When did the first transcontinental railroad end?

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad May 10, 1869, is recognized as one of our country's biggest achievements and one of mankind's biggest accomplishments.



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While much of the original transcontinental railroad tracks are still in use, the complete, intact line fell out of operation in 1904, when a shorter route bypassed Promontory Summit.

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Historic Strasburg takes pride in the fact that its railroad is the oldest continuously operating short-line railroad in America.

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However, the race was ultimately a runaway victory for the Union Pacific, which was able to lay 1,085 miles of track to the 690 miles put down by the Central Pacific.

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Transcontinental Railroad Facts
  • It was built to connect the United States' East and West Coasts. ...
  • Approximately 1,800 miles of track. ...
  • The transcontinental railroad cost roughly $100 million. ...
  • Workers came from a wide range of backgrounds and ethnicity. ...
  • President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act.


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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.

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Salomon Mayer von Rothschild funded the first major steam railway to be built in continental Europe, the Kaiser Ferdinands Nordbahn, which opened in 1839. The Nordbahn was Austria's first steam railway company. The first track was built between Floridsdorf and Deutsch Wagram in 1837.

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The railroad was first developed in Great Britain. A man named George Stephenson successfully applied the steam technology of the day and created the world's first successful locomotive.

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This culminated in the April 28, 1869, record set by Chinese and Irish crews of the Central Pacific who laid 10 miles 56 feet (16.111 km) of track in one day.

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