How many miles of track could be laid in a day?

Stung by the Union Pacific's record of eight miles of track laid in a single day, the Central Pacific concocted a plan to lay 10 miles in a day. Eight Irish tracklayers put down 3,520 rails, while other workers laid 25,800 ties and drove 28,160 spikes in a single day.



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The seven-mile West Auto Tour is home to the “10 Miles of Track, Laid in one Day” sign where the Central Pacific Railroad built 10 miles and 56 feet of track on April 28, 1869. Remember to look both ways when crossing railroad tracks in case there is a locomotive demonstration in progress.

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The United States possesses the largest railway network in the world, in terms of total operating length. China and India trail behind as the second and third largest railway networks respectively.

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A hike along a record-breaking 10 miles of track of the first transcontinental railroad. In 1869, the founder of the Central Pacific — whose labor force was almost 90 percent Chinese — claimed his men could lay down 10 miles of track in one day.

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The “standard” track gauge in the UK and across much of the globe — approximately 55% of the world's railways use it — is set to 1435mm or four feet and 8.5 inches.

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The Middleton Railway is the world's oldest continuously working railway, situated in the English city of Leeds. It was founded in 1758 and is now a heritage railway, run by volunteers from The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. since 1960.

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The first Special Scotch Express ran in 1862, with simultaneous departures at 10:00 from the GNR's London King's Cross and the NBR's Edinburgh Waverley. The original journey took 101/2 hours, including a half-hour stop at York for lunch.

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The building boom peaked during the 1880's, during the height of the Gilded Age. As historian John F. Stover notes in his book, The Routledge Historical Atlas Of The American Railroads, a staggering 70,400 miles was laid down between 1880 and 1890 with total mileage growing from 93,200 to 163,600!

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