Central Pacific Railroad Company
CP, building east from Sacramento, faced the monumental task of crossing the Sierra Nevadas. All engines and rails had to be shipped to California around Cape Horn.
Accomplishments
Snow Sheds
"Shivering in the keen, frosty air near the summitpass of the Sierras, we entered the " snow-sheds," wooden galleries, which for about fifty miles shut out all the splendid views of the region, as given it dioramas, not even allowing a glimpse ... One of these sheds is twenty-seven miles long."
Isabella Bird, A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains, 1873.
(Photo, Utah State History, A J Russell)
Constructing Cape Horn, California
"The light of the sinking sun from that time glorified the Sierras, and as the dew fell, aromatic odours made the still air sweet. On a single track, sometimes carried on a narrow ledge excavated from the mountain side by men lowered from the top in baskets, overhanging ravines from 2000 to 3000 feet deep, the monster train snaked its way upwards, stopping sometimes in front of a few frame houses at others where nothing was to be seen but a log cabin with a few Chinamen hanging about it, but where trails on the sides of the ravines pointed to a gold country above and below. So sharp and frequent are the curves on some parts of the ascent, that on looking out of the window one could seldom see more than a part of the train at once. At Cape Horn, where the track curves round the ledge of a precipice 2500 feet in depth, it is correct to be frightened, and a fashion of holding the breath and shutting the eyes prevails, but my fears were reserved for the crossing of a trestle-bridge over a very deep chasm, which is itself approached by a sharp curve."
Isabella Bird, A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains, 1873.
(Image: Horace Baker, Bancroft Library).
Tunnels
(Photo, Utah State History)
The Secret Town Trestle
"The great curved trestle at Secret Town was the largest structure of its kind on the railroad. In this photograph, which shows the Chinese laborers bringing a never ending supply of dirt from the mountainside, the trestle is being filled in to eliminate the fire hazard and avoid replacement of the aging timbers."
(Photo and Caption, National Park Service Archive)
Ten Miles of Track in One Day
A still-standing record.
(Photo, Utah State History)
People of CP
The Big Four, and Judah
The big four were investors who founded the CP.
(Photo, Sierra College Geography)
(Photo, Sierra College Geography)
Theodore Judah
"Theodore Judah, the Central Pacific’s Chief Engineer, was obsessed with finding a railroad route over the Sierra. Tirelessly, he surveyed potential routes and lobbied Congress for government support. Eventually, Judah met “Doc” Strong, a druggist in Dutch Flat, who showed him an essentially unbroken ridgeline between the foothills and Emigrant Gap. The line that they surveyed became the route of the Central Pacific railroad. On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln had signed the Pacific Railroad Bill, and Judah sent a telegram to his associates: We have drawn the Elephant, now let us see if we can harness him up."
(Photo and caption, U.S Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest)
(Photo and caption, U.S Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest)
Construction Timeline
(Map, Union Pacific Railroad Company)
This map shows the predicted route of both railroads. CP, faced with many obstacles, didn't get as far as shown. (Map, Denver Public Library, CG4050 1867 .R5)
Sir Wilfred Laurier's Jig / Gordon's Trip to Sydney / Kohler's Jig / Miss Sophia Campbell. Cape Breton Tradition. Buddy MacMaster. 2003.
Copyright © Rounder Records Corp.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Copyright © Rounder Records Corp.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.