First Transcontinental Railroad

The modern train runs on diesel fuel.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

There is no "clickety-clack" on continuous welded rail (CWR). Continuous welded rail is layed in 1320' lengths (a quarter mile). Every quarter mile, one weld is required to bond these two ribbons together, on and on it goes. As far as buckling goes, you're on the right track (pun intended). Expansion, contraction and compression are the three major factors that keep me employed as a railroad worker. In high temperatures, we'll get "kinks" in the track that (I have seen) throw the tracks out of alignment up to 3 feet within a 50-foot distance. The rail looks like a piece of spaghetti. In the winter when the steel contracts, the rail will pop like a cannon and leave up to a 3" to 16" gap. Rail anchors help signifigantly reduce these effects. Anchors are the reason you don't see many "buckles" or rail breaks.

In an ideal world, the air temperature is measured over an extended period of time. Given the temperature range, the track will expand a predetermined amount and will retract a predetermined amount. The whole system of anchors, ballast(rocks) and ties prevents the track from buckling. The idea is that an anchor has a set amount that it will hold, the tie has a set amount it will hold, and the ballast surrounding the tie will hold a set amount. By adding up the retaining force of anchors, ties, and ballast, new rail is stretched or heated to the point where track buckles should not occur.

That being said, there there are many factors which can affect the holding force of the track. Including abnormally high or low temperatures, human error, train braking, age of anchors, condition of ties, etc., etc.

A link is provided to the Wikipedia article on continuous welded rail.

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Railroad companies acquired land for railroads primarily through federal land grants. In the 19th century, the U.S. government granted large tracts of land to railroad companies to encourage westward expansion and infrastructure development. These grants often included adjacent land parcels, allowing the companies to sell or develop the land to fund construction. Additionally, some land was obtained through negotiations or purchases from private landowners.

the pacific railroad act helped fund the building of the railroad and it gave the railroad company land.

The two companies that worked on the transcontinental railroad were the Union Pacific and Central Pacific. The Union Pacific started at Omaha and the Central started in CA.

They didn't

The Transcontinental Railroad created a nationwide transportation network that united the United States. This network replaced the wagon trains of previous decades which became useless. It allowed for the transportation of larger quantities of goods over longer distances. This was especially helpful for the industrial north at the time.

While the nation was still divided due to the Civil War, the transcontinental railroad helped unify the nation, eventually making it a super power. Commerce increased between the states allowing over 50 million dollars worth of cargo to be shipped every year from 1869-1879. Goods from Asia and raw materials from the West were shipped to the East faster than ever. The West began to catch up with the Eastern way of life as many more people could now move west and the products of the manufacturing boom were shipped to the West.

A train route across the United States, finished in 1869. It was theproject of two railroad companies: the Union Pacific built from theeast, and the Central Pacific built from the west. The two lines metin Utah. The Central Pacific laborers were predominantly Chinese,and the Union Pacific laborers predominantly Irish. Both groupsoften worked under harsh conditions.

1869

100 years before the lunar landing.

The Federal government paid the two railroad companies that built it by granting them sections (one square mile) on alternating sides of any tracks that they built. The railroad companies could do whatever they wanted with this land and often sold it off.

Many other western railroads were later funded the same way.

It was difficult because of the harsh weather conditions and because of geography. Since it was really bad snow then the workers had to work harder. Geography because of the mountains they had to make holes in the mountains to let the train go through but they had to make sure it would not caluple.

Was built by hand by the Irish, Chinese, Settlers, and many others.
Two companies were granted contracts to build the railroad: the Union Pacific started at Omaha and went west, while the Central Pacific started in California and went east. As incentive, the companies were granted land on either side of the right-of-way, which they could then sell. The more track they built, the more land they could claim, so it was essentially a race. The two lines met in northern Utah in 1869.

The expansion of railroads spurred America's industrial growth in a variety of ways. The American railroads transported things around faster, it called for more steel and other necessities, which forced the factories to grow, and they populated and "civilized" the West.

To reduce the growth of weeds and for drainage. Also:

* It enables water to drain from the track

* It assists in helping control the thermal expansion of continues welded rail * As a train passes the rails it supports the train * it distributes the weight of the train from the track structure to the subgrade * maintains a smooth running surface for the train to run on

For all practical purposes, Senator Stephen Douglas believed his home State, Illinois was the logical place for a transcontinental railroad to begin, and open up the western frontiers for development. His idea, aside from "pork barreling", had some merit. Chicago had grown into a major city for manufacturing. Its location on Lake Michigan, and the fact that farm products were nearby, made Chicago a good place to begin a new railroad. Product transportation between Chicago's waterway route, Lake Michigan combined with a major rail route to the West, would create an economic dynamic.

It is basically just Morse Code.

In the US, the dream of a coast to coast railway began early in the 19th century. The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 from Mexico was based on the idea that from New Orleans, the railroad would reach California. As it happened, the US Civil War stopped any progress on the railroad. But in 1869, the so-called Golden Spike was hammered down at Promontory Point, Utah.

Temperature, hygiene, hunger

what is it worth

Nationally famous and influential Senator Stephen A. Douglas sought to have the transcontinental railroad from his state of Illinois to San Francisco. Illinois' largest city and best place to send cattle from the West was Chicago. Douglas did his best, however the US Civil War, caused the plan to falter and Douglas died before the war ended.

A telegrapher is a person who operates a telegraph, a device that transmits messages over long distances using electrical signals. The telegrapher played a crucial role in the operation of the transcontinental railroad, as the telegraph allowed for real-time communication between stations, enabling better coordination of train schedules and enhancing safety. This communication technology was essential for managing the complexities of long-distance rail operations, particularly during the rapid expansion of the railroad in the late 19th century.