Engineering Wonders of the World. Vol. III

Date

c. 1908

Identifier

Webber Collection

Type

Publisher

London: Thomas Nelson and Sons

Abstract

Before completion of the first American Transcontinental Railroad in May 1869, options for travelling from the East Coast to the West Coast of America were limited and dangerous. In 1863, work began simultaneously on the railroad in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in Sacramento, California. Tracks were laid through the plains of Nebraska, over the Rocky Mountains, into Utah, across the Nevada desert, over the Sierra Mountains, and into Sacramento. Three private companies were paid a minimum of $16,000 US per mile, dependent on the terrain. The total cost at the time was $115 million. The images here show some parts of the life of a Transcontinental railroad worker.

Files

Cab 17-0001.jpg

Citation

Edited by Archibald Williams, “Engineering Wonders of the World. Vol. III,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed March 29, 2024, https://otago.ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/11403.