Central Pacific Railroad


Railroads Shipped By Sea
Engines like this one were built on the East Coast. It took 3 - 4 months from the time Collis Huntington ordered an engine until it was ready to be shipped.
They were taken apart and placed on a ship. It weighed about 35,000 pounds. These ships sailed around Cape Horn at the tip of South America. The average voyage was 145 days, almost 5 months. The shortest trip was 97 days and the longest was 205 days.

Read more about the trip around Cape Horn.

Western hemispheres map, William Faden, 1786
Courtesy Library of Congress.

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Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum