The tales of the Old West are always a treat, especially when you realize they pulled off stunts that SR execs would look on with admiration and envy.
http://www.sdhsf.org/news_events/monthly_history_article.html/title/april-2014-selecting-a-capital-locationtl;dr Basically back when the Dakotas were one big territory there was a move to change the territory capital from Yankton (in what is South Dakota) to another city.
Knowing that Yankton and it's residents would fight this tooth and nail and according to the rules of the day the commission had to be in Yankton to vote on this, the commission came up with an ingenious plan.
So the commission handling this used meticulous timing of the speed of their train so they
were able to vote on the matter as their train car passed through Yankton, nominating the officials and towns to be considered before heading off to review the various cities before making a final decision.
Needless to say this was bitterly contested and even went to the US Supreme Court, but a final decision was pre-empted by the Dakota territory being split up into the states we know today, which set off another round of infighting as now they were fighting for state capital locations, but that is another tale.