Transcontinental Railroad

The first railway across the United States, completed in 1869 when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks met at Promontory Summit, Utah.

Central Pacific Railroad: A railroad company that built the western portion of the first transcontinental railway from California toward Utah. Its crews began at Sacramento and advanced eastward through the Sierra Nevada.
Pacific Railway Act: A 1862 United States law authorizing federal support for a railway and telegraph line to the Pacific coast. It chartered the Union Pacific and provided land and loans for construction.
Leland Stanford: A California businessman and politician who was president of the Central Pacific Railroad. Stanford represented the Central Pacific at the 1869 completion ceremony.
Time zones: Regions that observe the same standard time, established to coordinate clocks across geographic areas. Railway timetables helped spur standardized timekeeping across the United States.
Cape Horn, California: A steep promontory in the Sierra Nevada where the Central Pacific built a difficult section of railroad grade. The site illustrates the sheer drops and hazardous work encountered on the western route.
Union Pacific Railroad: A railroad company that built the eastern portion of the first transcontinental railway from Omaha toward Utah. Its crews advanced westward across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.
Abraham Lincoln: The sixteenth president of the United States, who served from 1861 to 1865. Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act and selected the eastern starting point at Omaha.
Grenville Dodge: An American engineer and Union general who directed route selection and construction for the Union Pacific. His engineering and management shaped the railroad's eastern advance.
Chinese Exclusion Act: An 1882 United States law that barred Chinese laborers from immigrating and restricted Chinese residents' rights. The railroad's Chinese workforce faced escalating anti-Chinese politics after construction.
Summit Tunnel: A Central Pacific railroad tunnel through the Sierra Nevada, completed in 1868 near Donner Pass. Its construction required extensive blasting through hard granite at high elevation.

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