Jim became horrified. The announcement was about the attempted [[nationalization]] of D'Anconia Copper by the People's State of [[ArgentinaChile]]—and the discovery that the D'Anconia Copper Company was now totally worthless. Francisco d'Anconia had destroyed every remaining asset in the days leading up to the nationalization.

That evening, Dagny and Henry discussed that disaster over dinner. Henry remarked casually that he had met Ragnar DanneskjoldDanneskjöld. Dagny remembered Ragnar's remark about that meeting and said so. Henry then said that he had "met one of their agents," and Dagny said that he had met two of them. Henry realized that she was talking about Francisco.

Later that monthOn September 14, 2019 Dagny received a call from a track walker in [[Minnesota]], saying that several freight cars, which should have been sent to Minnesota to pick up the nation's [[wheat]] crop, had not been sent. She learned quickly that Cuffy Meigs had diverted the freight cars to [[Louisiana]] to pick up a crop of [[soybean]]s from an experimental project by Emma Chalmers, also known as "Kip's Ma," the mother of the late Congressman Legislative candidate Charles "Kip" Chalmers, who had died in the [[Taggart Tunnel]] disaster. The wheat perished in its fields, and in spite of the special treatment, the soybeans turned out to be moldy and unfit for human consumption.

In On October15, 2019, the Terminal's signal interlocking system failed. Dagny rushed to the terminal, arranged to hire an engineer from a rival line, and then organized the track walkers and other unskilled laborers into a lantern brigade to move the trains in and out of the Terminal by hand. On that occasion she discovered that John Galt was a Taggart Transcontinental employee, and furthermore was employed in the lowest possible capacity. The two of them at last consummated their own affair, an act that John Galt knew would place him at risk, and said so. He told her that he would wait for her to declare her intention to quit the outer world, and that all she need do was chalk a dollar sign on the plinth of Nathaniel Taggart's statue in the concourse, and he, Galt, would come for her at once.

Toward == The Vanishing of Hank Rearden ==On the end morning of OctoberNovember 5, Jim awakened her 2019, Dagny awoke at ten o'clock in the middle of the night morning to tell an incessant buzzing. She found Jim Taggart outside, leaning against the buzzer. He told her, breathlessly, that Henry Rearden had quit his mills and vanished—and that hundreds "a whole bunch" of his employees had vanished after him when his disappearance became known. Jim begged Dagny to somehow bring Henry back, but Dagny said that she could not bring him back, and wouldn't if she could.

Not long after Rearden's disappearance, Dagny received a cryptic note from him. It read only, "{{cquote|I have met him. I don't blame you." }}Dagny realized at once that Henry Rearden could only have been talking about [[John Galt]]. She little realized that the entire country would soon "meet" John Galt, if only at a distance.

In On November15, 2019, [[Mr. Thompson]], the [[President Head of the United States]]State, announced that he would deliver a "report on the world crisis" on November 22, on every radio and [[television]] station. On that night, Jim asked her to accompany him to the New York broadcasting station (probably [[Madison Square Garden]]) where Mr. Thompson was to deliver his speech. [[Eddie Willers]] accompanied her, and she noticed several Washington men present, including, oddly enough, [[Robert Stadler]].

Dagny announced her refusal to participate, but before anyone could say anything about compelling her to participate, the broadcast engineers announced that every frequency was suddenly jammed, and that Mr. Thompson could not get on the air. Mr. Thompson started threatening to fire everyone in sight, and then everyone present heard a man's voice:{{cquote|Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Thompson will not be speaking speak to you tonight. His time is up. I have taken it over....}}

In Dagny gave the "looters' government" ten days to disintegrate. When that much time, and several times as much time, expired, she still waited, like everyone else. In the weeks that followed, even more people quit their jobs and vanished. From the fragmentary accounts that reached her, Dagny realized that most of those people had set up their own versions of Galt's Gulch, chiefly armed camps in nearby forests. She also read, with anguish, the reports of the gradual decline of Rearden Steel. The reports ended with a fire that destroyed several structures on January 22 of the next year. From that day forward, Rearden Steel was no more.

