What jobs did the Chinese workers do to complete the railroad?

As the railroad moved into the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the border of California and Nevada, nearly 11,000 Chinese workers helped to cut tunnels through solid granite, build towering wooden trestles (bridges for trains), build 30 miles of wooden sheds over the railroad to protect the trains from avalanches, and do …

What immigrants worked on the Union Pacific Railroad?

In addition to Chinese workers and Latter-Day Saints who worked for Central Pacific, Irish immigrants fleeing famine and newly freed slaves laid track across the Great Plains for the Union Pacific Railroad.

What did the transcontinental railroad do for immigrants?

For immigrants to the United States, the Transcontinental Railroad presented an opportunity to seek their fortunes in the West. There, they found more opportunity than the port cities of the East Coast, where discrimination kept immigrants living in urban squalor.

How much did Chinese railroad workers get paid?

According to the Project, Chinese workers hired in 1864 were paid $26 a month, working six days a week. They eventually held an eight-day strike in June of 1867.

Why did people want to work on the transcontinental railroad?

In the United States, the Transcontinental Railroad construction opened many opportunities to lay track, produce iron and lumber for the rails, and work in new markets opened by the rails. Work on the Transcontinental, however, was demanding and needed “men of restless energy,…

Who are the two companies in the transcontinental railroad?

Two Competing Companies: The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad

Why do I want to work at TC Transcontinental?

At TC Transcontinental, our priority is to attract, develop and retain top talent by supporting individual development. Every week, dozens of new jobs are posted in our sectors. One of them could be just what you are looking for and bring new momentum to your career!

What kind of people worked on the Union Pacific Railroad?

The Union Pacific relied mainly on Irish workers, many of whom were famine immigrants and fresh off the battlefields of the war. The whiskey-drinking, rabble-rousing work crews made their way west, setting up temporary towns that came to be known as “hells on wheels.”.