It’s finally happened! Scientists have created a machine that will allow people to transport to other places instantly! Travelers simply step into a box at their departure site and arrive in a box at their destination within seconds! Cities all over the world have purchased these machines, hoping that it will increase travel and tourism in their areas.

•Where would you travel if this happened?•What would be a positive or negative consequence from this type of technology?

The Transcontinental The Transcontinental RailroadRailroadRailroads had already

transformed life in the East, but at the end of the Civil War railroad tracks still stopped at the Missouri River. For a quarter of a century, men had dreamed of building a line from coast to coast. Now they would attempt to lay 1,775 miles of track from Omaha to Sacramento

Union and CentralUnion and CentralIn 1862, Congress gave charters

to two companies to build these tracks. The Central Pacific was to push eastward from Sacramento, over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Union Pacific was to start from Omaha Nebraska, cross the great plains and cut through the Rockies.

The First Transcontinental The First Transcontinental Railroad Railroad

Why Build a Transcontinental Railroad?Why Build a Transcontinental Railroad?

Growth of West CoastWest Coast gold and silverShorter trip to move WestConnect East with West for

businessSolidify the UnionAchieve Manifest Destiny

Getting Started…Getting Started…Choosing a route

◦ Congress ordered surveys in 1853◦ Debates between north and south about route◦ No free-state politicians would approve funds

for a railroad that would spread slavery◦ Northerners won when South seceded

Conquering the Sierra Nevada◦ Giant, rocky, snowy obstacle for the engineers◦ Found a route through Donner Pass in 1860

The RouteThe Route

Getting Started…(cont’d)Getting Started…(cont’d)

Gaining government support◦ Needed government cooperation, money,

and LAND◦ Government was on board, but occupied by

Civil War

Who will pay?◦ Big Four (Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins,

Crocker) Created and chaired Central Pacific Railroad

◦ Thomas Durant ◦ Ames Brothers

Bought most of the Union Pacific stock

Who Made it Possible?Who Made it Possible?The Pacific Central “Big Four” were Collis P.

Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker.

The Central Pacific Railroad made these four investors some of the wealthiest men in America.

Stanford Huntington Hopkins Crocker

WorkersWorkers In 1865, Crocker, in charge of construction,

found a solution to their work force problem. Besides hiring Irish immigrants who worked for low pay, the Central pacific Railroad employed over 10,000 Chinese immigrants.

Who Made it Possible?Who Made it Possible?Key Players

◦ Theodore Judah◦ Grenville Dodge

◦ Both understood the great benefits of a transcontinental railroad

◦ Both devoted their lives to making sure the plan was carried out

Railroad experts who conducted land surveys, worked with the government, and found investors for railroad

Grenville Dodge

What Made it Possible?What Made it Possible?Pacific Railway Act

◦ Passed July 1, 1862◦ Created Union Pacific to build road from the

East and meet the Central Pacific◦ Provided companies 5 alternating plots of

land on each side of the road for each mile along the route

◦ Allowed $16,000 for each mile of flat land, $32,000 for hills, and $48,000 for mountain terrain

◦ Revised in 1864 to allow companies more land and privileges

Pacific Railway ActPacific Railway Act

The Game PlanThe Game PlanCentral Pacific Railroad

◦Begin in Sacramento, CA◦Broke ground January 1863

Union Pacific Railroad◦Begin in Omaha, NE◦Broke ground in late 1863 but no

tracks laid until 1865Route along the 42nd ParallelMeeting place: Promontory

Summit, UT

Last Spike Driven InLast Spike Driven In

Impact of the RailroadsImpact of the RailroadsBefore the railroads, each town kept

its own time, based on the position of the sun. Railroad companies, however, needed more exact time tables. They devised a system with four time zones – eastern, central, mountain and pacific time. Every place within the same time zone observed the same time.

The Impact of the The Impact of the RailroadsRailroadsIn 1864, George Pullman

designed a railroad sleeping car.

