The first Transcontinental Railroad was completed in
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With today's jets taking us across the United States in just six or seven hours, it is very hard to imagine travel in the mid-1800s. Let's just say it was arduous. Getting from New York to California in 1860 could be a half-year affair involving a number of different trains to get to the Mississippi River, and then horse-drawn wagons across the plains and over the mountains. The journey was fraught with peril -- everything from Indians to weather to robbers to wild animals could cause insurmountable problems. Show So when they put the "golden spike" into the last piece of track of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869, it seemed like a miracle. There was an electric reaction to the news all across the country. Finally you could imagine going from New York to California in a week rather than six months, and the risks fell significantly as well. The whole idea of building the Transcontinental Railroad moved from fantasy to reality during the administration of Abraham Lincoln. Lots of federal dollars went into this project starting in 1862 with the Pacific Railway Act. The whole project stretched from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California over 1,800 miles of track. It took about six years to build the Transcontinental Railroad and the golden spike was hammered into the ground on May 10, 1869. Then, in 1872, a bridge across the Missouri River gave the U.S. a single line of track running from coast to coast. By 1876, a train had run from NY to California in less than 90 hours. The technology needed to build the railroad was impressive for the time. Workers had to assemble wooden trestle bridges, blast tunnels through mountains, grade hundreds of miles of track bed and actually lay the crossties and track. And don't forget the logistics of moving so much equipment, people, food, tools, metal and wood to a construction site hundreds of miles away. There was a point where the construction teams had become so efficient that they could lay 10 miles of track in one day. The development of all that technology, along with the existence of the backbone track, caused a railway explosion. Over 100,000 miles of track was laid across the United States, in the next 20 years. It took nearly a century to find the modern replacement for the railroads. In 1959, American Airlines offered the nation its first regular jet service flying non-stop across the country on 707s. For more information about the Transcontinental Railroad and related topics, check out these links:
Westward ExpansionHistory >> Westward ExpansionThe First Transcontinental Railroad stretched from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast. No longer would people travel in long wagon trains that took months to reach California. They could now travel faster, safer, and cheaper by train. In addition to people, things like mail, supplies, and trade goods could now be shipped across the country in just a few days. The railroad was built between 1863 and 1869. Background The first talk of a transcontinental railroad started around 1830. One of the first promoters of the railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney. Asa tried hard for many years to get Congress to pass an act to build the railroad, but failed. However, in the 1860s Theodore Judah began to lobby for a railroad. He surveyed the Sierra Nevada Mountains and found a pass where the railroad could be built. The Route There were two main routes along which people wanted the first railroad to be built.
Route of the First Transcontinental Railroad by Unknown Pacific Railroad Act In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law. The act said that there were two main railroad lines. The Central Pacific Railroad would come from California and the Union Pacific Railroad would come from the Midwest. The two railroads would meet somewhere in the middle. The act gave the railroad companies land where they could build the railroad. It also paid them for each mile that they built. They were paid more money for miles of track built in the mountains versus miles of track built on the flat plains. Building the Railroad  Across the Continent by Joseph Becker Building the railroad was tough, hard work. Weather conditions were especially tough in the mountains during the winter. A lot of times the only way to travel over the mountains was to go through the mountains by blasting a tunnel. The Central Pacific Railroad had to blast a number of tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The longest tunnel built was 1659 feet long. It took a long time to build the tunnels. They were able to blast around one foot per day on average. While the Central Pacific Railroad had to deal with mountains and snow, the Union Pacific Railroad was challenged by Native Americans raids. As the Native Americans came to realize the threat to their way of life that the "Iron Horse" was going to bring, they began to raid the railroad work sites. Also, a lot of the land that was "granted" to the railroad by the government was actually Native American land. The Workers The majority of the workers on the Union Pacific Railroad were Irish laborers, many who had served in both the Union and the Confederate armies. In Utah, a lot of the track was built by Mormon workers. Most of the Central Pacific Railroad was built by Chinese immigrants. The Golden Spike The two railroads finally met at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869. Leland Stanford, governor of California and president of the Central Pacific Railroad, drove in the last spike. This final spike was called the "Golden Spike" or "The Final Spike". You can see it today at Stanford University in California. Driving the Golden Spike on 10th May, 1869 by American School Interesting Facts about the First Transcontinental Railroad
History >> Westward Expansion When was the first transcontinental railroad completed?One hundred and fifty years ago on May 10, 1869, university founder Leland Stanford drove the last spike that marked the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
Where was the first transcontinental railroad completed quizlet?Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west, A railroad that stretches across a continent from coast to coast.
What happened when the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869?On May 10, 1869, in a ceremony at Promontory, Utah, the last rails were laid and the last spike driven. Congress eventually authorized 4 transcontinental railroads and granted 174 million acres of public lands for rights-of-way.
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