The Railroad affected The United States in its own unique way.

One of the most notable railroads of its time was Union Pacific Railroads' first transcontinental line, "the greatest and most daring engineering effort the country had yet seen." This particular line was built in the mid to late 1860's. During this time period it is said that America had a Railroad Fever. The goals of the transcontinental railroad were varied. The railroad was seen as a new form of transportation for people a, new form of trade, and a more efficient way to help protect the country. The government set aside a land grant to help fund the railroad, but after the high-profit epoch of the Civil War it was realized that it would not be enough to complete construction. The solution was The Pacific Railroad Act of 1864. This Act liberalized the funding available to construction by doubling the land grant and providing for land grant bonds, using the land grant as a backing for finance. After The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 and The Pacific Railroad Act of 1864 all that was needed were workers and a route. Southerners in Congress wanted a southern route and Northerners wanted a northern route. The future of th

e transcontinental was undecided. With the South seceded, due to the Civil War, the North was left to do as it pleased and they chose a northern route, although it was the most southern route possible within the free states. This area was barren and with no urban centers around is was wisely stated that, "Not in all that distance, not in 1,700 miles, was there a single settlement of any appreciable size except at Salt Lake. The railroad would join what essentially were two different countries: California and back East." This would turn out to be a large and expensive endeavor. The Union Pacific Railroad Company would need many workers at an inexpensive price. To bridge the wilderness with rails took six years and 20,000 men, most of who were immigrants from Europe and China. The nearly 2,000 miles of track were all laid out by hand. To this day it is still unclear how many lives were lost in its construction. However by the end of 1865 Union Pacific, (led by Thomas C. Durant- the vice president and general manger of Union Pacific as well as the President of the Credit Mobilier), had only laid out 40 miles of track and spent over $500,000 to do it. Criticism was so bad one paper read "two streaks of rust across the Nebraska Prairie." In order to salvage the fortunes of construction, Durrant placed a new chief engineer in charge of building the railroad. The railroad needed financial supporte

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Approximate Word count = 950
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)