Union Pacific & Transcontinental Railroad
Introduction
The First Transcontinental Railroad was built in the United States of America. It was originally known to the people of America as the “Pacific Railroad”. However, this name later on changed to become the “Overland Route”. This railroad was laid down between the years of 1863 and 1869. The railroad was constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad of California. The Union pacific Railroad was also constructed around this period. The eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska was connected to the Pacific Ocean which was at Oakland California by this rail road. The rail road did pass through the Ogden, Utah and Sacramento, California as it connected these two terminus. The railroad thus was linked with the railway network of the Eastern United Sates. This railway network in this region was already existent. Thus, this link up made it possible for the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of the United States of America to be connected for the very first time by a railway network. This railway line became popular in no time and the people referred to it as the Overland Route.
Union Pacific & Transcontinental Railroad in Context
The construction and operation of this railway line got its authorization during the civil war. The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864 gave the go ahead for the construction of the railroad. The United State Congress also supported the idea of the construction of this railroad. They supported the initiative using the 30-year old United States government bonds. This way, the railroad construction was granted huge tracks of government-owned land to lay down the railroad on. Decades had passed with the United States trying to accomplish construction a railroad. The construction of this railroad was thus very important. It was a great achievement for the government of the United States to complete this line and make it possible for the plains to be crossed as well as the high mountains in the Union and Central Pacific. On the 10th of May in 1869, the railroad was opened for public use. This mode of transportation began the journey to revolutionize the economy of the American West.
The ProposalsIn order for one to appreciate the work that the railroad men did, it is important for one to first understand the history behind the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. The history of this great railroad dates back to the period when the first steam engines were introduced in the United States. During this time, the idea of making the railroad appeared to be a dream to most of the construction workers. In 1838, a huge step towards construction of the Pacific Railroad was taken when John Plumbe held a convention to discuss the construction of this railroad. A lot of bills were proposed towards this Pacific Railroad project. The proposals to grant the project tracks of government owned land as well as subsidies was brought forth. These proposals got the congress to believe that this was a dream that could actually be achieved.
The RouteOf all these bills that had been proposed, there was not a single one that did pass. This was because the route for the railroad brought a lot of division in the congress. A route for the railroad could not be decided on. The members of the Congress were split when it came to this decision along geographical lines. The members from the North wanted the northern route while those from the South wanted a southern route. The main issue behind this division was slavery in the “New West”. The “New West” was a really new region. Thus, there was no slavery that was going on in the region yet. Congress thus had a very difficult decision on deciding whether slavery should be legalized in these new states too. In trying to reach the decision, Congress did send out a team of people to investigate and explore the possible railroad routes to California in 1853. California was found to be in need of the railroads because of their poor modes of transport which did hinder the economy of the country. Thus, it was decided that the first railroad would be built in California in 1854. This was the Sacramento Valley Railroad.
The Central PacificBy April of 1861, the construction of the Central Pacific railroad had begun. The construction of this railroad was conducted by Theodore Judah. He was the one who did bring together a group of constructors to form the Central Pacific Railroad Company. The president of the company was Leland Stanford; the vice-president was Collins P. Huntington and Mark Hopkins was bestowed the responsibility of being the treasures. Stanford, Hopkins, and Huntington worked together so perfectly with the help of Charles Crocker, who was the man handling the labor issues. They were known as the “Big Four” of the Central Pacific Railroad. 1862 saw the appointment of Theodore Judah to a very big and significant post. He was given the role of being the secretary of the House and Senate committees. He thus chaired the Pacific Railway Act. In this position, he was able to make the dream of creating the transcontinental railroad a reality.
On January 8th, 1863, the construction of the Sacramento Railroad began. The ground breaking took place and this showed that the work on the Central Pacific had started to take place. Theodore Judah had laid down a route before he passed away. This was the route that was taken; Judah had done a lot of research in the Sierras and had discovered a route that was navigable. The congress finally approved his route and the first railroad in the Central Pacific was constructed along this route.
