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The account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad-the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The U.S. government pitted two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads, against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. At its peak, the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. Nothing like this great work had ever been seen in the world when the golden spike was driven in Promontory Peak, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. This is the story of the brave men, the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.… (más)
I suggested the topic of the transcontinental railroad for our Bookclub and got more than I bargained for. It's a slow read, but broken into small chunks. Reading it was similar to the building of it in that you had to keep at it, bit by bit, like all the ties beneath the rails.
My husband and I have taken Amtrak across country from Washington, DC to Reno Nevada a few years ago. At the time, they were doing some repairs, so we had to reroute part of the trip west of Denver and were sent through Wyoming to Salt Lake City, missing the beautiful part of the Rockies. But this route corresponded more closely to the route of the Transcontinental Railroad route. We saw a lot of desolate country in Wyoming!! I remembered our views when reading the book.
There were a few maps included in the book, but some of the places mentioned in the text were not shown on the maps, so they not as helpful as they could have been.
This book shed light on all the financial, physical, and interpersonal challenges that were faced in this monumental achievement. ( )
Before picking up this book, I had no interest in the history of the transcontinental railroad, but after only a couple of chapters, this book was a page turner. As it was an audio book, I missed the 30+ pages of pictures, which would have added to the story, I imagine, as I kept looking at Google maps for the place names. We learned quite a bit about the people and the controversy of the time, I enjoyed it. ( )
Thoroughly researched, enlightening story about the people (principals as well as the peons), intricacies, corruption, fraud, political connotations, the speed, the process, the questionable construction quality, search for power, the challenges (financial as well as physical) and the net benefits to the country upon completion.
For me this was not a fast read, but I'm very glad I read it! ( )
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Next to winning the Civil War and abolishing slavery, building the first transcontinental railroad, from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California, was the greatest achievement of the American people in the nineteenth century.
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Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
So we admire those who did it -- even if they were far from perfect -- for waht they were and what they accomplished and how much each of us owes them.
The account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad-the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks. The U.S. government pitted two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads, against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. At its peak, the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. Nothing like this great work had ever been seen in the world when the golden spike was driven in Promontory Peak, Utah, in 1869, as the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific tracks were joined. This is the story of the brave men, the famous and the unheralded, ordinary men doing the extraordinary -- who accomplished the spectacular feat that made the continent into a nation.
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