USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Union Pacific marked the occasion with a groundbreaking ceremony at the Omaha settlement in Nebraska Territory Dec. 2, 1863. A lack of funding delayed the project’s beginning for a short while, but on July 10, 1865, the first rail was finally laid.

Detailed explanation-2: -Oakes and Oliver Ames (of the Oliver Ames & Sons pick and shovel business, which amassed a large fortune during the gold rush), undertook the financing of the construction of the Union Pacific, coming to the assistance of Dr. Durant during a crucial money crunch in 1865.

Detailed explanation-3: -It designated tasks for two companies: the Central Pacific Railroad of California (CP) was to build eastward from Sacramento, and a new company called the Union Pacific (UP) was to build westward up the Platte River Valley from Omaha, Nebraska.

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: -John Stevens is considered to be the father of American railroads. In 1826 Stevens demonstrated the feasibility of steam locomotion on a circular experimental track constructed on his estate in Hoboken, New Jersey, three years before George Stephenson perfected a practical steam locomotive in England.