May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railroad. This monumental feat made traveling from coast to coast something that could be accomplished in just over a week, instead of potentially several months. Railroad construction of the eastward bound Central Pacific began at the foot of K Street in Sacramento, California on January 8, 1863 with a ceremony led by Governor Leland Stanford. Just over 6 years later, Stanford drove the gold spike at the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion. Theodore D. Judah’s surveys and engineering plans helped made the railroad possible, although he did not live to see the railroad finished. Roughly 90 percent of the workforce building the railroad for the Central Pacific were Chinese immigrants. Much or the Transcontinental Railroad’s route is today’s Interstate 80. Photograph of the ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869 courtesy of the Library of Congr...