Union Pacific Railroad
/ˌjuːniən pəˌsɪfɪk ˈreɪlrəʊd/
/ˌjuːniən pəˌsɪfɪk ˈreɪlrəʊd/
- a US rail line built in the 1860s, consisting of 1 086 miles/1 747 kilometres of track stretching west from Omaha, Nebraska. On 10 May 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah, it met the Central Pacific Railroad, 690 miles/1 110 kilometres of track stretching east from Sacramento, California. There was a special ceremony in which a large gold nail was hit with a silver hammer to mark the first complete railway running all the way from the east to the west of America.