Nothing Like It In the World

The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869

Stephen E. Ambrose

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2000
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780743210836
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

In this New York Times bestseller, Stephen Ambrose brings to life the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad, from the men who financed it to the engineers and surveyors who risked their lives to the workers who signed on for the dangerous job.

Nothing Like It in the World gives the account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision, and courage. It is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad—the investors who risked their businesses and money; the enlightened politicians who understood its importance; the engineers and surveyors who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives; and the Irish and Chinese immigrants, the defeated Confederate soldiers, and the other laborers who did the backbreaking and dangerous work on the tracks.

The U.S. government pitted two companies—the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads—against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. Locomotives, rails, and spikes were shipped from the East through Panama or around South America to the West or lugged across the country to the Plains. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise, with its huge expenditure of brainpower, muscle, and sweat, comes vibrantly to life.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• One: Picking the Route 1830–1860
• Two: Getting to California 1848–1859
• Three: The Birth of the Central Pacific 1860–1862
• Four: The Birth of the Union Pacific 1862–1864
• Five: Judah and the Elephant 1862–1864
• Six: Laying Out the Union Pacific Line 1864–1865
• Seven: The Central Pacific Attacks the Sierra Nevada 1865
• Eight: The Union Pacific Across Nebraska 1866
• Nine: The Central Pacific Assaults the Sierra 1866
• Ten: The Union Pacific to the Rocky Mountains 1867
• Eleven: The Central Pacific Penetrates the Summit 1867
• Twelve: The Union Pacific Across Wyoming 1868
• Thirteen: Brigham Young and the Mormons Make the Grade 1868
• Fourteen: The Central Pacific Goes Through Nevada 1868
• Fifteen: The Railroads Race into Utah January 1–April 10, 1869
• Sixteen: To the Summit April 11–May 7, 1869
• Seventeen: Done May 8–10, 1869
• Epilogue
• Photographs
• About the Author
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright