Transcontinental railroad

A Transcontinental Railroad is a railroad that crosses a continent from "coast-to-coast". Terminals are at or connected to different oceans. Because Europe is criss-crossed by railways, railroads within Europe are usually not considered transcontinental, the Orient Express perhaps being an exception.

United States

In the United States, the area of the Mississippi River has always been a transfer point between systems in the East and West. No single company ever controlled a route all the way from one coast to the other (though several had lines between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico). The reason for this is fairly simple: if an eastern company were to ally itself with a western company, it would no longer have the choice to send traffic over the other western lines.[citation needed] This is still true—two of the major Class I railroads have systems east of the Mississippi, while the other two major ones are mainly west of the Mississippi.

In the United States, the term transcontinental railroad usually refers to a line over the Rocky Mountains (and on several routes also the Sierra Nevada Mountains) between the Midwest and Pacific Ocean. Some of the eastern trunk lines are covered in railroads connecting New York City and Chicago.

* The rails of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" were joined on May 10, 1869, with the ceremonial driving of the "Last Spike" at Promontory Summit, Utah, after track was laid over a 1,756 mile (2,826 km) gap between Sacramento and Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa in six years by the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad. Although through train service was in operation as of that date, the road was not deemed to have been officially "completed" until November 6, 1869. (A physical connection between Omaha, Nebraska and the statutory Eastern terminus of the Pacific road at Council Bluffs located immediately across the Missouri River was also not finally established until the opening of UPRR railroad bridge across the river on March 25, 1873, prior to which transfers were made by ferry operated by the Council Bluffs & Nebraska Ferry Company.

* In 1882, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway connected Atchison, Kansas with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Deming, New Mexico, thus completing a second link to Los Angeles.
* The Southern Pacific Railroad linked New Orleans with Los Angeles in 1883, linking the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean.
* The Northern Pacific Railway, also completed in 1883, linked Chicago with Seattle.
* The Great Northern Railroad was built without federal aid by James J. Hill in 1893; it stretched from St. Paul to Seattle.
* In 1909, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (or Milwaukee Road) completed a privately built Pacific extension to Seattle. On completion the line was renamed the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific.
* John D. Spreckels completed his privately funded San Diego and Arizona Railway in 1919, thereby creating a direct link (via connection with the Southern Pacific lines) between San Diego, California and the Eastern United States. The railroad stretched 148 miles (238 km) from San Diego to Calexico, California.
* In 1993, Amtrak's Sunset Limited was extended to the Atlantic Ocean, making it the first transcontinental passenger train route operated by one company. Hurricane Katrina temporarily cut the route in 2005.