Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 (74 page)

Some of the directors of the UP meet in their private car at Echo City, Utah. Silas Seymour is seated at the table, on the left, with Sidney Dillon seated beside him. Doc Durant is beside Dillon, with John Duff on the right. They were on their way to Promontory Summit for the driving of the last spike.

Bumettizing works of the UP at Omaha. This was one of three. Cottonwood ties went through the Bumettizing machine, which treated them by draining the water out of the lumber and putting a zinc solution in its place—otherwise the ties were too soft and perishable. The timbers about to go in are bridge timber; the men at the right are loading one into the works.

The first big bridge built by the UP was across the Loup River at today's Columbus, Nebraska, where the Loup flows into the Platte River. The umbers were cut in Chicago. On top of the bridge is the telegraph line. The bottom photograph shows the interior of the structure.

Casement's crew laying track in 1866. Sometimes they laid as much as two miles of track per day. For the sake of the photographer, the men are posed—about the only time they stood still.

On October 6, 1866, the UP tracks reach the one hundredth meridian, near Cozad, Nebraska. Some of the UP directors are posed under the sign. Doc Durant organized an excursion of reporters and politicians on the spot to celebrate and publicize reaching it. Bottom: Durant went beyond the end of the track to pose for a picture standing at the cross ties and emphasizing the theme of Westward the Course of Empire.

A supply train being unloaded at the end of a track, at Mud Creek, near Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

A UP turntable in Rawlins Springs, Wyoming, 1868. All through Nebraska and Wyoming, Grenvilk Dodge laid out towns that became major centers for railroad repairs and workers, such as todays Rawlins, Cheyenne, Green River, Laramie, and others.

Lewis CarmichaeVs camp in Bitter Creek Valley, three miles east of Green River, Wyoming. Carmichael was a major contractor for the UP and made camp here because in the Wyoming desert between Rawlins and the Green River, water was a major problem. Below: A cut dug out by CarmichaeVs crew in Bitter Creek.

Snow on the Laramie Plains, Wyoming, caused many difficulties for the UP. Sometimes—as for passengers traveling to Grant's inaugural as president in March 1869, when this photograph was taken— the snow was so deep the passengers tried to shovel it away, or they attempted to walk along the tracks.

The UP's temporary and permanent bridges cross Green River, Wyoming. Citadel Rock looms over the scene.