It’s finally happened! Scientists
have created a machine that will
allow people to transport to other
places instantly! Travelers simply
step into a box at their departure
site and arrive in a box at their
destination within seconds! Cities
all over the world have purchased
these machines, hoping that it will
increase travel and tourism in their
areas.
•Where would you travel if this happened?
•What would be a positive or negative
consequence from this type of technology?
The First Transcontinental
Railroad
Why Build a Transcontinental Railroad?
Growth of West Coast
 West Coast gold and silver
 Shorter trip to move West
 Connect East with West for
business
 Solidify the Union
 Achieve Manifest Destiny

Getting Started…

Choosing a route
◦ Congress ordered surveys in 1853
◦ Debates between north and south about route
◦ No free-state politicians would approve funds
for a railroad that would spread slavery
◦ Northerners won when South seceded

Conquering the Sierra Nevada
◦ Giant, rocky, snowy obstacle for the engineers
◦ Found a route through Donner Pass in 1860
Getting Started…(cont’d)

Gaining government support
◦ Needed government cooperation, money, and
LAND
◦ Government was on board, but occupied by
Civil War

Who will pay?
◦ Big Four (Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins,
Crocker)
 Created and chaired Central Pacific Railroad
◦ Thomas Durant
◦ Ames Brothers
Bought most of the Union
Pacific stock
Who Made it Possible?

Key Players
◦ Theodore Judah
◦ Grenville Dodge
Railroad experts who conducted
land surveys, worked with the
government, and found
investors for railroad
Grenville Dodge
◦ Both understood the great benefits of a
transcontinental railroad
◦ Both devoted their lives to making sure the
plan was carried out
What Made it Possible?

Pacific Railway Act
◦ Passed July 1, 1862
◦ Created Union Pacific to build road from the
East and meet the Central Pacific
◦ Provided companies 5 alternating plots of land
on each side of the road for each mile along the
route
◦ Allowed $16,000 for each mile of flat land,
$32,000 for hills, and $48,000 for mountain
terrain
◦ Revised in 1864 to allow companies more land
and privileges
The Game Plan

Central Pacific Railroad
◦ Begin in Sacramento, CA
◦ Broke ground January 1863

Union Pacific Railroad
◦ Begin in Omaha, NE
◦ Broke ground in late 1863 but no
tracks laid until 1865
Route along the 42nd Parallel
 Meeting place: Promontory Summit,
UT

Significance of the Railroad
Biggest and best engineering project
of its time
 Made the country smaller
 Helped spur interest in Homestead
Act
 Improved communication
 The beginning of the end for Native
Americans
 Led to other transcontinental
railroads and shorter branches

Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Build
the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 2000.
Cooper-Winter, Rebecca. Eastward to Promontory. 30 July 2007.
CPRR.org. 12 Oct. 2008.
http://cprr.org/Museum/Galloway_Judah_ASCE/index.html#006
“Grand TorchlightProcession and Illumination on Account of the
Pacific Railroad Act.” San Francisco Bulletin. Vol. 14, Iss. 81, Pg 3.
(11 July 1862)
Pictures: http://west.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/pager.php?id=53
Map: http://www.tcrr.com/Transcontinental-Railroad-map-wiki.jpg
Let’s Build a Railroad!

Look at your index card
◦ Go to the starting point for your railroad
◦ Find the workers whose cards have the
same color dot as yours
◦ The person whose card is marked with an
“S” is the supervisor

Supervisors
◦ Hand out tasks at each stop
◦ Read information aloud to other workers
Let’s Build a Railroad!

Stop at each city in order

Read information provided and use it to
complete the tasks for that station
◦ Each task sheet will act as a railroad tie
◦ When finished, fold paper in half with
colored dot on top and lay on the rails

After all ties are laid at a station, gather
as a group for an “overnight camp”
◦ Discuss the questions on your worksheet for
that station
Keep in Mind…

You do not need to stay at the station
to complete the tasks…use the room!

You will be graded on your answers, so
take your time and do quality work

Make sure to lay ties how they are
placed on actual rails (Hint: not piled
on top of each other!)