Ever since the 1830's the dream of a transcontinental railroad existed.
In 1853 congress expended $150,000 in hunting a feasible route. Surveys were made periodically.
In 1860 President Lincoln inaugurates construction of the transcontinental railroad.
President Abraham Lincoln signs the Pacific Railway Act, which authorizes the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. Theodore Judah had the vision to build a railroad across the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, and then to continue the railroad across the United States.
The reason the Union Pacific hadn't started was because it didn't have enough money, it was broke. …