The Union PacificThe transcontinental railway road also included the plan to construct the Union pacific railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad Company was established in 1862. It was founded in Chicago and by 1863 ground had already been broken for the construction of this railroad. The groundbreaking for the construction of the Union Pacific railroad did take place on the Missouri River bluffs. This marked the beginning of side by side work by both companies in building the transcontinental railroad. The railroad now started showing signs of creeping towards a common meeting point in the United States. The work on the western branch of the Central Pacific Company was however progressing a little bit slowly. In 1865, there was the discovery of silver in Nevada. This drew a lot of labor workers to the region in search of the mineral. This depleted the work force in the Central pacific even further causing the progress to be slower. Thus, Chinese workers were hired and brought to the region to help with the completion of the work.
After a lot of hardship and hard work, the Central Pacific railroad did indeed pass the Sierra Nevada. There was a lot of competition from the Union Pacific in trying to cover the most ground. The Union Pacific was trying their best to be able to build west as far as possible and in a very fast way. The Central pacific on the other hand had resorted to bringing their competition to build eastward in a very fast manner. At one point, the Central Pacific was actually laying down about 10 miles of track in one day. The Union Pacific tried to catch up with the speed of the central pacific but they could not. However, after much planning and engineering, they were also able to set a record of laying down 10 tracks in a day on the 28th of April in 1869. This marked the beginning of a full work course in laying down the Transcontinental Railroad.
The Union Pacific
The transcontinental railway road also included the plan to construct the Union pacific railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad Company was established in 1862. It was founded in Chicago and by 1863 ground had already been broken for the construction of this railroad. The groundbreaking for the construction of the Union Pacific railroad did take place on the Missouri River bluffs. This marked the beginning of side by side work by both companies in building the transcontinental railroad. The railroad now started showing signs of creeping towards a common meeting point in the United States. The work on the western branch of the Central Pacific Company was however progressing a little bit slowly. In 1865, there was the discovery of silver in Nevada. This drew a lot of labor workers to the region in search of the mineral. This depleted the work force in the Central pacific even further causing the progress to be slower. Thus, Chinese workers were hired and brought to the region to help with the completion of the work.
After a lot of hardship and hard work, the Central Pacific railroad did indeed pass the Sierra Nevada. There was a lot of competition from the Union Pacific in trying to cover the most ground. The Union Pacific was trying their best to be able to build west as far as possible and in a very fast way. The Central pacific on the other hand had resorted to bringing their competition to build eastward in a very fast manner. At one point, the Central Pacific was actually laying down about 10 miles of track daily. The Union Pacific tried to catch up with the speed of the central pacific but they could not. However, after much planning and engineering, they were also able to set a record of laying down 10 tracks in a day on the 28th of April in 1869. This marked the beginning of a full work course in laying down the Transcontinental Railroad.
The Wyoming town is very significant in the study of the history of the transcontinental Railroad. This is because it is the point of intersection for the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States. The Union Pacific railroad and the Central Pacific railroad do intersect at Wyoming. This town of the home to one of the biggest railyard and it is also the home to the Union Pacific’s steam program. The location of this town was very convenient for the railroad since it was viable during the winter seasons. The weather conditions in this region during winter are not so severe and thus, the railroad mode of transportation could not be hindered. This is one of the main reasons as to why the region was chosen to be the point of intersect for the railroad.
Before the construction of the railroad across the Wyoming region, most of the land in the area was very worthless. There was nothing good in the region that could have encouraged residents in the area to gladly settle there. However, the introduction of the railroad in the region proved to be very helpful. There were a lot of changes that were brought about to the region by this railroad. The region became more accessible and the conduct of business was improved. In order to understand the impacts that the railroad had on this region, it is important to first of all look at the history in the transcontinental railroad and how it did end up in Wyoming.
The Union Pacific Railroad across Wyoming was constructed between the years 1867 and 1868. This railroad construction was very important to the people of this region. This is because it did open up the state to permanent settlement. The town of Cheyenne got a major boost and this was the start of its revolution into becoming one of the major towns in the United States. From being simple barren plains in1867, the town rose to become one of the biggest hubs for shipping and maintenance of the road. The construction of thus Union Pacific railroad in Wyoming also resulted in the development of Laramie, Rawlins, Rock Springs, and Evanston. These towns rose from being 30 day town railroad camps and became serious business centers.
