Locomotives - Central Pacific Railroad 4-4-0 Type Engine The Governor Stanford Wood Print

Train Art

California Art

Locomotive Art

Railroad Art

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In 1861, most people were skeptical about engineer Theodore D. Judah's idea of building America's first transcontinental rail line. After all, Judah's plan called for laying track from California eastward through the rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range, an engineering feat few thought possible. Yet, four California merchants -- Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford and Collis P. Huntington -- shared Judah's vision and promptly formed the Central Pacific Railroad. Known later as the "Big Four," these entrepreneurs named Judah their chief engineer and sent him to Washington, D.C., to lobby for aid. Federal support came on July 1, 1862, when President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. The Act provided for land grants and subsidies to the Central Pacific, which was to build the line from Sacramento eastward, and to the Union Pacific, which would start at Omaha and head west. The Central Pacific laid its first tracks on October 26, 1863. The Union Pacific started westward som...