THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
"All ready now. The spike will soon be driven. The signal will be three dots for the commencement of the blows." Telegrapher message sent nationwide on May 10, 1869.
On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad met the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, officially connecting the nation by rail. The driving of the golden spike marked the completion of what was undoubtedly one of the most important events in United States history. By bridging the 2,000 miles from the Missouri River to the West Coast, the nation was now joined by 3,500 miles of transcontinental railroad from New York to California. A journey that had once taken four to six months by the overland pioneers had been reduced to six days, and the dangers and hardships facing westward travelers had been diminished greatly.
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Thomas Hill's painting on display at the Museum of Railroad History, tells a story of finance and politics, celebrating the captains of industry
who promoted the interests of the Central Pacific Railroad. |
Background
A transcontinental railroad had been suggested and discussed as far back as the 1830's, but it wasn't until 1853 that Congress charged Jefferson Davis (Secretary of War) to conduct feasibility surveys for a transcontinental railroad route. Years of debate over the best route followed. Among the options discussed included a northern route from St. Louis and a southern route from New Orleans to Southern California. The secession of the South from the Union opened the door for the northern route and in July of 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, which granted a charter to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies, authorizing them to build a railway and a telegraph line between Omaha and California Territory. The Act gave the railroads loans for each mile of track laid, as well generous amounts of public land along the way. The Union Pacific was commissioned to build west from Omaha, Nebraska, across the Great Plains, and the Central Pacific to build east from Sacramento, through the Sierra Nevada.
The Adventure Begins
In 1863, the Central Pacific Railroad, under the management of the "Big Four" -- Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins -- began laying track east from Sacramento in 1863. During the same year, ground was broken at Omaha for the Union Pacific. Because of the Civil War and a shortage of funds, the project got off to a slow start at both ends, and it wasn't until 1866 that things really started moving forward. That year, the Union Pacific Railroad, using mainly Irish immigrants, laid 260 miles of track, followed by 260 miles in 1867, and close to 500 miles in 1868. The Central Pacific using 25,000-30,000 Chinese immigrants, (called "coolies" from the Chinese words for rent and muscle) worked their way east through the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada Mountains reaching Nevada in June of 1868.
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Andrew Russell's photograph of the well known railroad scene |
Rail Travel in the Years that Followed
Following the completion of the transcontinental railroad, passenger train service began five days later from Omaha to Sacramento, with the trip costing $40-111 (immigrant class/first class) and scheduled to take four days. In 1876, in celebration of the nation's centennial, a train called the Transcontinental Express traveled from New York to San Francisco in a record breaking time of 83 hours and 39 minutes. In 1881, a second transcontinental railroad was completed, linking the Southern Pacific Railroad with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad at Deming in the New Mexico Territory. By 1893, the Great Northern Railway marked the completion of the fifth transcontinental line, basically following the original surveys commissioned in 1853 by the government.
Visiting the Site
The Golden Spike National Historic Site is located 32 miles west of Brigham City (about an hour's drive northwest of Ogden, UT). The 2,735-acre park offers ranger programs, films, museum exhibits, an auto tour, and summer steam locomotive demonstrations. Working replicas of the 1869 steam locomotives 'Jupiter' and '119' are in operation from May-October and the visitor center is open year-round. For more information contact: Golden Spike National Historic Site, P.O. Box 897, Brigham City 84302; phone: 435-471-2209.
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Reproduction of the steam
locomotive "Jupiter," built for the National Park Service
for the centennial of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. |
As you travel west from Golden Spike National Historic Site, you can see the Transcontinental Railroad Back Country Byway, which follows the last 90 miles of grade laid by the Central Pacific and interprets more than 30 sites along the grade. It is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Other useful resources:
California State Railroad Museum - one of the largest railroad museum in North America, located in Sacramento.
National Railroad Museum - collects and preserve equipment, artifacts and historical material associated with railroading. Located in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
