FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, authorizing the federal government to construct a transcontinental railroad linking America’s east and west. The Central Pacific Railroad Company was commissioned to build eastward from Sacramento, California. The Union Pacific Railroad Company built westward from Omaha, Nebraska. On May 10, 1869, the two railroads joined at Promontory Summit, Utah. A total of 1,776 miles of track were laid.
(Drawing by Michelle Yuan, SFSU 2018)