A long time ago, getting across America was very hard. People had to travel by horse or wagon. The trip from the east coast to the west coast took months. It was dangerous, too.
Then people had a big idea: build a railroad all the way across the country! Two teams started building at the same time.
One team started in the east and built west. They were called the Union Pacific. The other team started in California and built east. They were called the Central Pacific.
Thousands of workers laid the tracks. They dug tunnels through mountains. They built bridges over rivers. The work was very hard and took six years.
everyone cheered!On May 10, 1869, the two tracks finally met in Utah. A special golden spike was hammered into the last rail to connect them. Everyone cheered!
Now people could ride a train from one side of America to the other in just one week instead of many months. Towns grew up along the tracks. The whole country was connected.