Shortly after the arrest, Dagny heard found a note slipped under her apartment door. The note was from Francisco. He It gave her the telephone number of a direct line that would reach him, and asked her to call him the moment she had reason to believe that John Galt was in danger of his life. (That Dagny really was the sole "agent on the ground" that Francisco had in [[New York City]] at the time is unlikely; more likely, Francisco offered Dagny this opportunity to participate as his spy as a means by which to complete her recruitment.)

Though Dagny would did not see John Galt again until much laterand could not know it, when Mr. Thompson announced she was not the inauguration of sole "agent on the ground"John Galt Plan for Peace and Prosperitythat Francisco had in [[New York City]] at the time." Dagny suspected that John Galt would never go along with such a planShe was, but she still attended however, closer to the broadcast where the Plan would be announcedauthorities than any of them. Sure enoughShe could not know, but would learn later, when John that the Galt's turn came to speakGulch Militia had thoroughly infiltrated New York, he moved rapidly enough and was quite prepared to reveal that someone was pointing a gun at him. Then he gripped storm the lectern with both hands and saidWayne-Falkland Hotel, "Getwhere the authorities held Galt for another week or to...out of my way." Dagny covered her mouth to stop people from seeing that she That they didn't was ready to laugh out loud. No one paid her any heed, though; only because they were too busy smashing and sweeping down feared that the microphones and camerasauthorities would "liquidate" Galt as soon as the militia got close.

Francisco likely had another reason to offer Dagny remained at the Wayne-Falkland long enough this opportunity to overhear the Washington men talk about their next plans. Most of these men wanted to do nothing but cry. Then Floyd Ferris proposed putting John Galt to torture at a secret installation of the State Science Institute. Mr. Thompson helplessly said, "I can't help itparticipate as his spy. Do whatever you wantThis would complete her recruitment."

This was enough for Dagnywould not see John Galt again until much later, who managed to walk away unnoticedwhen Mr. She called Francisco and gave him all Thompson announced the intelligence she had. Then she went straight to her apartment and packed a bag, and then went to the Terminal to recover two pieces inauguration of jewelry the "John Galt Plan for Peace and Prosperity." Dagny suspected that she John Galt would take never go along with her: the bracelet of Rearden Metal that such a plan, but she had bought at that long-ago anniversary partystill attended the March 20 broadcast where the Plan would be announced. Sure enough, and a gold five-dollar piece that was part of her wages as a cook and maid in when John Galt's house in Galt's Gulchturn came to speak, he moved rapidly enough to reveal that someone was pointing a gun at him. Then he gripped the lectern with both hands and said, {{cquote|Get...out of my way.}}

Dagny covered her mouth to stop people from seeing that she was ready to laugh out loud. No one paid her any heed, though; they were too busy smashing and sweeping down the microphones and cameras. Dagny remained at the Wayne-Falkland long enough to overhear the Washington men talk about their next plans. Most of these men wanted to do nothing but cry. Clarence "Chick" Morrison, the Director of Morale Conditioning, threw up his hands, said, "I resign!", and fled the scene; Tinky Holloway revealed that Morrison "ha[d] a hide-out all stocked for himself in [[Tennessee]]," but not a man present would lay odds that he would reach it, or find it intact if he did. Then Floyd Ferris proposed putting John Galt to torture at a secret installation of the State Science Institute. Mr. Thompson helplessly said, "I can't help it. Do whatever you want." This was enough for Dagny, who managed to walk away, not exactly unnoticed, but certainly unsuspected. She ran down the street to a public telephone booth (one may infer that the cellular telephone systems had crashed for good in the three years after the index date, if not earlier). She called Francisco and gave him all the intelligence she had. Then she went straight to her apartment, changed out of the formal clothes she had been wearing, and packed two bags. In one of them she placed the bracelet of Rearden Metal that she had earned in the outer world, and a five-dollar gold piece she had earned in the valley. She then went to the Terminal to recover some unnamed documents, a portrait of Nat Taggart, and a map of the railroad. While she was gathering these items, an employee rushed in to report that the [[Taggart Bridge]] over the [[Mississippi River]] had been destroyed in one second, and with it everything within a one-hundred-mile radius of the [[Project X]] installation, apparently by a malfunction (or so the employee half understood) of the Xylophone. As she had when she had heard about the [[Taggart Tunnel]] disaster, she thought first about taking command and perhaps commissioning some kind of ferry service across the Mississippi. But this time she forced herself to put down the telephone that she had snatched up almost by instinct, and declared that this time, even she did not know what to do.

