Central Pacific Railroad

CPRR Telegram
January, 1863

CPRR Crew - 

Congratulations! You are about to make history as we build the first railroad over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act last year. I surveyed the route and now we are ready to lay track in Sacramento. 

You will have to work hard to answer questions and solve problems. The better the job your crew does, the more miles you will earn for the Central Pacific Railroad. Do a good job because we want to lay more track than the Union Pacific. The government will pay us $16,000 for every mile of track we lay on flat land and $48,000 for every mile we lay over the Sierra Nevadas. We have to work quickly because we have lots miles to go and many of them are in the cold and mountainous Sierra Nevada Range.

Look at the relief map that I sent and see what a tough job we have. Use this Central Pacific map and color one dot for each 30 miles you earn.

Theodore Judah, Chief Engineer, CPRR

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