The First Transcontinental Railroad: Sacramento to Promontory

On 8 January 1863 the Central Pacific broke ground at the foot of K Street, on the waterfront of the Sacramento River, and began laying track toward the Sierra Nevada. The line it started would eventually cross the mountains and meet the Union Pacific. Today the spot lies in Old Sacramento, home to the California State Railroad Museum. Historic trains run from the former Central Pacific passenger station, and a monument honours Theodore Judah, the railroad's original chief engineer.

Location precision: Sources place the ceremony at the foot of K Street on the waterfront; the pin marks Old Sacramento's riverfront generally.

Visitor guidance: Old Sacramento's railroad museum and the historic trains are a short walk from the river.

In 1859 Dr. Daniel Strong of Dutch Flat invited the railroad surveyor Theodore Judah to evaluate a possible route across the Sierra Nevada. Judah would become the Central Pacific's chief engineer. Rails did not stay here long: in the fall of 1866 the railroad had reached Cisco, 20 miles further up the ridge, and Dutch Flat lost most of its importance as a stage stop.

Location precision: The railroad's route is tied to the town of Dutch Flat; the pin marks the town, not a single site.

Tunnelling and cutting in the Sierra Nevada were far more formidable than anything the Union Pacific met in the Rockies. A popular story says Chinese workers were suspended in wicker baskets over the vertical granite cliffs at Cape Horn, California, to drill and blast a ledge for the line. The tale has been repeated and exaggerated by uncritical historians. A safety rope may have helped when digging a first footpath, which could then be enlarged into a shelf for the track.

Location precision: The pin marks the Cape Horn area; the exact cut is not located in the sources used.

The Sierra Nevada were overcome in the spring of 1868 after almost three years of drilling and blasting through granite by hundreds of Chinese workers. The prize at Donner Pass was Tunnel No. 6, the 1,659-foot Summit Tunnel. The first Central Pacific passenger train ran through it on 18 June 1868, carrying passengers and freight over the Sierra for the first time.

Location precision: The pin marks Donner Pass; the Summit Tunnel lies within the pass area.

On 10 May 1869 the Jupiter and No. 119 stood face to face on Promontory Summit, separated only by the width of a single tie. Leland Stanford lifted a silver spike maul to drive the final spike and complete the line. Estimates of the crowd run from 500 to 3,000. Afterward, Chinese workers who had joined the rails were honoured at J. H. Strobridge's boarding car. Today functioning replicas of the Jupiter and No. 119 stand at the site, and an arch in the park is now named Chinese Arch for the railroad workers.

Visitor guidance: Golden Spike National Historical Park keeps the site; the locomotive replicas are part of the park's displays.