Which railroad reached california first

Harsh winters, staggering summer heat and the lawless, rough-and-tumble conditions of newly settled western towns made conditions for the Union Pacific laborers—mainly Civil War veterans of Irish descent—miserable. The overwhelmingly immigrant Chinese work force of the Central Pacific also had its fair share of problems, including brutal hour work days laying tracks over the Sierra Nevada Mountains they also received lower wages than their white counterparts.

On more than one occasion, whole crews would be lost to avalanches, or mishaps with explosives would leave several dead. For all the adversity they suffered, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific workers were able to finish the railroad—laying nearly 2, miles of track—by , ahead of schedule and under budget.

Journeys that had taken months by wagon train or weeks by boat now took only days. Their work had an immediate impact: The years following the construction of the railway were years of rapid growth and expansion for the United States, due in large part to the speed and ease of travel that the railroad provided.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Louis Blues goaltender Glenn Hall. Jefferson Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of Union General James H.

At the time, it was the largest rescue package ever granted by the U. One hundred and fifty years ago on May 10, , university founder Leland Stanford drove the last spike that marked the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. That event has forever linked the university with the good and the bad the railroad represents.

Just about every California school kid knows the story of the First Transcontinental Railroad, which connected the Eastern Seaboard with the Pacific Coast and was completed years ago this week. Leaders of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad lines meet and shake hands in this iconic photograph taken by Andrew J. Russell on May 10, University founder Leland Stanford completed the First Transcontinental Railroad with a last tap of a mallet on a ceremonial gold spike.

After the connection was made, telegraph messages celebrating the accomplishment went out, launching festivities nationwide. Robinson Professor in United States History. The railroad was also a way of transforming space and time — a transformation that necessitated, for instance, the creation of standardized time zones. As time passed, romantic visions of the First Transcontinental Railroad have given way as hindsight revealed both its good and bad elements. The railroad is credited, for instance, with helping to open the West to migration and with expanding the American economy.

It is blamed for the near eradication of the Native Americans of the Great Plains, the decimation of the buffalo and the exploitation of Chinese railroad workers. Either way, Stanford is forever linked to the First Transcontinental Railroad through its founders, who built the university memorializing their son using the fortune they had earned from the Central Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad.

The spike was later donated to the Stanford Museum, now the Cantor Arts Center, where it is part of the permanent collection. Scholars, including historian Richard White , shared, for instance, that the First Transcontinental Railroad was not an economic or migration boom. The Central Pacific Railroad barely remained solvent. It was, instead, the Southern Pacific Railroad, which eventually took control of the Central Pacific Railroad, that deserves credit for creating economic expansion as it leveraged speed to monetize California produce.

The railroad was incorporated in , most of the financing for the project came from county government in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties following a three-county election in The University of Santa Clara and local industry also playing a significant role in both stock acquisition and placement of the depots.

It was moved to the opposite side of the tracks and joined to an existing freight house in , placing the depot on the same side of the tracks as the town and providing additional square footage. The Santa Clara depot was the oldest continuously operating railroad depot in the State of California until the ticket office was closed in May Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the restored depot hosts a railroad library, model railroad exhibits and a museum and is serving as a railroad depot for Amtrak, Caltrain and Altamont Corridor Express trains.

They did not acquire a boat until , when they began service to San Francisco. The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad built the Alameda in , the first double-ended ferry on the bay. Consolidated into the Central Pacific in August Brannan owned a hot springs resort and real estate in Calistoga.

The track from Soscol to Napa was completed on July 11, Helena on February 27, , and Calistoga on July 31, Helena, Barro, Bale and Walnut Grove. The Central Pacific purchased the California Pacific in The Southern Pacific operated passenger service to Calistoga until and provided freight service on the line until In the track from Napa to St. The Calistoga Depot is preserved as a State Historical Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a plaque indicates it is the second oldest remaining railroad depot in California.

The California Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated in The railroad ran from Sacramento to Vallejo, connecting with a passenger ferryboat to San Francisco. Construction began in Vallejo in December and was complete to Davis in August California Pacific purchased the Napa Valley Rail Road Company at foreclosure in June , which it operated as a branch line, and another branch line from Davis to Marysville.

