Saint-Simonian engineering ideology inspired French railroad dreams in Africa.

Evidence

But Roume’s outlook was shaped by more than his connections to the railroad lobby. There existed a strong Saint-Simonian tradition in the metropole which placed great emphasis on transforming the African, European, and American continents through modern public works projects. Engineers in France had long believed that the steam engine could do to the African interior what had just been accomplished in the American West and France: open up new frontiers to industry and progress. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 200

Categorization

• XREF: The Saint-Simonian faith in engineering connecting continents parallels the user’s interest in how European ideas were exported and imposed — also evokes the trans-Saharan railroad megalomania.