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Construction crews working westward on the Union Pacific encountered rough going when they reached Utah’s Weber Canyon. Trains collection If you built a transcontinental railroad today from scratch, how long would it take, given the regulatory environment of the modern world? Nobody knows for sure, but the best guess is about 57 years. Here’s a […]
Union Pacific trains and ocvered wagons congregate near the end of track at Archer, Wyo., in 1867 during construction westward. Union Pacific 1832: Proponents call for transcontinental railroad 1845: New England merchant and traveler, Asa Whitney begins advocacy for Pacific Railroad 1853: Congress appropriates $150,000 for survey of five routes 1855-1860: 12 volumes of findings […]
A close-up look at Union Pacific ES44AC No. 7906 leading a westbound intermodal train at “Curvo,” a little-known engineering hotspot on the route of the first Transcontinental Railroad. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn Curvo, Utah, is a location on the route of the first Transcontinental Railroad that may be unique in American railroading. A Transcontinental Railroad spot […]
Leland Stanford’s Sacramento, Calif., mansion. Don Cox The Leland Stanford Mansion in Sacramento, Calif., offers today’s visitors a glimpse into the life of a remarkable man — Central Pacific Railroad president, California governor, and founding father of a great university. Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and Stanford all had mansions, but only one […]
Charles V. Mutschler Contributed photo CHENEY, Wash. — Author and railroad historian Charles V. Mutschler, 63, has died. Mutschler, an archivist at Eastern Washington University who had been named interim dean of the university’s library system in 2018, was killed in an auto accident Sunday in Four Lakes, Wash., near Spokane. He had worked at […]
Beyond the raised hat in the foreground, SP’s L. P. Hopkins, Utah Gov. Herbert Maw, and UP’s E. C. Schmidt stand with the just-removed “Last Spike,” undoing 73 years of history. Often called “Promontory Summit,” the location was simply “Promontory” to SP and in the Official Guide. Classic Trains collection Removing the Transcontinental Railroad’s last […]
A northbound Amtrak Acela tiptoes through the turnouts, exiting high-level Track 20, passing K Tower at Washington Union Station. Doug Riddell Author and retired Amtrak engineer and company photographer Doug Riddell (left) and former Amtrak President Joseph Boardman pose at an inaugural train event in 2009. Doug Riddell A friend of mine asked for advice […]
Today, Promontory Summit is home to the recreated Golden Spike Historic Site, home for two replica 4-4-0s: Union Pacific No. 119, shown, and Central Pacific Jupiter. Jim Wrinn Most school children learned that the Transcontinental Railroad was completed May 10, 1869, at “Promontory Point,” where the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific met, and where […]
WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Rail photographer and historian, Alan Thomas, 85, of Woodstock, N.H., passed away Feb. 3, 2019. Not only was Alan a talented rail photographer, he was generous about allowing others to use his work, said Trains author Chuck Bohi. “I met Alan while chasing a B&M train at Bath, N.H., and benefited from […]
Transcontinental Railroad financial troubles After just 18 years of operation, there had been so many irregularities and so much concern over the Union Pacific’s ability to repay its federal loans that in 1887 Congress created the United States Pacific Railroad Commission to investigate the finances and structure of all the major railroads initially described as […]
UP crews built a switchback to reach a tunnel during construction. In many ways, the work done on the transcontinental railroad were feats of ingenuity and engineering. Union Pacific Importance of The Transcontinental Railroad In the 1850s, major railroad projects were viewed as projects for the public good, in much the same way we justify […]
Golden Spike National Historical Park is the new designation for the site at Promontory Summit, Utah. Trains: Jim Wrinn WASHINGTON — Federal legislation has changed the status of perhaps the most significant railroad historical site in the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a sweeping public lands bill on Tuesday. The bill, […]
