The railroad started being built on October 26, 1863. The final track that was places was on May 10, 1869.
Most of the early immagrants were Irish so they started working on the railroad as a job. Later on when Chinease immagrants started coming in they were taking the place of the Irish workers. They were getting paid less but were working harder. The groups of workers were usually 20 chinease immagrants and 1 white foreman.
Some of the problems that they faced were the Native Americans and who was going to work. The Native American tribes were- Sioux, Arapaho and the Cheyenne. They did not want the whites to take their land that they have had for a very long time. The white Americans did not want to work on the railroad and the immagrants did not have a job so now the immagrants had a job.
Leland Stanford was given credit fir the start of the idea for the railroad. He came up with the idea one day when he was passing Collis P. Huntington's store and he saw a huge freight wagon and thought of the traffic and wanted a faster and easier way to move that much goods and or people.
$16,000 a mile while building on the Plains. $32, 000 a mile while building on the Plateau between the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. $48,000 a mile while building on and through the mountains.
The effects on the future of the country is that it offered an efficient way to move goods and people. Also now there will be a track for the new railroads to already go on. Lastly currently 39.50% of shipping is on the rails