Some people said it could never be done; yet here we are with a railroad that stretches across America. Between 1800 and 1825, the only ways to travel were on dirt roads and natural waterways, which usually took about four or more months to complete a trip there. Raw materials traveled from coast to coast on wagons, horses, river ferries, or small boats. These long distances and slow transportation caused people to think of a new way to travel. The Transcontinental Railroad built over 150 years ago, improved transportation and has inspired people to create new inventions and take one step into the future. In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Company asked the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies to build a transcontinental railroad to stretch from the east to west coast in the United States. The northern states favored a northern route, while the southern states favored a southern route, making it difficult to decide where the tracks should be laid. After many debates, The Union allowed Congress to select a route running through Nebraska to California. When the place to build was settled, some deals with both companies were agreed. The Union Pacific had to build their tracks westward from Omaha to Sacramento, and the Central Pacific had to build their tracks eastward to Sacramento. For every mile of track built, each company …show more content…
The building of the Transcontinental Railroad attracted many former soldiers, both from the Union and the Confederate. The idea of new jobs also brought Irish and Chinese immigrants, who wanted to move to a new country to start a new life. 50,000 Chinese people were hired by Charles Crocker because they seemed to be tireless workers and did more work than American workers but for less pay. The hard part about building a transcontinental railroad was that the tracks had to have tunnels through mountains, bridges over rivers, and the wilderness had to be