Nothing Like It in the World

Nothing Like It in the World

By

Stephen E. Ambrose

“The men who built the transcontinental Railroad 1863 – 1869”

“Nothing Like It in the World” illustrates what an accomplishment the building of the transcontinental railroad was and what it actually symbolized. This is the story of the building of The Central Pacific and The Union Pacific Railroads and the joining of the East and West Coasts of the United States by rail.

The first major collaborative national project for the United States was the Civil War; the second was the building of The Central pacific and The Union Pacific Railroads. This project served as a model for the combining of government financing, private industry, lobbying, fraud, graft, and the accomplishment of huge endeavors by the United States. A real mix of what was a prelude to government and industry today.

Abraham Lincoln and General Grenville M. Dodge were two of the most influential figures in the beginning and building of the Union Pacific. Lincoln was a nationally renowned railroad lawyer (and, of course a future President) who believed strongly that the two coasts needed to be united by a railroad. Dodge was a future Civil War hero who spent much of the war building and repairing railroads for the Union Army.

Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins were the “Big Four” from the West Coast who laid out their personal fortunes (and risked them) to get the Central Pacific built.

Dodge became Chief Engineer for the Union Pacific and applied military organization to the building of that railroad. He hired many Civil War veterans (officers and enlisted) and ran the company like an army. Military protocol, a huge supply of men available after the end of the Civil War and government backing were major reasons they were able to accomplish their mission.

The Central Pacific would have to blast 13 tunnels through granite before it was over and it all had to be done by hand. The largest tunnel near Donner Pass was 1,659 feet long. They worked in 20 man crews in eight hour shifts 24 hours a day. Three of the men would work at once, one holding the drill, and two swinging 18 pound sledge hammers until the hole was large enough to insert the powder and then ignite it. It was not a refined operation and resulted in many accidents and people being maimed. With this method they were able to penetrate the granite anywhere between six and 12 inches every 24 hours.

The brutal manual labor performed by these Chinese, Mormons, Irish, and ex-soldiers (both Union and Confederate) is described in great detail by Mr. Ambrose.

Before the joining of the two railroads, it took months and cost over $1,000.00 (1860 dollars) to travel from one coast to the other. Within one week of the final spike being driven at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory folks were making the trip in seven days for as little as $150.00 for a first class ticket and $65.00 for third class. Also, remember that while the railroad was being built, telegraph lines were being installed for instant coast to coast communication for the first time. This not only sounded the death knell for the pony express, it opened communications, trade, family visitations, migration, and a host of other opportunities for much more of the population.

Also, what is noteworthy is that for all of the talk of the government bonds being a gift or bad deal, that is simply not true. The bonds were 30 year bonds and by 1899 the government had received $167,746,490 on an initial loan of $64,623,512. Not a bad deal.

There are many other notable precedents and major lasting effects of this project, but too many to mention in this venue. I would recommend that you read the book.