The Transcontinental Railroad Race

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act. It signified the green light for the production of the Transcontinental Railroad: a railway that runs from the Mississippi River through the Pacific Ocean. The incentives were enticing, as generous bonds and land grants were given to each respective company for each mile of track they laid down. There was a goal that the final meeting place would be near the middle of where the two companies began: Utah. What ensued was essentially a race between the Central Pacific Railroad Company- the one from California- against the Union Pacific- the one from Missouri.

The Union's route would start at the edge of Missouri, go through Nebraska and Wyoming, and finally end in Utah. The main investor for the Union Pacific was Thomas Clark Durant, who would become the Vice President of the company. They would make good progress until they ran into the Native Americans.








On the other side was the Central Pacific Railway. It was lead by the governor of California Leland Stanford. The Central's route would start in California, then go through Nevada and finish in Utah. Although from a geographical standpoint it seemed like the Central had much less ground to cover, they had other factors they had to deal with. The Central had it found completing construction quickly difficult because because it had to deal with the treacherous Sierra Nevada Mountains. To get through this, the state found immigrant works- mainly Chinese workers- expendable and sent them to work in blasting through mountains.








The Aftermath:
When the Union and the Central started to approach each other in January 1868, both sides were exhausted. They agreed to meet at Promontory Summit, Utah. The union of the two railroads would be official after Stanford drove in the final golden spike. By the time both companies finished construction, they were hard pressed for money. Between the two the Union Pacific was in more need, though. The tactics were scrutinized by the Public and Press, and the quality of the railroads was below standard. In terms of distance, the Central built far more- 1,000 mile as compared to 700 miles for the Union. The problem was that the Union, although called "Transcontinental", only reached from the far west to the central, not exactly the east of the United States.

Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-race/