Author : Union Pacific Railroad Company
Publisher : Forgotten Books
Page : 54 pages
File Size : 19,31 MB
Release : 2016-08-31
Category : Reference
ISBN : 9781333417642
Book Description
Excerpt from Progress of the Union Pacific Railroad, West From Omaha, Nebraska, Across the Continent: Making, With Its Connections, an Unbroken Line From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; Eight Hundred and Twenty Miles Completed September 20, 1868 Little faith was at first felt in the success of the Pacific Rail road enterprise, and it was with much difficulty that a sufficient subscription to the capital stock was Obtained for an effective formation of the Company. The national charter was granted in July, 1862, and a preliminary organization made in October, 1863. Shortly after, the formal organization was made, with a board of fifteen Directors, to which five Government Directors were added, according to the stipulations of the acts of 1862 and The authorized capital is One Hundred Million Dollars, of which have been paid in upon the work already done. The first contract for construction was made in August, 1864; but various con icting interests, connected with the location of the line, delayed its progress, and the first forty miles were not laid until January, 1866. Since that time, the road has been built more rapidly than any similar work in the world. On the first of January, 1867, 305 miles were finished; on the first Of January, 1868, 540 miles; now 820 miles are in operation, and the road is expected to reach the Vicinity of Great Salt Lake by Christ mas. The passage of the Rocky Mountains has been much more easily accomplished than was supposed possible before Gen. G. M. Dodge, Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Road, surveyed the route and found how completely nature had prepared the way for the locomotive. In crossing the mountains there are no grades exceeding 90 feet to the mile, and these extend for but short distances, while an altitude of more than six thousand feet is at tained by an ascent so gradual as to be entirely imperceptible to the traveler. The various Congressional Acts and their amendments are too long to be recited here. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."