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Central Pacific Railroad Research Paper

651 Words3 Pages

The first railways were created in England and involved horse drawn carriages that moves along rails imbedded in the street. The English Richard Trevithick built the first full scale steam powered locomotive in 1802, it then proceeded to spread quickly throughout England becoming the quickest mode of long distance transportation. It wasn’t until 1830 that the US first started to develop steam powered locomotive of their own, before that the US had to import locomotives from Great Britain. Subsequent to seeing the immense potential of a railroad industry in America, locomotives and tracks began to be constructed seemingly overnight. As the East grew more connected, the idea to link the East and West by railroad arose, a concept highly disputed amongst Senate and Congress members over things like, if the railroad would be a southern or northern route, thus stalling the passing of a bill to assist rail line companies with the construction of a transcontinental railroad. However, after the South seceded from the Union, Congress decided on the northern route and created …show more content…

They soon became known as the “Big Four”, each played an essential role in the success of the Central Pacific. Croker oversaw the construction of the Central Pacific line and was responsible for the hiring Chinese workers who made up around ⅔ of the railroads work force. Huntington served as vice president of the Central Pacific, Stanford operated a successful mining supply business. Lastly, Hopkins became treasurer of Central Pacific at its founding and remained in that position until his

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