The urbanization that had been brought by the railroad in Wyoming was also seen in the other railroads such as the Burlington Northern and the Chicago North Western railroads. These regions constructed railroads that also did pass through the northern and eastern regions of Wyoming. The railway towns thus became popular with the emigrants who treated them as their destination points. There were a lot of shipping materials, agricultural products and raw materials that got offloaded in these towns by the trains. The railroad network thus made transportation in and out of the towns a lot quicker and safer for both the freights and the people.
The railroads in Wyoming did have a lot of track to lie down as well as maintain the centers. However, in addition to this, the railroads also had a lot of extensive land grants which they had been given the responsibility of maintaining. The federal government had granted the railroad ten or twenty miles deep on either side of the road the right of way. This was a building incentive by the United States government. On this land that the railroads had been granted, there were regions where minerals such as coal, iron and trona were found during the construction. The railroads did mine these minerals and used them to gain revenue to be used in financing the projects being built.
The Wyoming town railroads hoped that there would be development and settlement along these railroads that they were creating. This would make it easier for them to make profits and thus develop even further by improving their services. The railroads did go to the extent of publishing brochures about the land that had been granted to them by the government. They encouraged people to purchase this land and settle in the region. In the brochures, they did tell the people about the benefits of these regions and offered information on the homesteading procedures, issued advice on how to cultivate crops and rear livestock in the region. The brochures did offer very good and sensational descriptions of the land.
The railroads did not just stop at selling and developing western lands. They also did their very best to promote western tourism. There were a lot of varied landscapes and other forms of entertainment and leisure that were present in Wyoming. These were areas that offered attraction to the eastern residents. Wyoming’s major attraction during this period was the Yellowstone National Park. The railroads thus did offer a lot of tourist special packages to this park. The railroads thus did a lot of work in trying to market their services in the region. This was all in an effort to try and get the town of Wyoming to develop fully. The railroads started to offer very good and luxurious transport.
The railroads continued to offer these luxurious services to the people visiting Wyoming up until the early 1980’s. This was the period when the airplane and the automobile modes of transport did take over completely from the railroads. They offered the railroads a lot of competition when it came to the flexibility and speed of the modes of transport. However, despite this competition, the railroad did actually remain as the preferred method of transporting huge cargos such as the automobiles. It was preferred by most of the businessmen as the largest carrier of bulk freight. This helped in keeping the Wyoming railroads alive. The railroad is still used to date for the transportation of the coal, agricultural products, and other goods to and from the Wyoming town. The railroads are also used in transporting manufactured goods into the state.
Looking at the history and development of the railroads in the United States, it is without a doubt that these railroads did play a very significant role in helping the economy of the region grow. Putting up the railroads was not an easy task and did take a lot of patience. The Wyoming town was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this railroad construction plan. The railroads played a very vital role in bringing development to the Wyoming town. They made it possible for the town to arise from its humble beginnings and become one of the biggest trading centers in the region. The railroads to date still contribute a lot to the economy and growth of the state. The impact of the railroad can still be felt by the residents of the town almost a century and a half later. The railroad history in Wyoming was a huge step towards the industrial revolution of the United States and it is what contributed to what the town is today.
References
Bruce, C. P. (2005). Riding the Transcontinental Rails: Overland Travel on the Pacific Railroad. Philadelphia: Polyglot Press.
Clement, B. (2010). The Classic Western American Railroad Routes. New York: Chartwell Books.
Collins, M.M. (2010). A tale of Building the Transcontinental Railroad. Seattle: Create Space.
Kraus, M. (1962). The Great iron trail: the Story of the First Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Putnam’s Sons.
Maury, K. (1987). The Union Pacific: the Birth of a Railroad 1862-1893. New York: Doubleday.
Wyoming State Archives. (2008). Wyoming’s Railroad History. Retrieved 6 February, 2012 from <http://wyoarchives.state.wy.us/Research/Topics/SubTopic.asp?SubID=3&nav=1&homeID=1>.
