8 Facts About Central Pacific Railroad

1. The Union Central Pacific Railroad initially took over the Southern Pacific in 1901 but was forced by the US Supreme Court to divest it because of monopoly concerns.

2. The Western Central Pacific Railroad was originally chartered to go to San Jose, but the Central Pacific decided to build along the East Bay instead, as going from San Jose up the Peninsula to San Francisco itself would have brought it into conflict with competing interests.

3. Many of Union Central Pacific Railroad engineers and surveyors were Union Army veterans who had learned their railroad trade keeping the trains running and tracks maintained during the US Civil War.

4. On December 4, 1868, the Union Central Pacific Railroad reached Evanston, having laid almost 360 miles of track over the Green River and the Laramie Plains that year.

5. The Union Central Pacific Railroad was so slow in beginning construction during 1865 that they sold two of the four steam locomotives they had purchased.

6. From an operational standpoint the Central Pacific Railroad disappeared long ago and existed as a separate corporate entity only briefly before joining the Southern Pacific.

7. The Union Central Pacific Railroad relied mainly on Irish workers, many of whom were famine immigrants and fresh off the battlefields of the war.

8. The Central Pacific Railroad turned to Chinese immigrants, who had flocked to the US as part of the gold rush.