Transcontinental+Railroad.mdff


 * [[image:transcontinentalrailroad.mdff.gif width="240" height="80" link="Transcontinental Railroad.mdff"]] || [[image:Robber-Barons.mdff.gif width="240" height="80" link="Robber Barons.mdff"]] || [[image:LandGrants.mdff.gif width="240" height="80" link="Land Grants.mdff"]] ||

= TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD =
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 * || ====== The connection of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific bridged the 2000 miles to the Missouri River, and the four to six months time taken by the overland pioneers was reduced to six days. At once the Pacific States were transformed, and Western life gradually caught up with the life and aspirations of the East. ====== ||  ||

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 * A trans continental railroad had been dreamed of as early as 1836. From time to time it was suggested by visionaries and discussed by the orators and newspapers of the ’40s and ’50s. In 1853 Congress expended $150,000 in hunting a feasible route. Surveys were made from time to time. The California Legislature took a hand in the issue in 1855-6, fearing that Congress might relax its energies, and urged a speedy construction of a railroad, but the jealousy of politicians delayed the initiative. Meanwhile short line railroads were developing in the Middle West. Some of these united, and systems began to develop. **======

