USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The railroad reduced it to a single week. But too often lost in discussions of this awe-inspiring achievement is the contribution of the approximately 12, 000 Chinese laborers who took on the grueling task of completing the western section of the track. It was backbreaking, dangerous work.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Beijing–Zhangjiakou Railway built from 1905 to 1909, was the first railway to be designed and built indigenously. The chief engineer was Zhan Tianyou, who is known as the Father of China’s Railways.

Detailed explanation-3: -By paying laborers a low wage, they were able to skim millions from the construction and get rich. “Building railroads is often profitable but operating them isn’t necessarily, if you look at the history of railroads in the US, ” said Liebhold.

Detailed explanation-4: -Many workers contributed to the construction of railroads. On the East Coast, Native Americans, recently freed black people, and white laborers worked on the railroads. On the West Coast, many of the railroad workers were Chinese immigrants.

Detailed explanation-5: -Beginning in 1863, the Union Pacific, employing more than 8, 000 Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, built west from Omaha, Nebraska; the Central Pacific, whose workforce included over 10, 000 Chinese laborers, built eastward from Sacramento, California.