In 1850, Wells and Case partnered with Robert O'Blennus and Lawrence Matthews on the bus lines.

[4] After the success of the bus lines, Wells helped in organizing another transportation venture, the Missouri Railway Company, and served as its president until 1881.

[1] Evidence of Wells' changing profession can be seen in the St. Louis City Directories, in which he is listed as omnibus proprietor in 1859 and as pres.

[5] Wells eventually sold his interest in the Railway Company, but moved on to many other prominent positions.

[1] The West End Narrow Gauge Railroad began as an idea with Wells and James C. Page.

They lived in Wellston in an era when accommodation trains gave those in the suburbs easy access to the city.

He gave costs as: grading $3K/mi, ties $800, spikes $300, iron rails $3K, and construction $375 for a total of $7500/mi without real estate.

[6] Wells and Page proposed construction of the West End Narrow Gauge line in 1871, and again in 1872.

The original plan would run via Wellston from Grand Ave. 140 ft north of Olive to Florissant.

They favored conversion of the line to cable with a branch to Forest Park down Taylor Ave.

[15] Wells' Missouri Railway was a cable car line that ran down Olive Street.

In 1905, they were acquired by North American Co., which also owned Laclede Gas Light and Union Electric.

[20] Erastus Wells's political career began in 1848, with an election to the city council.

As chairman, Wells visited several cities, including Boston, New York, and Washington, to research other water-works systems.

The Governor, Claiborn Jackson, signed the bill, beginning a new era for the St. Louis metropolitan police system.

[3] On March 4, 1869 Wells took his seat in the United States House of Representatives, where he would remain for eight years, during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.

[2] As a member of Congress, Wells secured four million dollars in funding towards the building of the St. Louis Post Office and Custom House.

Wells' interest in rail transportation continued into his service in Congress, with a speech he gave on February 24, 1875, supporting a bill that granted aid to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and the Texas and Pacific Railway.

Wells's speech asked Congress to support this bill, which would assist in the construction of a central rail line from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast.

[22] Wells also introduced one of many bills put forward between 1870 and 1873 to establish the Territory of Oklahoma.

Wells purchased 66 acres of land in St. Louis County in 1868 and built a three-story brick house on the property, which was the family's country home.