The Iron Horse
by David and Carol Kelly
Title
The Iron Horse
Artist
David and Carol Kelly
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Perhaps the greatest physical feat of 19th century America was the creation of the transcontinental railroad. Two railroads, the Central Pacific starting in San Francisco and a new railroad, the Union Pacific, starting in Omaha, Nebraska, would build the rail line. Huge forces of immigrants, mainly Irish for the Union Pacific and Chinese for the Central Pacific, crossed mountains, dug tunnels and laid track. The two railroads met at Promontory, Utah, in 1869, and drove a last, golden spike into the completed railway.
The Native Americans hated the railroad and they called it "the iron horse" because in the very beginning of the railroad the train cars were pulled on the tracks by horses.
The "Golden Age" of railroading in the United States lasted from roughly the 1880s to the 1920s before other modes of transportation (such as automobiles and airplanes) began to displace the industry as the leading means of moving people and goods.
The background textures used in this image were from "The Daily Texture".
Uploaded
July 3rd, 2015
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