Central Pacific Railroad Flashcards
Where and when did work begin?(Central Pacific)
Work began in January 1863 outside Sacramento, CA (West Coast)
What problems did they have with supplies?
California had almost no manufacturing so all supplies had to be shipped from the east coast around South America
Where did they bring in engineers from?
Canada
Who made up most the workforce? Why?
Chinese immigrants, they worked on 90% of the railroad. Most California citizens worked as miners or farmers
How did they treat their workers
The Chinese were paid less than white workers. At least 10% of the Chinese died due to the extreme conditions and the disregard for life from the company
How many tunnels did they have to build?
11
How many feet did they blast through using Black Power
They blasted about an average of 1 foot per day
How much progress did they make in the first 5 years?
132 miles of track
When did Nitroglycerin come into play?
Invented in 1864, the Central Pacific started using it in secret to blast through the mountain
When and why was it banned?
The state of California discovered this in 1866 after a shipment of it exploded in San Francisco Harbor killed 15 people and collapsing the nearby buildings
How were they able to start using Nitroglycerin again?
A British scientist figured out a way to make nitroglycerin outside of a lab and made a LOT of money from the Central Pacific
