Part 1-Transcontinental Railroad-The Great Race: Legends of the Old West
- Matthew Kerns
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
Episode 1 of 6 in a series on the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad I wrote for Legends of the Old West.
In the first episode, “The Great Race,” we begin not with triumph, but tragedy. The episode opens with the devastating 1855 Gasconade Bridge collapse in Missouri, a symbol of America's reckless race toward progress. Through gripping storytelling, the episode recounts early railroad disasters like the Camp Hill collision, revealing a system expanding faster than it could be safely controlled. From this backdrop of chaos and calamity, we trace the roots of a visionary—but deeply flawed—dream: a railroad stretching from coast to coast.
As the episode unfolds, we meet the key figures who would shape that dream: Abraham Lincoln, a president who saw the railroad as a lifeline for national unity; George Francis Train, a flamboyant promoter; and Thomas Durant, a ruthless financier who turned public ambition into private profit. With the passage of the 1862 Pacific Railway Act, two companies—the Union Pacific and Central Pacific—set out to build from opposite ends of the continent. But as the Union Pacific begins laying track westward from Omaha, the line is quickly mired in corruption, labor strife, and rising tensions with Native nations whose lands are being invaded in the name of progress.
This episode lays the foundation for a saga of ambition and exploitation, of iron rails and human cost. It's a powerful and sobering start to a story that shaped the American West—and still echoes today. Listen now to discover how a dream as vast as a continent began with smoke, steel, and scandal.
🎧 Listen now to "Hell on Wheels: The Great Race" on your favorite podcast platform.
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My book, Texas Jack: America's First Cowboy Star, is available at: https://amzn.to/44MNQCM
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