Editing First transcontinental railroad (section)

{{Short description|First U.S. railroad connecting the Pacific coast and Eastern states}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width                       = 250
| name                            = '''First transcontinental railroad'''
| other_name                      = Pacific Railroad
| native_name                     =
| native_name_lang                =
| color                           =
| logo                            =
| logo_width                      =
| logo_alt                        =
| image                           = East and West Shaking hands at the laying of last rail Union Pacific Railroad - Restoration.jpg
| image_width                     = 250
| image_alt                       =
| caption                         = The ceremony for the driving of the<br /> [[Golden spike|"Last Spike"]] at [[Promontory Summit, Utah]],<br /> May 10, 1869
| type                            =
| system                          =
| status                          =
| locale                          = United States
| start                           = [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]]<br />{{small|([[Omaha, Nebraska]])}}
| end                             = [[Alameda Terminal]], starting September 6, 1869; [[Oakland Long Wharf]], starting November 8, 1869<br />{{small|([[San Francisco Bay]])}}
| stations                        =?
| routes                          =
| daily_ridership                 =
| ridership2                      =
| planopen                        = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=Z}}-->
| open                            = {{Start date and age|1869|05|10}}
| yearcommenced                   = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}-->
| yearcompleted                   = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}-->
| close                           = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}-->
| event1label                     =
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| event3                          =
| owner                           = [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]]
| operator                        = [[Central Pacific Railroad|Central Pacific]]<br />[[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]]
| character                       =
| depot                           =
| stock                           =
| linelength_mi                   = 1912
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| tracks                          =
| gauge                           = {{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
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| map                             = [[File:Transcontinental railroad route.png|alt=First transcontinental railroad route map|250px]]<br />1863–1869: Union Pacific built west (blue line), Central Pacific built east (red) and Western Pacific built the last leg (green)
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| map_state                       = uncollapsed
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}}
America's '''first transcontinental railroad''' (known originally as the "'''Pacific Railroad'''" and later as the "[[Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)|Overland Route]]") was a {{convert|1,911|mi|km|adj=on}} continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]], with the Pacific coast at the [[Oakland Long Wharf]] on [[San Francisco Bay]].<ref>Vernon, Edward (Ed) "Travelers' Official Railway Guide of the United States and Canada" Philadelphia: The National General Ticket Agents' Association. June, 1870, Tables 215, 216</ref> The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by extensive [[Land grant#Public lands and bounty-land warrants|U.S. land grants]].<ref name="Pacific Railroad Act;1">Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, §2 & §3</ref> Building was financed by both state and U.S. government subsidy bonds as well as by company-issued mortgage bonds.<ref name="Pacific Railroad Act;2">Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, §5 & §6</ref><ref name="First Mortgage Bonds">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Bond_Adv_CPRR_1867.html |title=First Mortgage Bonds of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1867. |website=www.cprr.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126044548/http://cprr.org/Museum/Bond_Adv_CPRR_1867.html |archive-date=2019-01-26 |url-status=live |access-date=2019-01-26}}</ref><ref name="$1,000 Pacific Railroad Bond">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/Pacific_RR_Bond_SF.html |title=CPRR Ephemera and Collectibles – $1,000 Pacific Railroad Bond, City and County of San Francisco, June 24, 1864 |website=www.cprr.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126045008/http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/Pacific_RR_Bond_SF.html |archive-date=2019-01-26 |access-date=2019-01-26|url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|The total value of the thirty year 6% US Government subsidy bonds issued to the three companies was $55,092,192 and the amount of federal lands specified by Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864 to which the UPRR, CPRR and WPRR were entitled was {{convert|21,100,000|acres|abbr=off}} of which {{convert|2,391,009|acres|abbr=off}} had been patented as of March 1876.<ref>"Report on the Pacific Railroads", US House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, House Ex. Doc. #440, 44th Congress, First Session, April 25, 1876, pp. 3, 6</ref>|group=N}} The [[Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)|Western Pacific Railroad Company]] built {{convert|132|mi|km|abbr=out}} of track from the road's western terminus at [[Alameda, California|Alameda]]/[[Oakland, California|Oakland]] to [[Sacramento, California]]. The [[Central Pacific Railroad|Central Pacific Railroad Company of California]] (CPRR) constructed {{convert|690|mi|km|abbr=out}} east from Sacramento to [[Promontory Summit, Utah|Promontory Summit, Utah Territory]]. The [[History of the Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific Railroad]] (UPRR) built {{convert|1085|mi|km|abbr=out}} from the road's eastern terminus at the [[Missouri River]] settlements of Council Bluffs and [[Omaha, Nebraska]], westward to Promontory Summit.<ref name="ExecOrder">[http://cprr.org/Museum/Lincoln_1864.html Executive Order of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, Fixing the Point of Commencement of the Union Pacific Railroad at Council Bluffs, Iowa, dated March 7, 1864] (38th Congress, 1st Session SENATE Ex. Doc. No. 27).</ref><ref>Cooper, Bruce C., [http://cprr.org/Museum/Riding_the_Rails_Intro.html ''"Riding the Transcontinental Rails: Overland Travel on the Pacific Railroad 1865–1881"''] (2005), Polyglot Press, Philadelphia, {{ISBN|1411599934}}. p. 11.</ref><ref>"Appleton's Railway and Steam Navigation Guide". New York: D. Appleton & Co., December 1870. p. 236.</ref>

