The Transcontinental Express arrived in San Francisco, California, via the First Transcontinental Railroad on 4 June 1876, only 83 hours and 39 minutes after having left New York City. The feat was reported widely in U.S. newspapers.
North America's first transcontinental railroad, known originally as the Pacific Railroad and later as the Overland Route, was a 3,077 km continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay.
The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by extensive US land grants. Construction was financed by both state and US government subsidy bonds as well as by company issued mortgage bonds.
The Western Pacific Railroad Company built 212 km of track from the road's western terminus at Alameda/Oakland to Sacramento, California.
The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California (CPRR) constructed 1,110 km eastward from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.
The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) built 1,746 km from the road's eastern terminus at the Missouri River settlements of Council Bluffs and Omaha, Nebraska westward to Promontory Summit.
The railroad opened for through traffic between Sacramento and Omaha on May 10, 1869, when CPRR President Leland Stanford, ceremonially tapped the gold Last Spike, later often referred to as the Golden Spike, with a silver hammer at Promontory Summit.
In the following six months, the last leg from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay was completed. The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West.
It brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive.
More information: Standford
The first transcontinental rail passengers arrived at the Pacific Railroad's original western terminus at the Alameda Terminal on September 6, 1869, where they transferred to the steamer Alameda for transport across the Bay to San Francisco. The road's rail terminus was moved two months later to the Oakland Long Wharf, about a mile to the north, when its expansion was completed and opened for passengers on November 8, 1869. Service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier continued to be provided by ferry.
The CPRR eventually purchased 85 km of UPRR-built grade from Promontory Summit (MP 828) to Ogden, Utah Territory (MP 881), which became the interchange point between trains of the two roads. The transcontinental line became popularly known as the Overland Route after the name of principal passenger rail service to Chicago that operated over the length of the line until 1962.
Congress agreed to support the idea. Under the direction of the Department of War, the Pacific Railroad Surveys were conducted from 1853 through 1855. These included an extensive series of expeditions of the American West seeking possible routes. A report on the explorations described alternative routes and included an immense amount of information about the American West, covering at least 1,000,000 km2. It included the region's natural history and illustrations of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals.
The report failed however to include detailed topographic maps of potential routes needed to estimate the feasibility, cost and select the best route. The survey was detailed enough to determine that the best southern route lay south of the Gila River boundary with Mexico in mostly vacant desert, through the future territories of Arizona and New Mexico. This in part motivated the United States to complete the Gadsden Purchase.
The U.S. Congress was strongly divided on where the eastern terminus of the railroad should be -in a southern or northern city. Three routes were considered:
-A northern route roughly along the Missouri River through present-day northern Montana to Oregon Territory. This was considered impractical due to the rough terrain and extensive winter snows.
-A central route following the Platte River in Nebraska through to the South Pass in Wyoming, following most of the Oregon Trail. Snow on this route remained a concern.
-A southern route across Texas, New Mexico Territory, the Sonora desert, connecting to Los Angeles, California. Surveyors found during an 1848 survey that the best route lay south of the border between the United States and Mexico. This was resolved by the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.
More information: The History Engine
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