What were some challenges of the Transcontinental Railroad?

Building through the Sierra Nevada Mountains posed many challenges. Winters provided freezing temperatures. The winter of 1866-1867 included 44 storms. Men were working through about 18 ft. of snow and were camping in tunnels they created underneath it. Avalanche's posed another danger. read more

Another challenge they faced was the need to create tunnels through the mountains. Using nitroglycerin, they had to blast through the mountains in a very dangerous manner. On average, they were only able to get through 1 foot of mountain at a time. In the end, 11 tunnels were completed. read more

It took from 1863 to 1868 to get the railroad from Sacramento to the Nevada border (admittedly, the 2 years were during the Civil War, so getting anything done was even more of a problem) and another year to get the line across Nevada and half of Utah to Promontory. read more