The railroad opened for through traffic between Sacramento and Omaha on May 10, 1869, when CPRR President [[Leland Stanford]] ceremonially tapped the gold "Last Spike" (later often referred to as the "[[Golden Spike]]") with a silver hammer at [[Promontory Summit]].<ref>Bowman, J. N. [http://cprr.org/Museum/Bowman_Last_Spike_CHS.html "Driving the Last Spike at Promontory, 1869] California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. XXXVI, No. 2, June 1957, pp. 96–106, and Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, September 1957, pp. 263–274.</ref><ref>Hill, Thomas [http://cprr.org/Museum/Last_Spike.html "The Last Spike"] San Francisco: Thomas Hill (privately published). January 1881.</ref>{{refn|[[Paddle steamer]]s linked Sacramento to the cities and their harbor facilities in the San Francisco Bay until late 1869, when the CPRR completed and opened the Western Pacific portion (which the CPRR had acquired control of in 1867–68 to Alameda first and then to Oakland.)|group=N}} In the following six months, the last leg from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay was completed. The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the [[American Old West|American West]].{{refn|"The charter of the last-named Company [Western Pacific Railroad] contemplated a line from Sacramento toward San Francisco, making the circuit of the Bay of that name [to San José]. Their franchise has recently [late 1867] been assigned to parties in the interest of the Central Pacific Railroad Company; and it is probable that this line will be formally incorporated with the Central Pacific Railroad, and the road extended from Sacramento to San Francisco by the ''"best, most direct and practicable route"'' so soon as the overland connection is completed. In the meantime the travel is abundantly accommodated by first-class steamers."  – Central Pacific Railroad Company of California ''"Railroad Across the Continent, with an account of the Central Pacific Railroad of California"'', pp. 9–10, New York: Brown & Hewitt, Printers. September 1868.|group=N}}{{refn|The legal "date of completion" of the WPRR grade was subsequently designated to be January 22, 1870.<ref>Letter from Charles F. Conant, Assistant Secretary, US Department of the Treasury, to US Rep. William Lawrence (R-OH8), March 9, 1876</ref> The formal consolidation of the Central Pacific Railroad of California with the Western Pacific Railroad Co., San Joaquin Valley Railroad Co., and San Francisco, Oakland & Alameda Railroad Co. under the name of the Central Pacific Railroad Company became effective on June 22, 1870, with the filing of Articles of Consolidation drawn under the laws of California with the California Secretary of State.<ref>Letter from Z.B. Sturgus, Chief, Lands and Railroad Division, Office of the Secretary, US Department of the Interior, to US Rep. William Lawrence (R-OH8), April 28, 1876</ref><ref>Speech by Rep. William A. Piper (D-CA1) in the US House of Representatives, April 8, 1876</ref>|group=N}} It brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive.

The first transcontinental rail passengers arrived at the Pacific Railroad's original western terminus at the [[Alameda Terminal]] on September 6, 1869, where they transferred to the steamer ''Alameda'' for transport across the Bay to San Francisco. The road's rail terminus was moved two months later to the [[Oakland Long Wharf]], about a mile to the north, when its expansion was completed and opened for passengers on November 8, 1869.<ref>{{cite book |title=San Francisco in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City by the Bay |author=Works Progress Administration |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=2001 |isbn=978-0520948877 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYenlclVvzYC&q=%22steamer+alameda%22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The San Francisco Bay Area: A Metropolis in Perspective |first=Mel |last=Scott |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlE4hwWVqqwC&q=%22destination+alameda+wharf%22 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1985 |edition=2nd|isbn=978-0520055124}}</ref>{{refn|The new terminus opened on November 8, later deemed to be two days after the official "completion date" of the Pacific Railroad. Section 6 of the [[Pacific Railroad Act|Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, et seq.]] required that an official date of completion be determined for the purpose of determining how other provisions of the Acts would be carried out. November 6, 1869, was confirmed as being that date by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] in Part I of the Court's ''Opinion and Order'' dated January 27, 1879, in re ''Union Pacific Railroad vs. United States'' (99 U.S. 402).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cprr.org/Museum/RR_Completed_US_Sup_Ct.html|title=Pacific Railroad Officially Completed on November 6, 1869|website=cprr.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/89962/union-pacific-r-co-v-united-states/|title=Union Pacific R. Co. v. United States, 99 U.S. 402, 25 L. Ed. 274, 1878 U.S. LEXIS 1556 – CourtListener.com|website=CourtListener}}</ref>|group=N}} Service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier continued to be provided by ferry.

The CPRR eventually purchased {{convert|53|mi}} of UPRR-built grade from Promontory Summit (MP 828) to [[Ogden, Utah|Ogden, Utah Territory]] (MP 881), which became the interchange point between trains of the two roads. The transcontinental line became popularly known as the ''[[Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)|Overland Route]]'' after the name of the principal passenger rail service to [[Chicago]] that operated over the length of the line until 1962.<ref>Cooper, Bruce Clement (Ed), ''The Classic Western American Railroad Routes''. New York: Chartwell Books (US) / Bassingbourn: Worth Press (UK); 2010. {{ISBN|978-0785825739}}; BINC: 3099794. pp. 44–45.</ref>