The coming of the Transcontinental Railroad (TCRR), the first communication revolution in the United States. The Transcontinental Railroad was a dream come true for many businesspeople and politicians in America, providing a link for goods and communication from the East Coast to the West Coast. January 1863 – Central Pacific Railroad breaks ground on its portion of the railroad at Sacramento, California; the first rail is … It would take 17 years — and the secession of Southern states — to make that initial idea a reality. The Transcontinental Railroad. Representatives of both railroads take turns driving the final golden spike into the ground during a ceremony at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory. Read Also: (10 Facts about Ragtime) Facts about Railroads 9: the flexibility. The day the Transcontinental Railroad was finished, the workers drove a golden spike to connect the 2 railroads to form one. The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the key accomplishments of its era. The Transcontinental Railroad (pbs) History of the Transcontinental Railroad. TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD. To learn more on this topic, on Saturday, June 22, join a historical talk on the Chinese and their relevance to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, 7-8 p.m., Truckee Airport Conference Room, 10356 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee. The site offers visitors a brief history of the building of the transcontinental railroad as well as information on the history and technology of 19th century railroads. In 1862, the United States Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Acts, a group of acts that would promote the building of a cross-country railroad system. Transcontinental railroad facts history Facts, information and articles about Transcontinental Railroad, an event of Westward Expansion from the Wild West. The Transcontinental Railroad. There are many benefits of using the railroads. The possibility of railroads connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts was discussed in the Congress even before the treaty with England which settled the question of the Oregon boundary in 1846. The Transcontinental Railroad consisted of two parts. See Also: Overviews, American History Index. The first transcontinental railroad is officially completed, as the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines join some 1,700 miles of track connecting to the eastern networks. Resources. The First Transcontinental Railroad in North America was built in the 1860s, linking the well developed railway network of the East coast with rapidly growing California. On May 10, 1869, the last tracks of the United States' first cross-country railroad were laid, making North America the first continent to be spanned from coast to coast by a rail line. In fact, before the transcontinental railroad, the transporting of goods and people was quite a slow and expensive process, which mostly depended upon wagon trains and stagecoaches. At first railroad companies were reluctant to hire Chinese … Violence was a fact of life in the Hell on Wheels towns that followed the Union Pacific's end of track. The transcontinental railroad was built in the 1800s to connect Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the San Francisco Bay and revolutionize transport in the U.S. Table of Content: Origin of the Transcontinental Railroad In the U.S. Social and Economic Impacts of Intermodal Freight Transportation in the U.S. In the mid-nineteenth century, large numbers of Chinese men immigrated to the United States in search of better futures for themselves and the families they left behind. Other articles where Transcontinental rail line is discussed: Canada: The transcontinental railway: With the addition of British Columbia, Canada extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 8 Transcontinental Railroad Facts for Kids. Transcontinental Railroad Like Connections to the Philippine-American War , this assessment gauges students' knowledge of the past. Travel back time and learn about key events surrounding the Transcontinental Railroad, from 1769 to 1889. [] Chief promoter of a transcontinental railroad was Asa Whitney, a New York merchant active in the China trade who was obsessed with the idea of a railroad to the Pacific. Free Video Clips for American History. Two companies competed to lay as much track as possible. Chinese Transcontinental Railroad Workers. Narrator: The first Transcontinental Railroad has been called the engineering marvel of the 19th century and a flat-out swindle; it opened new economies in … Rather than measure whether students can simply recall decontextualized facts, this assessment requires students to make connections across time and construct an argument about how events are connected. The eastern part, the Union Pacific, started construction from Omaha and extended 1,087 miles west. The completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 had a huge impact on the West. Monday, June 8th. Besides the safety, it has high level of energy efficiency, cargo utilization and carries more passengers. Who built it and where was it built? BACK; NEXT ; Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge. Calls for a railroad that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the North American continent began in the 1840s, with the first resolution in support of the as-yet undetermined route passing Congress in 1845. Transcontinental Railroad Trivia . Transcontinental railroad plans The Union was expanding during the 1850s and there was pressure to set up the unorganised territories in the Louisiana Purchase. Transcontinental Railroad Fact Sheet Prior to the opening of the transcontinental railroad, it took four to six months to travel 2000 miles from the Missouri River to California by wagon. transcontinental railroad, in U.S. history, rail connection with the Pacific coast. In 1860, Theodore Judah chose the Donner Pass in northern California as the best place to build a railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Transcontinental Railroad - Free Presentations in PowerPoint format. The first spikes were driven in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. Pros Of The Transcontinental Railroad:     There were many pros to the Continental Railroad  The new railroad made traveling far more efficient Not only did it allow people to transport their goods from place to place, but it now created an appeal in traveling and visiting to … The Golden Spike was struck in 1869, but planning for the coast-to-coast route began much earlier. Join me as we lay down the tracks of learning by covering the basics on the Transcontinental Railroad built during the 1860's. Central Pacific Railroad Company started in Sacramento and continue east across the Sierra Nevada. The Transcontinental Railroad's western leg was known as the Central Pacific, the vision of Theodore D. Judah. It was 1,776 miles long and served for the Atlantic and… The main line was officially completed on May 10, 1869. Facts about Railroads 8: the benefits of using railroads. The Transcontinental Railroad was a major historical event in U.S. history that made coast-to-coast travel much more accessible for people and goods. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies along a continuous route. In 1845, Asa Whitney presented to Congress a plan for the federal government to subsidize the building of a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific. The transcontinental railroad would make it possible to complete the trip in five days at a cost of $150 for a first-class sleeper. The Linda Hall Library Transcontinental Railroad website was created with generous support from the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) Foundation. Transcontinental Railroad of 1862 for Kids and Teachers. Chinese-American Contribution to the Transcontinental Railroad. Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Bill in 1862. It took six years to build the railroad. The Transcontinental Railroad was planned and construction began during the Civil War, which gave northern Congressmen reason to oppose plans for a southern route. Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen. (MI) The Transcontinental Railroad took six years to complete, from 1863–1869. In 1872 an effort… The event was the fulfillment of a great national dream to knit the vast country closer together. Transcontinental Railroad summary: The First Transcontinental Railroad was built crossing the western half of America and it was pieced together between 1863 and 1869. After calling it the Pacific Railroad for a time, this railway system was later dubbed the First Transcontinental Railroad. It also encouraged the development of towns along the railroad, as the railroad made the west less isolated. The Transcontinental Route. To maintain that vast area and to ensure its independence from the United States, it was necessary to build a railway to the west coast. navajocodetalkersadmin on February 23, 2015 - 12:00 pm in Fun Facts for Kids. It encouraged further settlement in the West as it made travelling their cheaper and easier. Transcontinental Railroad: Facts. The acts were officially signed into law in July of that year by President Abraham Lincoln. The road transport is more flexible than the railroad. It made the movement of people and goods possible in a time when travel and transport was difficult at best. This bill allowed Congress to hire two private companies to build a transcontinental railroad that would connect travel by rail from coast to coast. A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders.