I know quite a few very good engineers, but not many of those are making those sorts of salaries. On the other hand, they do usually know how to use capital letters and generally manage a bit more humility.
That said, sadly I think that Av_Senior_Eng is right that jumping between jobs regularly is the way to the top - whilst most organisations probably should reward loyalty, the reality is that they rarely do and routinely parachute in senior people from outside, passing by those who have shown long term loyalty. This may be because those same organisations are very bad at giving people in-house development opportunities. Or, just that the faults of people coming from outside are less visible until they've been there a while (and three years seems about optimal to run away before your mistakes start to catch up on you). Staying with a project is a great idea - but the reality is that most of us work on multiple projects within our job, and if you never leave until every project is finished, you'll be there until somebody carries you out in a box.
I've yet to have a decent payrise or promotion without moving job! But by moving, I have done reasonably well. So far as I can see, this seem to work for most people who have made it far up the ladder.
G