The Union Pacific line did not launch until near the end of 1863. None of these businessmen had prior experience in investing in either engineering or construction. Judah’s interests lied in the West, where he recruited a few rising businessmen to finance the project. The Central Pacific Railroad had already gotten a head start in 1861 but was officially authorized a year later. Luckily, the acquisition of California after the Mexican War paved the way for routes to the West Coast. The two railroads charted for the project - the Central Pacific Railroad of California, which was permitted to build a line east from Sacramento, and the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which would build west from the Missouri River - immediately began a race to the finish. According to the official Union Pacific website dedicated to the railroad’s 150th anniversary, the legislation allotted two rail lines 6,400 acres each, including up to $48,000 in government bonds to assist in the colossal undertaking. Thanks to Theodore Judah’s efforts, the Transcontinental Railroad was finally officially commissioned by President Lincoln with the enactment of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. ![]() In 1861, Judah was able to convince Congress, as well as then-President Abraham Lincoln, to get on board with his plans. In 1860, however, engineer Theodore Judah’s proposal to construct a railroad that would move through the Sierra Nevada mountains would prove more palatable. Throughout the 1850s, Congress sponsored a handful of survey parties to investigate where the route made the most sense, but no consensus was ever reached, according to the Linda Hall Library. New York businessman Asa Whitney proposed a federal funding resolution to Congress in 1845, which would allow for a railroad to reach the Pacific, but it was unsuccessful. Because the journey was dangerous, some even took a six-month-long trip by sea to San Francisco to avoid tricky terrain. Around this time, American settlers were beginning to move west in droves, mainly due to promises of striking it rich in the California Gold Rush. The steam locomotive came to America in 1830, and by the 1840s, there was a real desire for a railroad route that would link the United States from east to west. Read on to get the truth behind this epic undertaking of man and machine. In some ways, its very existence is a representation of the Industrial Revolution itself. ![]() The story of the conception of the Transcontinental Railroad is filled with cases of corruption and crimes against humanity. But progress is never made without sacrifice. There is no doubt that significant progress was made in America in terms of trade, further financial development, and, most importantly, "westward expansion," according to the History Channel. ![]() The railroad was so ambitious, in fact, that it took multiple investors, permission and aid from the government, hundreds of engineers, and thousands of laborers who braved harsh weather conditions, and unethical treatment, to complete it. And upon completion, it forever altered the shape of both business and pleasure by finally providing a feasible means of transportation from east to west. The First Transcontinental Railroad, which was in direct congruence with the Industrial Revolution, wasn’t the first rail line in America, but it was certainly the most ambitious. These days, people are used to instant gratification, where the latest impulse purchase arrives overnight, starting out on one coast in the evening and taking the red-eye to land on the opposite coast by morning. As 21st-century humans, it’s hard to conceptualize relying on the Pony Express to deliver our snail mail, let alone our Amazon deliveries. ![]() Imagine the days before planes, trains, and automobiles.
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