Central Pacific ChallengesAs the building of the railroad continued, the Central Pacific struggled to keep laborers. The work was difficult and dangerous. In order to keep up with their progress, Charles Crocker, the head of construction, began to hire Chinese immigrants. The Chinese immigrant population had grown on the west coast due to the discovery of gold.They proved to be hard workers, he hired more.
Building through the Sierra Nevada Mountains posed many challenges. Winters provided freezing temperatures. The winter of 1866-1867 included 44 storms. Men were working through about 18 ft. of snow and were camping in tunnels they created underneath it. Avalanche's posed another danger. An entire camp was taken out by an avalanche, including all of its workers. Another challenge they faced was the need to create tunnels through the mountains. Using nitroglycerin, they had to blast through the mountains in a very dangerous manner. On average, they were only able to get through 1 foot of mountain at a time. In the end, 11 tunnels were completed. |
Union Pacific ChallengesAs they built the railroad, the Union Pacific workers faced many struggles with the Native Americans. Bloody battles resulted from the railroad's appearance in these peoples lands. The Native Americans felt threatened by the "white man and his iron horse". However, they fought through and continued to build.
The Union Pacific workers were also faced with another challenge. Many entertained themselves using alcohol and gambling. Saloons and gambling houses were appearing along the track, where workers would spend all of their money and risk their lives with these dangerous activities. |
Challenges of the Transcontinental Railroad
History.com Staff. (2010). Transcontinental railroad. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/transcontinental-railroad
Transcontinental railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3OM_UnnCNM
Tunneling the sierra nevada. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-tunnels/
Workers of the union pacific railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-uprr/
Transcontinental railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3OM_UnnCNM
Tunneling the sierra nevada. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-tunnels/
Workers of the union pacific railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-uprr/