Transcontinental Railroad
The idea of building a giant railroad connecting the east and west coasts of the United States was proposed by a young railroad engineer, Theodore Judah. A group of merchants from Sacremento, California listened to his idea and formed a company called the Central Pacific Railroad Company.
This railroad known as both the Transcontinental Railroad and the Pacific Railroad was a 1,907 mile contiguous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 across the western United States connecting the Pacific coast at San Francisco Bay with the existing Eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa on the Missouri River. The rail line was built by three private companies: the original Wester Pacific Railroad Company between Oakland, California to Sacremento, California. This company built 132 miles of the track. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California eastward from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, building 690 miles of the track, and the Union Pacific Railroad Company westward to Promontory Summit from the road's statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs on the eastern shore of the Missouri River opposite Omaha, Nebraska, building 1,085 miles of the track. The two companies that were to be constructing the most of the rail road began a competition, seeing which company could be the first to make it to the proposed meeting area, at a place called Promontory Point, located in Utah. This railroad race became the biggest railroad building race in history.
Although the main line was officially completed on May 10, 1869, many smaller railroads were built along it. The vast number of people who traveled the line, and the network that followed, set the USA on the path to economic abundance. It also ended the centuries old way of life of the Native Americans and greatly altered the environment.
This railroad known as both the Transcontinental Railroad and the Pacific Railroad was a 1,907 mile contiguous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 across the western United States connecting the Pacific coast at San Francisco Bay with the existing Eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa on the Missouri River. The rail line was built by three private companies: the original Wester Pacific Railroad Company between Oakland, California to Sacremento, California. This company built 132 miles of the track. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California eastward from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, building 690 miles of the track, and the Union Pacific Railroad Company westward to Promontory Summit from the road's statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs on the eastern shore of the Missouri River opposite Omaha, Nebraska, building 1,085 miles of the track. The two companies that were to be constructing the most of the rail road began a competition, seeing which company could be the first to make it to the proposed meeting area, at a place called Promontory Point, located in Utah. This railroad race became the biggest railroad building race in history.
Although the main line was officially completed on May 10, 1869, many smaller railroads were built along it. The vast number of people who traveled the line, and the network that followed, set the USA on the path to economic abundance. It also ended the centuries old way of life of the Native Americans and greatly altered the environment.
The route of the Transcontinental Railroad
