The great race begins
The muscle behind the mountain
Engineering the impossible
The golden spike and its aftermath
YOUR GOAL
Master of How iron rails and steam engines united America
olivia_learns The financial race to build the first American transcontinental railroad.
olivia_learns The railroad construction race between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific.
olivia_learns Workers lay iron tracks directly onto frozen ground along a sharp curve
olivia_learns Two glowing rail lines advance from opposite ends of a dark holographic map.
olivia_learns Lay tracks across the continent to learn how the transcontinental railroad stitched America together.
Central Pacific founders: The wealthy 'Big Four' investors started their historic railroad empire with a combined investment of just $11,500.
Crossing or extending across a continent. In 1863, the Central Pacific broke ground in Sacramento to begin construction of the historic line.
Which United States President signed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 into law?
olivia_learns President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law.
olivia_learns Theodore Judah mapped the Sierra Nevada mountains for a new railroad.
Why did the US government want a transcontinental railroad during the Civil War?
How did the US government financially incentivize the two railroad companies to build faster?
Who was the obsessive surveyor who mapped the Central Pacific's route through Donner Pass?