The California Pacific was sold to the Central Pacific in Following the entry of California into the United States in the number of ships calling in the state increased. August W. Banning's Wharf soon became the center of the shipping industry in San Pedro Bay. Thereafter, Rocklin granite was used for public buildings throughout the West. An extensive rail network, consisting of miles of spur track, was developed to serve the largest of the city's 61 granite mining sites.

In its prime, Rocklin was known as the Granite Capital of the West, and the extensive quarries most likely contributed to the naming of the town. Central Pacific Railroad began operating freight and passenger trains over the first 31 miles of track to Newcastle in June The line began in Sacramento, the railroad's western terminus. But as the railroad continued through the foothills of the Sierras, construction became more difficult.

The "Newcastle Gap" required a bridge spanning about 1, feet long and 60 feet high. Another bridge of similar size was located a few miles away. It took some men with 30 carts and 35 wagons to complete the embankment near the bridge, known as the "big fill. The arrival of the railroad transformed Newcastle. Although the town was located in the heart of gold country, Newcastle became known more for its abundant and varied orchards.

The Newcastle Fruit Growers Shipping and Preserving Association was created in the late s, lending the town the title of Placer County's largest fruit shipping center. Commerce and business quickly sprung up after the railroad's arrival. The post office opened in , followed soon after by a grocery store and boot maker. With its 1,foot elevation and breathtaking view across the Sacramento Valley, Newcastle quickly became known as the "gem of the foothills.

Central Pacific also began construction during the Civil War when labor was scarce. Crocker suggested that the railroad hire these available workers. Central Pacific Superintendent Strobridge resisted. He agreed to hire 50 for a month as a trial. The experiment was an enormous success, and by several thousand Chinese worked on Central Pacific. The Chinese workers' perilous labor played a critical role transforming the country and the communities along the transcontinental route.

Learn more about their influence and accomplishments in a number of profiles to follow. Auburn got its name in by miners from Auburn, New York, who journeyed to the area prospecting for gold. When the gold eventually gave out, Auburn appeared to be headed to a rapid decline. Its arrival created a whole new section of the community.

Due to the area's geography, the railroad was placed about a mile east of the major settlement at the time, Wood's Dry Digging. The city expanded eastward and began to merge with the older part of town and a new railroad depot. Over a two-year period beginning in , the Southern Pacific — which had merged Central Pacific into its system in — double-tracked the area in Auburn, creating an eastbound line and a westbound line. A major trestle was constructed, which now passes over Interstate 80 and has become one of Auburn's most recognizable symbols.

Before it became Colfax, this important railroad town was first called Alder Grove and then later Illinoistown by a group of miners from Illinois. The speaker of the house at the time, Schuyler Colfax, was sent by President Abraham Lincoln to check the progress of the tracks. So charmed were the citizens by his good cheer and oratory skills that they decided to name the settlement after him. The town remained the terminus of the line for more than a year. As the iron rails were winding their way up the steep slope of the Sierra NevadaMountains, large temporary camps were set up to house and feed construction workers, including a large number of Chinese laborers.

It was noted at the time that the Chinese workers did not get sick as often as the other laborers. One reason may have been because they boiled their water for tea, and thus, had little or no cases of dysentery. Their diet also may have contributed to their low sickness rate. Truckee's existence began in as Gray's Station, named for Joseph Gray's roadhouse on the trans-Sierra wagon road. A blacksmith named Samuel S. The Central Pacific Railroad selected Truckee as the name of its railroad station by August , even though the tracks would not reach the station until a year later.

The town purportedly was named after a Paiute chief who yelled "Tro-kay," meaning "everything is alright," when encountering a party of immigrants. Among them was the Donner Party, who assumed the chief was yelling his own name, and the town became known as Truckee. Having weathered two years over Donner Summit, Central Pacific was relieved to finally reach the Truckee staging area in spring Truckee became a major supply stop for both crews and materials needed to extend the railroad into the Nevada desert.

Truckee continued growing and prospering along the Central Pacific line, supporting transportation for a burgeoning logging industry. Later in the 20th century, Truckee became known not only as an entrance to prime logging territory, but as a site for winter recreation and a great Hollywood filming location thanks to its picturesque mountains.

These communities endured great upheaval, surviving in spite of harsh conditions and a changing cultural landscape. This is their story, as told by Tribal members. When you see something that you have never seen before, do you become curious or fearful?

How much do you trust your judgment that your decision to approach is safe?