Almost How Francisco got Dagny off Manhattan Island, the novel does not describe. Manhattan did not have too many areas, even in those days, where one could take off in a private aircraft. But somehow, not only did Francisco and Dagny get off the island; so did the militia, with orders to proceed at onceto Lyme, NH, and the campus of the State Science Institute (probably at the site of the real-life [[United States Army]] Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory). There, Ragnar Danneskjold Danneskjöld laid on a commando-style raid on the [[State Science Institute]] facility where John Galt was being held. At least half the male population of Galt's GulchThe main militia force, under the command of [[Ellis Wyatt]], waited around the New Hampshire facility nearby while Ragnar, Dagny, Henry Rearden, and Francisco d'Anconia went in by themselves to take the facility by stealth.  Dagny drew the first blood in that attack, which succeeded easily because : she killed the guard at the door of "Project F" when he would not get out of her way. He was typical of the men who guarded that facility ; they were not only incompetent but also afraid to decide even the simplest things. They found Francisco d'Anconia entered the building and manged to gain the advantage over the two guards inside. From them he learned how many guards remained to deal with: nine in the main laboratory on the second floor, and one guarding the stairs leading to the cellar where the real business of Project F, that being torture by electric shock, took place. Hank Rearden entered the main laboratory, with Francisco and Dagny guarding his flanks. Hank Rearden received a flesh wound, but Francisco, Dagny, and Ragnar Danneskjöld (who would swing in through a window) managed to kill four more guards and take the other four into "custody." Francisco let one remaining guard lead him to the cellar door, where he ordered the last guard to surrender himself. Then the four of them raced down the cellar stairs to a locked door. Ragnar picked the lock. Francisco opened the door and briefly barred Dagny's way with his arm. Then he lowered his arm and let Dagny enter. She saw John Galt , lashed to a mattress and connected to an electroshock generator that had, happily, broken down. John assured them all that he was unharmed, and that he had known all along that his torturers would never deliver a lethal shock. Hurriedly they unbound him, and allowed him to dress. Ragnar destroyed the torture machine completely, and the rescue party then took him Galt to Francisco d'Anconia's aircraft, which Ragnar had landed nearby.

As they overflew the Eastern seaboardNew York City, Dagny gasped as she beheld it plunged into darkness. John told her sternly not to look down, but Dagny had already seen. The lights had gone out, and were not likely to come back on until the society was totally collapsed.

Dagny spent the winter early spring in the Gulch, now as John Galt's wife; presumably they were married in a civil ceremony presided over by [[Judge Narragansett]], the original trial judge in the case of ''Hunsacker v. Mulligan. '' (He had joined the strike after being reversed on appeal in that matter.) But now Dagny built the railroad that she had said that she could build for Francisco d'Anconia's [[copper]] mine. Presumably she used rails of Rearden Metal, and ordered the first-ever electrostatic [[locomotive]]s from a company that John Galt could at last build.

In Before the following springlast snow had melted, John took Dagny on a hike to the lip of the ring of mountains around the valley. As they surveyed the now-desolate landscape, John Galt said,{{cquote|The road is cleared. We are going back to the world.}}

[[Whittaker Chambers]], in his review of ''Atlas Shrugged'' published in ''[[National Review]]'', criticized Rand on a much simpler and perhaps not well thought-out ground: simply for creating in Dagny Taggart a character who was impossibly beautiful.<ref name=chambers>Chambers W, "Big Sister Is Watching You," ''National Review'', December 28, 1957. Hosted at National Review Online, published January 5, 2005. Accessed May 1, 2009.<http://www.nationalreview.com/flashbackarticles/flashback200501050715.asp222482/big-sister-watching-you/flashback></ref>