John Pignatelli JR. posted:Wyhog posted:Frankly I think the idea of a 'transcontinental railroad' has been mistakenly identified with the Union Pacific. The idea at the time I believe was that the 1862-1869 expansion to the western coast _completed_ a transcontinental rail system that included the several RRs east of Council Bluffs from the east coast. The 'transcontinental' applied to the entire route(s) not just the Union Pacific (+Central Pacific/Southern Pacific) half-con. But somehow along the way, 'transcontinental' became almost synonymous with U.P. alone. We still don't don't have a single true transcontinental RR in the U.S.
What about Amtrak? Granted it does not own the rails but it goes from sea to shining sea.
Not without changing trains in Chicago!
