Transcontinental Railroad

Timeline:

1784: First steam locomotive invented by Nicolas Cugnut.

1819: Robert Mills proposes that a steam railway be built from the Mississipppi Valley to the head of the Columbia River.

1829: The first english steam locomotive arrives in America.

1845: Asa Whitney proposes the construction of a Transcontinental Railroad.

1853: Congress authorizes western surveys for a future Transcontinental route.

1859: Theodore Judah asks the California Assembley to consider financing a Transcontinental Railroad.

1860: Theodore Judah sets out to survey a railroad route through the Sierras

1862: Abraham Lincoln sighns the Pacific Railroad Act, grantin railroads with 170 million square miles of land.\

1863: Central Pacific Railroad starts laying track on October 26.

1864: Union Pacific starts their share of the Transcontinental Railroad.

1865: Progress on the railroad was progressing until silver was discovered in Nevada. Many workers left the railroad to mine silver.

1869: Transcontinental Railroad finished May 10th of this year.

1867: Native American tribe Cheyenne war party attacks Union Pacific train at Plum Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the pictures below to see full size images and their descriptions.

    -Nick

Photo Gallery: Transcontinental Railroad

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Transcontinental Railroad Flash Facts:

  • The railroad cost $50,000,000 to build!
  • Before the railroad, it cost around 1,000 dollars to travel to the west, and after it cost only 150 dollars!
  • Also before the railroad, people would have to drive a buggy to get to the west. That took 6 months and it was dangerous. After the railroad, it only took 6 days!
  • The Transcontinental Railroad stretches from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California.
  • By the summer of 1867, The Union Pacific was in Wyoming, having covered over 4 times more ground than the Central Pacific.
  • The Union Pacific suffered bloody attacks from Native American tribes Arapache and Cheyenne.
  • Travel on the new railroad started 5 days after its completion.
  • The last tie was laid in Promontory Point, Utah.
  • The last spike laid was called the golden spike... Because it was made of pure gold!
  • Over the years, the railroad got lss and less popular because of highways, automobiles, and air transportation.
  • Most of the ties have been dug up for supplies.