USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Central Pacific began laying track eastward from Sacramento, California, in 1863, and the Union Pacific started westward from Omaha, Nebraska, two years later. To meet its manpower needs, the Central Pacific hired thousands of Chinese labourers, including many recruited from farms in Canton.

Detailed explanation-2: -Leland Stanford, Collins P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker incorporated the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California on June 28, 1861, convinced by Theodore D. Judah that a railroad could be built between California and the East and be profitable.

Detailed explanation-3: -Central Pacific Railroad began operating freight and passenger trains over the first 31 miles of track to Newcastle in June 1864. The line began in Sacramento, the railroad’s western terminus. But as the railroad continued through the foothills of the Sierras, construction became more difficult.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1862 Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Acts which designated the 32nd parallel as the initial transcontinental route and gave huge grants of lands for rights-of-way. The legislation authorized two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, to construct the lines.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Central Pacific Railroad Company was established in 1861. It was financed by the “Big Four, ” Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and Leland Stanford and by land grants, subsidies and loans from federal, state and local government resources.