Compared to the likes of the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Western Pacific Railroad can be considered ... the original transcontinental route. It wouldn't be until March ...

An Act to aid in the Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph ... the valley of the Platte River, to the western boundary of Nevada Territory, upon the route and terms hereinafter provided ...

The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads vied to establish routes across the territory from western Iowa to northern California in a bitter contest. The Pacific Railroad acts of 1862 and ...