The Sierra Nevada, the 400-mile-long range of granite peaks that form the backbone of California, was the most formidable obstacle in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.
What challenges did building the transcontinental railroad create?
Another challenge they faced was the need to create tunnels through the mountains. Using nitroglycerin, they had to blast through the mountains in a very dangerous manner. On average, they were only able to get through 1 foot of mountain at a time. In the end, 11 tunnels were completed.
What were the negatives of building the transcontinental railroad?
But there was also a dark side to the historic national project. The railroad was completed by the sweat and muscle of exploited labor, it wiped out populations of buffalo, which had been essential to Indigenous communities, and it extended over land that had been unlawfully seized from tribal nations.
What was the biggest obstacle to building the railroad?
Who destroyed the railroads?
General William Tecumseh ShermanAlso known as the March to the Sea. Sherman's neckties: a railway destruction tactic developed by General William Tecumseh Sherman in which rails were heated and twisted into loops resembling neckties, a tactic which rendered them unusable. standard gauge: a railway track that is 4ft. 8.5 in.
What obstacles did builders of the transcontinental railroad have to overcome select two correct answers?
Expert-Verified AnswerThe following are two of the difficulties that builders of the transcontinental railroad found ways to overcome: Natural barriers such as mountains, rivers. and forests. A need for workers.
Who was killed by the first train?
William Huskisson1830. 15 September – United Kingdom – William Huskisson becomes the first widely reported passenger train death. During the ceremonial opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, while standing on the track at Parkside, he is struck and fatally injured by the locomotive Rocket.