In 1862, Potter worked with a surveying party to lay out the
Burlington and Missouri River Railroad from Ottumwa to
Council Bluffs, Iowa.Potter also served as vice president of the St. Louis and Keokuk Railroad, the Chicago, Burlington and Kansas City Railroad, the Chicago and Iowa Railroad, the
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. In 1887, Union Pacific President
Charles Francis Adams Jr. offered the job of vice president and general manager of the
Union Pacific Railroad to Potter. Potter accepted the role. ==Personal life==