1. Railroads

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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