After reviving the battered B&O railway line with $60 million in investment funds he personally solicited from Wall Street, Willard was required to turn over control of the company to the government during World War I. The extensive improvements and investments Willard had made prior to the war began to pay off for the B&O in the 1920s, and he continued that trend of high quality, introducing, among other things, the first mechanical air-conditioned equipment. During Willard’s later years with the company when the Depression stifled growth, he kept the railway out of receivership through skillful management and cost reduction.