When he started to work for Edison’s branch in Paris, Tesla became one of the traveling repairmen sent to work on installations throughout Europe. He constantly spoke of his AC system, but no one of his colleagues noticed because they were too busy expanding the DC system. Strasburg, a city in Germany, purchased Edison’s system, but the opening ceremony for the railroad station lightning was disastrous. Throwing the switch caused an immediate explosion which blew out a wall of the train shed. Tesla was sent to deal with the problem, and he spent a year there doing the repairs and waiting for bureaucracy to approve the work. Thankfully for them, Tesla was able to turn his ideas into reality. He built the stable version of the dynamo he dreamt of, and the model worked beautifully. Tesla planned to collect his Strasburg bonus to build new AC generators and motors.
Unfortunately, the bonus did not materialize, so Edison’s managers advised Tesla to take his dreams and plans and try them in America. After traveling, studying, working throughout central Europe, young Tesla, only 28 years on his back, set for the United States.