East Meets West

By 1870, railroad mania is in full swing. Profits are so attractive that companies begin planning routes to places where there are barely any people. Like the mostly-empty new states of Nebraska and Nevada.

Railroad investors are confident that people will follow right behind the new track being laid. They can make money just by buying up land along the planned route, before the plans are announced.

Turbo-charging everything is the transcontinental railroad, stretching all the way to California, which is finally completed in 1869. It's structured as a partnership between railroad companies and the federal government.
Transcontinental railroad, 1869 map

  Transcontinental
The transcontinental railroad jumps over the mountains to connect California with the rest of the country. The federal government contributes land along the entire route, half of which is given to the railroad companies, along with subsidies. The new line is owned by the government but operated by the railroads, making it America's first big 'public-private' partnership.

Locomotive diagram, 1870

  Harnessing Steam
Steam locomotives are the most sophisticated mechanisms in America. Heated air from burning coal is drawn forward through water in the boiler tank (BLUE highlight), which heats the water. Steam rises from the boiling water, and is directed through pipes into pistons, which power the main drive wheels. The firebox has to be frequently fed with fresh coal from the tender, which is directly behind. At the same time, water boiling off as steam has to be continually replaced from a reservoir, also in the tender.


Railroad expansion, 1870 map

  Jumping the Mississippi
GREEN lines on the map are railroads built between 1860 and 1870. ORANGE lines are older routes. The great bulk of the new routes extend west into the fertile farming region that butts right up against the great American prairie, which is a much drier, north-south zone running down through Nebraska and Kansas (dark on this map). Settlers are now streaming into these states, just as they had into every other region during the continuing push west. This drives up land prices, and everyone makes money.