Category Archives: Central Pacific
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
In February 1869, both the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad were stymied in their race to be first to Ogden, Utah, by fierce snowstorms. In Wyoming, the Union Pacific’s 90-mile line between Rawlins Springs and Laramie was … Continue reading
A Reader’s Question
Recently a reader asked me why and how I wrote The Iron Horse Chronicles. I decided to share my answer with all the readers of this website. The idea for The Iron Horse Chronicles first came to me in 2006 when … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
The following was originally posted on January 9. It did not get distributed to various social media sites with which I share my posts, so I’ll repost it. In January 1869, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., grandson and great-grandson of U. … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
The following was originally posted on January 9. It did not get distributed to various social media sites with which I share my posts, so I’ll try again. In January 1869, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., grandson and great-grandson of U. … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
Both the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad hoped to beat their competitor to the opposite border of Utah from where they would enter the state in order to maximize the amount of government bonds they could claim. … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
Orville Hickman Browning, Secretary of the Interior during the Andrew Johnson administration, had the responsibility of issuing government bonds used to finance the building of the first transcontinental railroad. Browning had earlier completed the senatorial term of Stephen A. Douglas, … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
During October 1868, the Union Pacific contract workers, under the direction of General Jack Casement, increased the pace at which they laid track. The typical rate averaged two to three miles per day, occasionally five. On October 26, however, they … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
In September 1868 both the Union Pacific and Central Pacific had departed the high mountains and were building across relatively level but difficult terrain. In Wyoming, the UP worked to cross the Red Desert between the two continental divides—one west … Continue reading
On the Railroad 150 Years Ago
One hundred fifty years ago, in August 1868, the Union Pacific Railroad’s tracks in Wyoming extended almost seven hundred miles west from Omaha, Nebraska. End of track was now thirty miles beyond the new bridge over the North Platte River … Continue reading
Railroad History Reviews Golden Spike
Railroad History reviewed Golden Spike, The Iron Horse Chronicle–Book Three, in its Fall-Winter 2017 issue. Robert Butler wrote the review. Mr. Butler reviewed Eagle Talons and Bear Claws in previous issues of Railroad History. One of his closing sentences in … Continue reading
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