Railroads

Pacific Railway Act transcontinental Railroad Union Pacific Central Pacific Greenville Dodge Civil War Vets Ex-convicts Cooks Adventurers Irish Immigrants 1086 miles of track Leland Stanford Hired workers from China Paid $1/day 688 miles of track

Time to Complete Railroad 4 years to complete Transcontinental Railroad Each mile required specific materials 400 rails per mile Each rail required 10 spikes Stimulated the economy People spent money on steel, coal, timber, and other materials

May 10, 1869 Promontory Summit, Utah 5 gold and silver spikes were hammered into the tracks to join the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads Leland Stanford put in the last spike Celebrations around the nations happened In New York cannons blasted In Chicago there was a parade In Philadelphia they rang the Liberty Bell

Cornelius Vanderbilt Merged 3 small New York railroads to form New York Central 1871 started building Grand Central Station 1st direct line from NYC to Chicago

Time Zones 4 times zones Federal Government ratified in 1918 Eastern Central Mountain Pacific Federal Government ratified in 1918 Created to avoid railroad accidents

Robber Barons People who loot an industry and give nothing back Land Grants Railroads sold land to settlers, real estate companies, and other businesses to raise money to build the railroads Railroad companies were given 120 million acres of public land Accused of swindling investors, bribing officials, and cheating on their contracts

Credit Mobiler Scandal Construction companies set up several stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad People owned both the construction company and stocks in the railroad Sold contracts to themselves and the railroad paid Millions were made by the investors Railroad was near bankrupt Congress was sold shares of stock Oakes Ames-Member of Congress Sold Shares to congress for less than Market Value

James J. Hill Built the Great Northern Railroad From Wisconsin to Minnesota in the East and to Washington in the West Offered low fares to people that lived along route Planned routes to be near homesteads Did not use Federal Land Grants Sent supplies to the west that would go to Asia Supplies went both ways Most successful Transcontinental Railroad Only Railroad to not go bankrupt