The Transcontinental Railroad: The Track that Built America

Well first they had to build the track that built America, but you probably get my meaning.

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[syxxphive]

I’m a machinist in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’ve had the honor of helping to restore the locomotives at Promontory Point. Built wheels, axels, bearings, and other parts for them.

[NickTrouble]

Interesting fast about this railway,
A significant number of people looking for work in nations across the world went to the US to work on this railway.
Even my great great grandfather moved from Greece until its completion, then after its completion moved back to Greece.

[cashgarman]

Great video, and on a related note, would love to see one on the US Interstate highway system.

[evanulven]

Hows the saying go? "Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance, Americans think 100 years is a long time."

[eocoleman]

I love this video. But I would say the trans-continental is far from dead (maybe passenger trains yes), but millions of dollars worth of cargo travels the trans-con every day, and Union Pacific is still a billion dollar company.

[yellowroseproductions]

I went to the Golden Spike National Park on May 10, 2019, exactly on the 150th anniversary of driving the spike. The National Park is on the original site of the driving of the spike, and they even have two full sized working replicas of the original engines that were originally present back in 1869.

[reneejackson]

Have you tried covering the Al-Can Highway? A road built during WW2 through some of the worst terrain Alaska and Canada has for a trail, much less a road!

[clinton]

The trains of the Central Pacific can be distinguished from the trains from the East Coast, since the West had an abundance of trees for their wood burning trains. To keep embers from flying away and causing wildfires, the smokestacks had a big round circular chimney to slow the escape of hot embers, allowing them to burn completely before exiting. Whereas the smokestack on the coal burning trains from the East had a straight pipe chimney for the smoke from burned coal.

[duanetakats]

Great episode.
The Union Pacific still uses many of the lines to this day. It did not go away. New tracks have been constructed and is mostly freight service, but the railroad did not cease to exist because of the interstate highway system. Passenger train service has diminished since then but Union Pacific still operates on the while line. Most of I80 follow the tracks all the way across the country.

[LittleRabbit]

I live in one of the railroad towns in Wyoming, started by little more than a tent city and a saloon. The way the rails have impacted history here is incredible. The original 1868 track is gone, but we still have quite a few lines from the 1880's, and one of the last roundhouses built for engine maintenance.

[Jscribe]

I've been studying railroads for 50 years and I'll give you credit for doing a pretty good job of encapsulating a topic that is far too involved to cover in a 20 minute video. The transcontinental railroad that you characterized today as being mostly forgotten with the exception of Amtrak's California Zephyr trundling along couldn't be further from the truth. Union Pacific runs nearly 100 trains per day on the transcon in central Nebraska, where the largest classification rail yard in the world can be found in North Platte. Millions upon millions of tons of freight roll along the transcon every year. It is double track from end to end, triple track in Chicago and quadruple track in stretches of Nebraska. Oh and, the California Zephyr doesn't ride the transcon until it gets to Winnemucca, Nevada. Prior to that point it runs along its original Burlington Route - Denver & Rio Grande Western - Western Pacific Railway routing before switching over to the former Southern Pacific (nee CP) trackage over Donnor Pass and eventually to Emeryville, CA.
Just thought you'd like to know.

[johnoleary]

Idea for future megaprojects video: the Erie Canal— conceptually this was a precursor to the trans continental railroad in its scope and ambition

[CSMartin]

I get to be one of the few people alive who can say I was there the day the Trans-Continental Railroad was completed. I acted on the TV Series 'Hell on Wheels'. We recreated many of the unfavourable conditions, and yes, some days were truly hellish. From the biting cold, snow, rain, and mud, to the five layers of cotton in 35 degrees Celsius, we made it as real as possible. Although our conditions were not great, I have a huge appreciation for those who really did it.

[slpkenney]

As a person that lives at the "end of the line or beginning": Council Bluffs, IA The history of the Transcontinental Railroad makes very proud of living here and discovering new things about this mega project. Going down to the rail yard and seeing the Golden Spike Monument

[jmincks]

As someone who worked as a conductor for Union Pacific out of Council Bluffs, I can tell you there’s a great deal of pride and nostalgia for what it means to work out of zone 100. From the ice house to the dispatch center, I loved every bit of it.

[stevedietrich]

Simon didn't mention it, but by 1883 that southern railroad through New Mexico and Arizona had been completed, connecting the west coast to New Orleans.

[JohnCampbell-rnrz]

The story of the transcontinental railroad built across Canada & how important it was in the formation of a country from coast to coast is at least as fascinating as the U.S. story. Scandal, corruption, the making & unmaking of governments & Prime Ministers. It has it all. Give it a go, Simon.

[timmeyer]

I live in Nebraska, and there are not a lot of trees here for railway lines, but I bet there would have been fewer crossing across west Texas and the Mojave desert.

Thanks for the video.

[andyattitude]

Thank you Simon for all the work you do. I would like to see a behind the scenes look at all that goes into one of your videos. As many as you host, it has to be a wild ride.All of your videos I have watched have been top notch and professional. On top of that, you let enough of you being human shine through to make it interesting.

[bicyclist]

How about the Mackinaw bridge? It connects the two peninsulas of Michigan. Or even better yet the Millau bridge in France. Its the tallest bridge in the world. Keep up the good work. Thank you.