Complex sentence: The opponents had from the start believed that the whole project was a bare-faced fraud by some capitalists to build a "railroad to nowhere", and to make tremendous profits doing so, all the while getting the United States Government to pay for it.
Split into simpler sentences: The opponents had from the start believed that the whole project was a bare-faced fraud by some capitalists to build a "railroad to nowhere"; and, to make tremendous profits doing so. All the while getting the United States Government to pay for it.