Transcontinental Railroad

This famous photograph commemorated the meeting of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads. Although most of the workers who constructed the Central Pacific Railroad (coming from the west) were Chinese, they were excluded from the photograph of the festivities.

On May 10, 1869, a jubilant ceremony was held at Promontory Point in what is now Utah, to mark the completion of the nation's first transcontinental railroad. A golden spike was driven into the rails as a symbol of accomplishment.

This accomplishment contributed enormously to the growth of the American West. With the new railroad, a journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific could be done in about one week. Previously, the trip required several months.

Nearly 12,000 Chinese Americans (mostly from California) helped build the Transcontinental Railroad.

Working Conditions

Irish immigrants working on the Union Pacific line.

Chinese immigrants working on the Central Pacific line.

Railroad workers faced long, hard days and severe racism.

The backbreaking work of clearing and leveling the track, carrying heavy loads of rails and rocks, and hammering in the 10-inch spikes would begin before sun up and last into the night.

In the need to finish quickly, safety was secondary. Accidents, explosions, and even catastrophic loss of human life were expected.

Timeline of 19th Century Chinese-American Immigration

1815 – Chinese were present in California, then a northern province of Mexico

1835 – Earliest known Chinese living in New York City

1848 – Gold is discovered in California

1851– Approximately 14,000 Chinese arrive in California

1863-64 – Approximately 10,000 Chinese men are recruited to work on the Transcontinental Railroad. Railroad completed one year ahead of schedule in 1869.

The companies faced overwhelming challenges in the transportation of materials; the engineering feats of crossing gorges, rivers, and mountains; and fending of attacks by Native Americans. Another problem was a lack of laborers in sparsely populated areas. The company that had the biggest muscle power would win: the more men the company could employ, the faster the rails could be laid.

American workers were few because of the isolated location of the tracks. The Central Pacific Railroad, moving the track east, recruited Chinese workers out of California. The Union Pacific, moving the track west, was primarily manned by Irish immigrants.

On May 10, 1869, the final tracks were laid joining the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. The legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad is the transformation of the American frontier and the establishment of communities in the western United States.

Historical Context

Transcontinental Railroad

The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in six years. It took thousands of workers enduring harsh living conditions and a dangerous work environment to lay over 1,700 miles of track. The work completed the line from Nebraska to California, connecting the East Coast to the West Coast for the first time in American history. The achievement has been deemed as one of the greatest accomplishments of the American people in the nineteenth century.

The Transcontinental Railroad was completed because of the convergence of multiple historical events. Events in Ireland and China had driven young men from these two countries to immigrate to the United States, providing a large workforce seeking employment. On the national stage, the promise of land and fortune lured more pioneers west, which in turn spurred the need for goods and created economic pressures to find a fast way to transport those goods.

Need, engineering talent, and workforce brawn made the railroad possible. Yet in the construction of the railroad, time was the enemy. The national government went into action and passed the Pacific Railroad Act, stating that the Transcontinental Railroad was to be built as quickly as possible. It was also to be built as a race, with the greatest profits given to the company that laid the tracks the fastest.

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