Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Binding the Nation by Rail
Read about the explosive growth of railroad track across the United States after the Civil War. Find out about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, the men who made fortunes from the railroads, and the first American regulatory...
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: The Postal History of the Pacific Railroad
This site deals mostly with the history of mail sent across the country in the late 19th century.
Read Works
Read Works: Transcontinental Railroads: Compressing Time and Space
[Free Registration/Login Required] Abridged from the full text located at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, this passage provides information about the development of the transcontinental railroad. Paired texts, a text...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Golden Spike National Historic Site
This resource provides information about the first transcontinental railroad, which was built by nearly 30,000 Irish, German, Italian, and Chinese laborers.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: Driving the Last Spike at Promontory, 1869
In-depth look at the ceremony at Promontory Point upon the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The author discusses the preparation for the ceremony, the use of four ceremonial spikes, and what became of them. From an article in...
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr: Lewis Metzler Clement: A Pioneer of the Central Pacific Railroad
Provides biographical information on Lewis Metzler Clement, the chief engineer for the Central Pacific Railroad, who both designed much of the route and supervised construction of the railroad. Includes several primary sources ranging...
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: High Cost and Challenge of Building the Cprr
Contains the text of a Lewis M. Clement's 1887 statement to the U.S. Pacific Railway Commission, which gives a clear and succinct accounting of the costs incurred and the problems encountered in building the Central Pacific Railroad.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cpr Photographic History Museum: Nitroglycerine
Discusses the use of nitroglycerine in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: Tunnels of the Pacific Railroad
This site offers an abstract from Van Nostrand's Eclectic Engineering Magazine from 1870 from a paper by John R. Gilliss. A comprehensive look at the tunnels built along the route of the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific...
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: Through to the Pacific
Contains a series of letters published in May and June, 1869, in the "New York Tribune" written by Albert D. Richardson, one of the first people to travel on the transcontinental railroad from coast to coast.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr History Museum: The Pacific Railroad Open: How to Go: What to See
Contains a guide for travel to and through Western America on the Central Pacific Railroad written by Samuel Bowles in 1869.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr History Museum: Railway & Travel Guides and the Pacific Railroad
Ride the rails in the late 19th century by following these travel guides for railroads across the country. Find copies of the guides showing time tables, maps, and descriptions of the trips.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum: Building of the Iron Road
From an article by B.P. Avery printed in the May, 1869, issue of "Overland Monthly" is this description of the building of the transcontinental railroad including information about the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific...
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr: Completion of the Pacific Railroad
From Chapter 105 of R. M. Devens' 1878 book, "Our First Century" is this description of the building of the transcontinental railroad and the ceremony of driving the final spike.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: Utah's Role in the Pacific Railroad
A chapter from John J. Stewart's "The Iron Trail to the Golden Spike" about Utah and the transcontinental railroad.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr Photographic History Museum: Locating the Central Pacific Railroad
From a book "The First Transcontinental Railroad" by John Debo Galloway, a civil engineer, comes this comprehensive description of the topography of the route of the Central Pacific Railroad.
Other
Union Pacific: Historical Overview
Provides a historical overview of the Union Pacific Railroad under the following sections: building a road, financing, construction, and post-construction.
Success Link
Success Link: Transcontinental Railroad
A culminating lesson plan after the study of building the first transcontinental railroad. Uses as its text Stephen Krensky's book, "The Iron Dragon Never Sleeps."
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Chinese Immigrants and Mexican Americans
Discusses the conflict with Mexican American and Chinese groups as white settlers pushed westward in the nineteenth century. Explains what brought so many Chinese immigrants to America and the roadblocks and discrimination that they had...
A&E Television
History.com: 10 World Engineering Marvels
These remarkable feats of design and construction transformed the ways that people travel, communicate and live. For thousands of years, mankind has engineered remarkable structures such as the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Golden Spike National Park: The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
Short description of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 from the National Park Service.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: North and South
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes how the debate over where to place the transcontinental railroad line - in the North or in the South - began to take shape. It began with...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: The Surveys
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the surveys that were done to determine where to route the transcontinental railroad, and where it was finally built. These surveys provide...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Other Transcontinentals
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the other railroad companies that were competing to build a transcontinental line.