8 Railroads (extracts)
8.1 Railroads history
Before 1862, the rail network was only developed east from the Missouri River.
Reaching california was a great challenge for immigrants, the trip could last more than months by wagon trains and stagecoaches were to expensive and unappropriate for families. Most railroad lines joined major waterways. Passengers and freight sevices relied on water transportation afterwards.
In 1862, Congress decided to build the Transcontinental Railroad to conquer the Rocky Mountains.
Train station houses and woodpiles were spaced out about every 15 miles along railroads. Trains speed was about 25 miles per hour in 1861, 45 miles in the 1880s.
The railroad often passed over Indian land and the US Army had to protect the workers.
8.2.1 Saint-Louis-Kansas City (1865)
The Pacific Railroad (1849-1872) was chartered by Missouri in 1849 to extend from St. Louis to the western boundary of Missouri and thence to the Pacific Ocean.
By July 1858 the Pacific Railroad reached Tipton, the eastern terminus for the Butterfield Overland Mail. The combined rail/stagecoach service reduced mail delivery times between St. Louis and San Francisco from about 35 days to less than 25 days. Construction was interrupted by the American Civil War. In late 1864 the company repaired the damaged lines and in 1865, the Pacific Railroad became the first railroad to serve Saint-Louis-Kansas City.
8.2.2 The Transcontinental railroad (1869)
This line was from Omaha to Sacramento
In 1862, Congress provided federal land grants to railroad companies so that they could lay down more tracks. With this free land and tens of thousands of dollars per mile in subsidies, railroading became a highly profitable business venture.
....