1 / 13

The American Railroad

The American Railroad. In 1850, steam-powered ships provided much of nation’s transportation Before Civil War, most railroad tracks were short lines in the East Limitations included: No standard track width Unreliable brakes Lack of standardized signals.

sallyf
Download Presentation

The American Railroad

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The American Railroad

  2. In 1850, steam-powered ships provided much of nation’s transportation • Before Civil War, most railroad tracks were short lines in the East • Limitations included: • No standard track width • Unreliable brakes • Lack of standardized signals

  3. Miles of Railroad Track in the United States • 1840 – 3,000 • 1850 – 9,000 • 1860 – 30,000 • 1916 – Over 250,000 (peak mileage) • Today – 170,000

  4. Transcontinental Railroad • Authorized by Pacific Railway Act of 1862 • Lines already reached west to the Mississippi River • New rails would be laid between Omaha, Nebraska and Sacramento, California • Government incentives were crucial to the tracks’ construction

  5. Why were incentives needed? • Private investors saw no likelihood of profit in building RR beyond line of civilization • Congress believed a coast to coast track would strengthen economic infrastructure • Awarded huge loans and grants to railroads (Pacific Railway Acts)

  6. Central Pacific began laying track eastward out of Sacramento • Union Pacific began laying track westward in Omaha • Most workers were immigrants • Irish workers on Union Pacific • Chinese on Central Pacific • Two sides met in Promontory, UT on May 10, 1869

  7. Land Runs • Beginning in 1889, several “land runs/rushes” occurred • “Unassigned” (surplus) lands in Oklahoma Territory • “Boomers” registered at local land offices, then rushed at a given time to stake their claim

  8. Oklahoma Land Run of 1889

More Related