Transcontinental Railroad Math

Union Pacific vs. Central Pacific

Map Skills

• West Coast• Central • East Coast

Union Pacific: Day One

• When the Transcontinental Railroad was finished, the Union Pacific Railroad had laid 1032 miles of track. How many railroad ties, rails, and spikes did it take for the Union Pacific Railroad to lay their tracks?

• Express each item as a fraction of the total items needed. For example, what fraction represents the number of railroad ties needed out of all the materials needed. Complete this for each item and express the fraction in its simplest form.

UP: Day One (con’t)

• If it took a worker, three hits on his hammer to drive one spike into a railroad tie, how many hammer hits did the Union Pacific make when they had laid 1032 miles of tracks?

UP: Day Two

• One section of rail weighs 700 pounds and is 30 feet long. It took five men to lift a rail into place. If a group of five men laid 90 rails per day, how many feet did they lay all together? How much weight did each man lift per day if you assume they all lifted equal amounts?

• Assuming each man weighs 200 pounds, express his body weight as a fraction in its simplest form of the total amount he lifted each day.

UP: Day Three

• The railroad workers were often fed buffalo. If one buffalo fed 80 workers, how many buffalo were needed to feed 23,000 workers one meal?

• How many buffalo were needed total to feed 23,000 workers two meals a day for three years?

Day Four: Final Question

Each company was given 6,400 acres per/mile of track it laid. How many acres total was awarded to your company?

• How many acres were awarded to both companies combined?

• Express the acres awarded to your company as a fraction of the total acres awarded in its simplest form.

Central Pacific: Day One

• Workers on the Central Pacific Railroad had to build 15 tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They averaged 8 inches per/day.

• It took three years to complete. How many inches, feet, and miles did they lay?

• Express the total distance as a fraction of a mile in its simplest form.

CP: Day Two

• When the Transcontinental Railroad was finished, the Central Pacific Railroad had laid 742 miles of track. How many railroad ties, rails, and spikes did it take for the Union Pacific Railroad to lay their tracks?

• Express each item as a fraction of the total items needed. For example, what fraction represents the number of railroad ties needed out of all the materials needed. Complete this for each item and express the fraction in its simplest form.

Central Pacific: Day Three

• For every 5 workers Crocker hired, 3 left for the gold fields of Nevada. If Crocker needed to hire 25 new workers per day and keep his existing men, how many workers would he need to hire in one month to keep a total of 25 workers per day for 30 days?

CP: Final Question

Each company was given 6,400 acres per/mile of track it laid. How many acres total was awarded to your company?

• How many acres were awarded to both companies combined?

• Express the acres awarded to your company as a fraction of the total acres awarded in its simplest form.

Applause!!!