Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation: The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad

by Martin W. Sandler

Overview

Experience the race of rails to link the country—and meet the men behind this incredible feat—in a riveting story about the building of the transcontinental railroad, brought to life with archival photos.

In the 1850s, gold fever swept the West, but people had to walk, sail, or ride horses for months on end to seek their fortune. The question of faster, safer transportation was posed by national leaders. But with 1,800 miles of seemingly impenetrable mountains, searing deserts, and endless plains between the Missouri River and San Francisco, could a transcontinental railroad be built? It seemed impossible. Eventually, two railroad companies, the Central Pacific, which laid the tracks eastward, and the Union Pacific, which moved west, began the job. In one great race between iron men with iron wills, tens of thousands of workers blasted the longest tunnels that had ever been constructed, built the highest bridges that had ever been created, and finally linked the nation by two bands of steel, changing America forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763680411
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/08/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	55 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 Years

About the Author

Martin W. Sandler has written more than seventy books for children and adults, including The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure, and has written and produced seven television series. He lives with his wife in Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

With lively prose and striking photographs, Sandler tells the amazing story of engineering marvels, extraordinary courage, and sheer determination...A dramatic story related in dramatic fashion.
—Kirkus Reviews

The pacing, particularly when the two teams meet, is spot-on and mimics the advances of a train...Sandler tells a good story, filled with complex characters, adventure, and heartache, and he meticulously documents his research efforts.
—School Library Journal

A plethora of archival photographs highlight daring men and rugged landscapes in this well-researched and fascinating adventure in history.
—Booklist

Alternating chapters follow the railroad’s progress westward from Omaha with the Union Pacific Railroad and eastward from Sacramento with the Central Pacific Railroad, until the two lines meet in Promontory Summit, Utah...Well-positioned and comprehensive sidebar material adds fascinating detail about the people (investors, surveyors, engineers, laborers) and places involved in the project.
—The Horn Book

There is a wealth of documentation and a timeline that will assist in those wishing to pursue more information in this satisfying introduction to a major historical event.
—School Library Connection

From the Publisher

Narrator Grover Gardner is an unobtrusive narrator. That’s not to say he sounds disinterested. Quite the opposite. He’s clearly fascinated by the drama of the race between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads to connect the nation. But his understated style lets the story itself carry listeners along. With steady pacing, Gardner mirrors the relentless rate of the six-year undertaking. He uses pauses and emphasis to call attention to important people—from Leland Stanford to the single woman on the entire project—as well as to specifics such as the discrimination against Chinese workers, the confrontations with Native Americans, and the solutions to thorny technical problems such as how to drill rock away on a narrow ledge. An epilogue details the subsequent lives of the key players of the transcontinental railroad. A.R. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2015 - AudioFile

2015-06-10
On May 10, 1869, a golden spike joined the Central Pacific's and the Union Pacific's tracks, linking the nation with two continuous bands of steel, "and things would never be the same." To lay 1,800 miles of track over prairies, deserts, and mountains would be "one of the greatest and most daring adventures the nation had ever seen," and across that land the "Anvil Chorus" sang, 21 million swings of the sledges in six years of laying tracks. With lively prose and striking photographs, Sandler tells the amazing story of engineering marvels, extraordinary courage, and sheer determination. When the railroad was finished, the country could be crossed in less than a week instead of six months, and the nation was united. Well-chosen archival photographs and excellent maps help to tell the tale, though too many pages of dense text are unbroken by visuals. Sandler celebrates the phenomenal achievement without losing sight of those who did not benefit from it: Chinese workers faced discrimination, and the railroad was but the latest "encroachment of white society upon the Indians." A fascinating epilogue relates what later happened to each of the key players introduced in the narrative, and a thorough timeline serves as a summary of important events. A dramatic story related in dramatic fashion. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews