Both sections of the line were built simultaneously. the Union Pacific Railroad building west from Omaha. and the Central Pacific Railroad..now the Southern Pacific. working east from Sacramento. This was a handbuilt road. constructed at an estimated cost of $181 million. in the days when that figure was looked upon as something astronomical. Employed on this great construction project were about 15.000 Irish immigrants. 15.000 Chinese. and an unestimated number of native Americans. These workers used hand shovels. wheelbarrows. and thousands of mules. horses. and scrapers to carve a route for the iron horse through mountain passes and across forbidding desert wastelands. The project was completed well ahead - of schedule.
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