transcontinental railroad

1. A train route across the United States, finished in 1869. It was the project of two railroad companies: the Union Pacific built from the east, and the Central Pacific built from the west. The two lines met in Utah. The Central Pacific laborers were predominantly Chinese, and the Union Pacific laborers predominantly Irish. Both groups often worked under harsh conditions.

Example Sentences

The blockbuster railroad combination, the largest deal so far this year, would create the nation’s first transcontinental railroad operator.

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The new company would be called Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad and have its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.

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The village grew slowly until the transcontinental railroad arrived in 1876.

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The book falls short in its attempt to tie Yin Manor’s haunted nature to the exploitation of the thousands of Chinese migrants who built the Western half of the first transcontinental railroad, however.

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The Public Utilities Commission was created as the Railroad Commission in the late 1870s, after the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

Read more on Los Angeles Times