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Railroad story fallout 41/30/2024 ![]() ![]() Durant, a medical doctor turned businessman, gained control of the Union Pacific Railroad Company by buying over $2 million in shares and installing his own man as president. ![]() President Lincoln favored this route and made the decision that the eastern terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad would be Council Bluffs, Iowa, across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. They recommended a line that would follow Platt River, along the North Fork, that would cross the Continental Divide at South Pass in Wyoming and continue along to Green River. The Big Four replaced Judah with Samuel Montague and the Central Pacific construction crews began building the line east from Sacramento.Īt the eastern end of the project, Grenville Dodge and his assistant, Peter Dey, surveyed the potential route the Union Pacific would follow. Judah did not live to see the Central Pacific begin work he departed Sacramento for New York a few weeks before the first rail was spiked on October 26, 1863. Though he had made the voyage to Panama and across the Isthmus by train many times, he contracted yellow fever during this trip and died on November 2, one week after reaching New York City. In October 1863, Judah sailed for New York to attempt to find investors who would buy out his Sacramento partners. On July 1, 1862, Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act, authorizing land grants and government bonds, which amounted to $32,000 per mile of track laid, to two companies, the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad.Īlmost immediately, conflicts arose between Judah and his business partners over the construction of the Central Pacific line. Many Congressmen were leery of beginning such an expensive venture, especially with the Civil War underway, but President Abraham Lincoln, who was a long time supporter of railroads, agreed with Judah. Judah used maps from his survey to bolster his presentation to Congress in October 1861. Huntington and his partners paid Judah to survey the route. These backers would later come to be known as the "Big Four." Huntington and his partner, Mark Hopkins dry goods merchant, Charles Crocker and wholesale grocer, soon to be governor, Leland Stanford. Several men decided to back him, including hardware wholesaler Collis P. They began seeking investors and Judah was able to convince Sacramento businessmen that a railroad would bring much needed trade to the area. Judah agreed and he and Strong drew up letters of incorporation for the Central Pacific Railroad Company. The route had a gradual rise and required the line to cross the summit of only one mountain rather than two. In 1859, Judah received a letter from Daniel Strong, a storekeeper in Dutch Flat, California, offering to show Judah the best route along the old emigrant road through the mountains near Donner Pass. The Central Pacific Railroad crossing Dutch Flats. A rail line built along this route would require tunneling through granite mountains and crossing deep ravines, an engineering feat yet to be attempted in the U.S. ![]() He was so obsessed with the idea of a transcontinental railroad that he became known as "Crazy Judah." Although Judah's plan had merit, detractors noted the formidable obstacles along his proposed route, the most serious of which was the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Theodore Judah, a civil engineer who helped build the first railroad in California, promoted a route along the 41 st parallel, running through Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. No particular route became a clear favorite as political groups were split over whether the route should be a northern or southern one. The annexation of the California territory following the Mexican-American War, the discovery of gold in the region in 1848, and statehood for California in 1850 further spurred the interest to unite the country as thousands of immigrants and miners sought their fortune in the West.ĭuring the 1850s, Congress sponsored numerous survey parties to investigate possible routes for a transcontinental railroad. By the 1840s, the nation's railway networks extended throughout the East, South, and Midwest, and the idea of building a railroad across the nation to the Pacific gained momentum. The first trains began to run in America in the 1830s along the East Coast. Interest in building a railroad uniting the continent began soon after the advent of the locomotive. Alternatively, a traveler could hazard a six week sea voyage around Cape Horn, or sail to Central America and cross the Isthmus of Panama by rail, risking exposure to any number of deadly diseases in the crossing. The Pacific Railway A Brief History of Building the Transcontinental Railroadīefore the advent of the transcontinental railroad, a journey across the continent to the western states meant a dangerous six month trek over rivers, deserts, and mountains.
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