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This once mighty rail ran from Hawaii all the way to North Carolina. Our journey took us through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. The train does not run anymore but the engine is still at it's starting point. Use this cache as a TB trading post or just come out to the North Shore for some sights.
1753: First steam engine arrives in the colonies from England. 1804: Matthew Murray of Leeds, England invents a steam locomotive which runs on timber rails. This is probably the FIRST RAILROAD ENGINE. 1807: The very first passenger train ran from Swansea to Mumbles on March 25th. 1812: The first commercially successful steam locomotives, using the Blenkinsop rack and pinion drive, commenced operation on the Middleton Railway. This was the world's first regular revenue-earning use of steam traction, as distinct from experimental operation. 1812: American Colonel John Stevens publishes a pamphlet containing: "Documents tending to prove the superior advantages of Railways and Steam Carriages over Canal Navigation." He also states, "I can see nothing to hinder a steam carriage moving on its ways with a velocity of 100 miles an hour." 1825: Colonel John Stevens builds a steam waggon which he placed on a circular railway before his house (now Hudson Terrace)at Hoboken, New Jersey. 1826: The first line of rails in the New England States is said to have been laid down at Quincy, Mass., 3 miles in length and pulled by horses. 1827: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is chartered to run from Baltimore to the Ohio River in Virginia. It was the first westward bound railroad in America. Wind power (sail on carriage) was tried, followed by horse power, with the horse walking on a treadmill which drove the carriage wheels! 1827: The Switch Back Gravity Railroad in Pennsylvania began operation in May of 1827 before work began on the B&O. It was the second railroad in the U.S., the first railroad in Pennsylvania and the first common carrier railroad in the U.S. 1829: The first steam locomotive used in America, the English-built Stourbridge Lion, is put to work on the Delaware & amp; Hudson. It is too heavy for the track (twice as heavy as had been promised by the builders), and is laid up next to the tracks as a stationary boiler. 1831: The South Carolina was the first eight-wheeled engine. 1855: The first land grant railroad in the U. S. is completed. The Illinois Central arrives in Dunleith, Illinois (now East Dubuque). 1856: The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River is completed between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. 1862: President Abraham Lincoln signs the Pacific Railway Act, which authorizes the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. Theodore Judah had the vision to build a railroad across the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, and then to continue the railroad across the United States. The Central Pacific Railroad was financed by The Big Four: Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins. 1869: The Central Pacific and Union Pacific meet at Promontory Summit, Utah for the driving of the golden spike on May 10th. 1970: Congress passes the Rail Passenger Service Act creating Amtrak, which today serves more than 20 million customers annually on its national network of intercity trains and employs 23,000 people.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
evtug bs oyhr fvta