Prior to the invention of steam-powered railroads, pretty much all locomotion had been muscle-powered. You either walked where you wanted to go or
The Transcontinental Railroad’s Last Spike
Today's installment concludes First North American Transcontinental Railroad Completed,our selection from The Union Pacific Railway by John P. Davis
The Two Railroads Race to the Meeting Point
Central Pacific had graded eighty miles to the east that it never would cover and the Union Pacific had wasted a million dollars on grading west of
Life in the Construction Camps
The regular routine of business, dances, drunks, and fist fights met with a sudden interruption.Continuing First North American Transcontinental
Laying Down the Track
The only settlements between Omaha and Sacramento in 1862 were those of the Mormons in Utah, and Denver and a few mining-camps in Colorado and
The First Tracks
The natural obstacles presented by the mountains and desert land, the absence of timber on the prairies, of water in the mountains, and of both in the
First North American Transcontinental Railroad Completed
This series has six easy 5 minute installments. This first installment: The Old West Before the Railroad.IntroductionWhen the United States had
First Commercial Railroad Engine
Today's installment concludes The First Railroad,our selection from The Life of George Stephenson by Samuel Smiles published in 1857.If you have
The Great Competition Begins
The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level piece of railroad, about two miles in length.Continuing The First Railroad,our