Binding the Nation by Rail
Completing of the Pacific RailroadThe transcontinental railway was completed with a jubilant celebration on May 10, 1869, when the rails connecting the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads were joined at Promontory, Utah.
The locomotive was not an invention of the Gilded Age. Indeed Americans had traveled by rail in the decades that preceded the Civil War. But such travel was risky.
Passengers often sat in the same room as a wood burner and had to be watchful of wayward sparks landing on their clothing. Braking systems were not always trustworthy. Several engines even exploded while trying to reach a destination.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/36a.asp
