Transcontinental Railroad | The Golden Spike | 4

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies faced off in a high-stakes race to lay track across the western United States. Grasping for land, resources, and profits, they pushed their workers to the limit, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown in Utah.

The companies aggressively advanced their track-laying efforts across the western United States, with each attempting to outpace the other.

In the spring of 1868, the Central Pacific began laying track eastward from Nevada, while the Union Pacific was advancing westward across Wyoming. Both railway companies sought to lay as much track as possible; the Union Pacific enlisted thousands of Mormon laborers, and the Central Pacific recruited Chinese workers to push their lines across the treacherous terrain.

The Union Pacific recruited thousands of Mormon workers to rapidly grade track in Utah, while the Central Pacific hired Chinese laborers to construct its line eastward through Nevada.

Thomas Durant and the Union Pacific directors wanted to claim Utah and swiftly contracted Brigham Young, who mobilized 5,000 Mormons to grade Echo and Weber Canyons and blast tunnels in eastern Utah. However, as their outstanding payments were delayed, some Mormon workers began walking off the job in the fall of 1868, but most continued working. Meanwhile, the Central Pacific picked up speed with crew boss James Strobridge doubling his workforce, averaging impressive rates of track laying, even accomplishing six miles in a single day.

Both companies adopted reckless strategies, pushing their workers to the brink and resulting in accidents, shoddy construction, and skyrocketing costs.

Union Pacific crews, led by Jack Casement, also set impressive records, laying down eight miles of track in one day and earning triple pay for their efforts. But the frenzied pace came at a cost — accidents, poor construction, and the use of dangerous explosives like [restricted term], matching the Central Pacific Chinese laborers' risky methods. This reckless advance ballooned the costs associated with the construction.

As the two railroads neared each other in Utah, their executives engaged in heated negotiations to determine the final meeting point.

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads found themselves with parallel grading lines running from the Nevada border to Ogden, Utah. As they approached the disputed finish line, executives from both companies struggled to agree on a meeting point, threatening to delay the railroad's completion until Congress stepped in.

The Union Pacific proposed splitting the difference and meeting halfway, but the Cent ...

The late 1800s were a time of rapid expansion for the American railroad industry, but this growth was marred by corruption, financial instability, and worker exploitation.

The Union Pacific's parent company, Credit Mobilier, was embroiled in a major scandal involving the diversion of funds and the bribery of government officials.

In 1868, the Union Pacific's parent company, Credit Mobilier, distributed nearly $13 million in cash dividends to its members, including Thomas Durant and Congressman Oakes Ames. Charles Francis Adams Jr. exposed the corrupt nature of Credit Mobilier, with an article detailing its members' multiple roles, and highlighting the organization's inherent conflicts of interest.

Despite generating massive profits, Credit Mobilier failed to pay its workers, leading to unrest and walkouts among the Mormon laborers in Utah.

Thomas Durant, having resigned from the Union Pacific following the completion of the railroad, fell behind on payments, causing unrest among Mormon laborers. By January 1869, Durant owed the workers $750,000 in back wages, and despite Brigham Young covering wages to maintain labor, Durant continued to neglect payment requests.

Congressman Oakes Ames, a Credit Mobilier member, was singled out and censured for his role in the corruption.

The Credit Mobilier scandal came to light in 1872, following an investigation by the New York Sun. A committee investigated, interviewing Congressman Oakes Ames. Ames admitted to selling shares to 14 senators and congressmen but claimed these transactions were not bribes but rather favors to friends of the railroad. Despite his defense of the transactions as honest investments, Ames received a censure from Congress and died shortly thereafter. The major players in Credit Mobilier, however, largely escaped consequences from the congressional investigation.

The Central Pacific's construction arm was similarly structured to enable insider dealing and the concentration of wealth among the company's executives.

The Big Four directors of the Central Pacific, including Collis Huntington, amassed va ...

Railroad construction in the 19th century was a perilous endeavor, with crews facing a myriad of life-threatening conditions as they laid tracks across the American frontier.

The Central Pacific's workers encountered brutal conditions as they pushed eastward through the Nevada desert

The Central Pacific Railroad's workers toiled in some of the most extreme environments, particularly as they moved through Nevada's formidable 40-mile desert. Mark Twain famously described this expanse as a bleak landscape dreaded by pioneers.

Crews grappled with scorching heat, a lack of water, and an unforgiving terrain that was entirely devoid of natural resources. They depended on water that had to be transported thousands of gallons daily for themselves and their livestock. The relentless heat and scarcity of water made every day a battle for survival.

The crews resorted to risky measures like using black powder to break up frozen ground, which compromised the stability of the tracks

During the piercing cold of a mid-January morning in 1869 at Humboldt Wells, Nevada, with temperatures plummeting to 18 degrees below zero, the problem of breaking through the hardened earth arose. The Central Pacific's leadership, under Strobridge, chose to tackle the frozen ground with black powder, an approach historically used in tunneling through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Despite concerns that this would compromise the track's stability come thaw, Strobridge decided the risk was worth taking, resolving to simply rebuild if necessary. The outcome was as feared; tracks became dangerously unstable with the spring thaw, leading to frequent derailments.

Severe winter weather in both Utah and Wyoming also frequently shut down operations and stranded passengers

To maintain continuous passenger service in heavy snowfall areas, the Central Pacific constructed wooden snow sheds to cover the tracks. Although these sheds served their purpose, they also introduced new hazards: they were fire traps due to sparks from the locomotives and posed dangers to crews working further east.

Accidents and safety issues were rampant, with a lack of modern safety features leading to many worker injuries and deaths

An absence of modern safety protocols made railway construction a ...

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad marked a significant moment in American history, culminating in a ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah. Here's how the final days unfolded and the lasting impact this monumental feat had on the nation.

After years of bitter rivalry, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific executives finally agreed on Promontory Summit in Utah as the meeting point for their tracks.

By the end of February 1869, both the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific had set their sights on Promontory Summit as a potential meeting point for their rail lines. The Union Pacific was focused on building the Big Trestle, while the Central Pacific pressed on with the Big Fill, with both companies rivaling over the same ravine just 150 yards apart. Charles Crocker of the Central Pacific was determined to outpace the Union Pacific, which was then laying a mile of the track a day.

In a competitive spirit, the Central Pacific aimed to lay an extraordinary 10 miles of track in one day, requiring meticulous planning and coordination. Despite an initial setback due to a derailment after laying two miles on April 27th, the next day before dawn, they resumed their monumental effort. Over a thousand men worked in concert, laying over 10 miles of track in a 12-hour period, an achievement that involved an immense amount of material and labor and was never again replicated. After this record-setting day, only four miles remained for the Central Pacific to complete their stretch.

The Central Pacific set a new single-day track-laying record in a last-ditch effort to beat the Union Pacific to the finish line.

The Central Pacific's goal to establish a track-laying record was successful, effectively preventing the Union Pacific from having the opportunity to try to surpass it. With just four miles left between them and the finish line, the Central Pacific crews had effectively sealed their win in this part of the race against their rival.

On May 10, 1869, the two railroads were ceremonially joined with the driving of the golden spike, completing the Transcontinental Railroad.

The transcript does not explicitly mention the ceremonial driving of the golden spike, but it is known that on the morning of May 10, 1869, a significant ceremony was held at Promontory Summit. Leland Stanford, President of the Central Pacific, attempted to drive the ceremonial golden spike and, though he missed, a telegraph signal was sent across the country to celebrate the railroad's completion. With the Transcontinental Railroad finished, celebrations erupted, with San Francisco firing 200 cannon blasts and Chicago holding a massive parade.

The new railroad trans ...