For Christmas I was given the Stephen E. Ambrose book "Nothing Like It in the World". It is the story of building the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s. Regarding the railroad, Ambrose and I have something in common. Before the book we didn't have much interest in the Railroad. Ambrose was asked by his editor to write this book. At first he was reluctant. No, make that unwilling. After some thought he asked for several months, during which time he would research the subject to see if he was interested and if there were no other books written that covered the subject satisfactorily. After his research he decided to write the book. And that decision provided a great adventure for Ambrose.

I've never been too interested in the construction of the railroad, either. But I enjoyed reading another Ambrose book, "Undaunted Courage", so I jumped right in. I'm about half way through and have enjoyed the read. At this pace I'll finish it in just a few more days. From the forward and introduction I learned some interesting facts. Among them:

The United States completed its Transcontinental Railroad more than twenty years before the Yukon Express, Canada's continent spanning rail, was finished and thirty-five years ahead of the Russians.

The Transcontinental Railroad was built using private companies and private investments, unlike the government built Russian Railroad.

The Railroad workers used no modern tools. Cuts and fills were done with dynamite, blasting powder, shovels, picks, other handtools, wheel barrels and wagons.

Thousands of feet of tunnels were dug by hand. Dynamite helped loosen the rock, but it was taken away one wheel barrel at a time.

Trains in the 1860s could handle no more than a 2% grade, or about 150 feet per mile. Congress passed a bill that limited the grade to 114 feet per mile.

By the time the Transcontinental track was completed in 1869 the Central and Union Pacific construction teams had become very efficient at laying track. They could put down rails and cover ground at "about the speed a man could walk." That's pretty fast.

No slave labor was used to during the construction of the railroad.

In Ambrose's opinion, building the Transcontinental Railroad was one of the great feats in American history and likely the greatest adventure of the 19th Century. Ambrose is a great writer. He makes this story come to life..........
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