The Impact of the The Impact of the RailroadsRailroads In 1869, George Westinghouse helped make

railway travel safer and faster with the invention of a new air brake. On early trains, each railroad car had its own brakes and brake operator. If different cars stopped at different times, accidents resulted. The new air brake allowed an engineer to stop all the cars at once.

The Impact of the The Impact of the RailroadsRailroadsThe railroads spurred economic growth.

Steel-workers turned millions of tons of iron into steel for tracks and engines. Lumberjacks supplied wood for railroad ties. Miners dug coal to fuel the engines. The railroads opened every corner of the country to settlement and growth.

Significance of the RailroadSignificance of the Railroad

Biggest and best engineering project of its time

Made the country smallerHelped spur interest in Homestead

ActImproved communicationThe beginning of the end for Native

AmericansLed to other transcontinental

railroads and shorter branches

Novinger AreaNovinger AreaLa Plata is serviced by  Amtrak's Southwest

Chief which runs along the BNSF Railway.Kirksville once had two operational

railroads that ran through town.The east-west rail line became known as

the Burlington Northern in 1970 and was later removed.

Kirksville’s other railroad, the Wabash Railroad, ran north to south, and In late September 1997, the tracks through Kirksville were torn down leaving the city without a rail line.

Novinger AreaNovinger AreaNovinger history began at the time

when the Pacific Railroad was extending westward from Kirksville.  John C. Novinger, who owned the farm across which the railroad was to run. At first he objected to it's crossing his farm, but by a compromise with the officials of the railroad he agreed that it could do so, provided a depot would be built on his land and be called "Novinger." 

Novinger AreaNovinger AreaThe station was soon to become

more than a stop on the map.  Forestry was the first industry of the Novinger area.  Railroad ties, and other timber products were loaded on the trains at Novinger and shipped out by the trainload for several years. 

Novinger AreaNovinger AreaThe O.K. Railroad was built through

Novinger in 1878-1879.  The Iowa & St. Louis Railroad was built in 1900-1901.  At one time several coal trains loaded with tons and tons of coal left Novinger each day to markets all over the mid-west.  The financial benefits from the sale of this coal was a major part of the prosperity of the whole area for years.

Novinger AreaNovinger AreaThe railroads had pulled out by

1950, and the last mine, Billy Creek Coal Mine southwest of Novinger, closed in January 1966.

Rombauer Coal Mine Novinger, MO

BibliographyBibliography

Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Build the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000.

Cooper-Winter, Rebecca. Eastward to Promontory. 30 July 2007. CPRR.org. 12 Oct. 2008. http://cprr.org/Museum/Galloway_Judah_ASCE/index.html#006

“Grand TorchlightProcession and Illumination on Account of the Pacific Railroad Act.” San Francisco Bulletin. Vol. 14, Iss. 81, Pg 3. (11 July 1862)

Pictures: http://west.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/pager.php?id=53Map: http://www.tcrr.com/Transcontinental-Railroad-map-wiki.jpg

Let’s Build a Railroad!Let’s Build a Railroad!Look at your index card

◦ Go to the starting point for your railroad◦ Find the workers whose cards have the

same color dot as yours◦ The person whose card is marked with an

“S” is the supervisor

Supervisors◦ Hand out tasks at each stop◦ Read information aloud to other workers

Let’s Build a Railroad!Let’s Build a Railroad!Stop at each city in order

Read information provided and use it to complete the tasks for that station◦ Each task sheet will act as a railroad tie◦ When finished, fold paper in half with

colored dot on top and lay on the rails

After all ties are laid at a station, gather as a group for an “overnight camp”◦ Discuss the questions on your worksheet

for that station

Keep in Mind…Keep in Mind…You do not need to stay at the station

to complete the tasks…use the room!

You will be graded on your answers, so take your time and do quality work

Make sure to lay ties how they are placed on actual rails (Hint: not piled on top of each other!)