Transcontinental Railroad
• Congress passed Railroad Act of 1862
• 1863 Central Pacific starts in Sacramento,CA
• 1863- Union Pacific starts near Omaha,NE
Problems
• CP- getting supplies from the East• WHY?• UP-getting ties• WHY?
Equipment
• Each mile required• 100 tons of rail • 2500 ties• 2-3 tons of spikes and fish plates• Also need wheel barrows,horse drawn
scrapers,2 wheel dump carts, shovels,axes,crowbars,blasting powder, and more
How Track Was Laid
• Survey crews worked ahead• Graders graded 100 miles at a time• Bridge and trestle crews worked 5-
20 miles ahead• Track layers grabbed rails and ties
from horse drawn carts• Pounders drove spikes
General Grenville Dodge Union Pacific
The Big FourHuntington, Hopkins,
Stanford, Crocker
Officers of the Central Pacific
West- Central PacificEast- Union Pacific
Chinese Workers
• Hired by the Central Pacific
• 9/10 were Chinese• Avg. Height-4’10”• Avg. Weight-
120lbs.• Dug tunnels
through Mts.
• Use pick,shovel, black powder
• Avg.8”/day• 24hrs./7days• winters 40’ snow• dug tunnels
through snow to get to tunnels in Mts.
Chinese workers
• All this hard work for:• $20/week and supply own food• later strike to get $35/week and not
to be whipped• suffered prejudice because were
different• clean,saved $,not drink away,• and different customs
Chinese Workers for the Central Pacific
Chinese Laborer Camp
China Wall Road Marker
China Wall near Truckee,CA
China Wall and Snow Shed near Truckee,CA
Workers laying rails
Laying Rails in the Desert
The Last Rail is Laid
Completion-May 10,1869Promontory Point, Utah
Railroad Mural Lincoln, NE
Railroad Mural Lincoln, NE
Union Pacific Engine near Scott’s Bluff NE
Union Pacific Heading East near Scott’s Bluff, NE