Fifteen Facts / 15个修建铁路小知识

Yue Ma, Kevin Chu & Han Feng

1. President Abraham Lincoln signs the first Pacific Railroad Act on July 1, 1862, the first concrete step by the federal government to provide support for the transcontinental railroad.

   1862年7月1日，亚拉伯罕•林肯总统签署了第一部《太平洋铁路法》，这是联邦政府为支持横贯大陆铁路建设而采取的第一步实质性的支持。

2. The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the Pacific Railroads. It started construction in 1863 and was completed on May 10, 1869

   横贯大陆铁路是太平洋铁路线之一。它始建于1863年，于1869年5月10日竣工。

3. When the railroad began construction in 1863, the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) began building east from Sacramento, California on September 25. While the Union Pacific Railroad was tasked with building west from Omaha, Nebraska on November 2nd. The two lines would eventually meet at Promontory Summit, Utah.

   当铁路在1863年开始建设时，中央太平洋铁路公司（CPRR）于9月25日从加州萨克拉门托开始向东建设。而联合太平洋铁路公司是在11月2日开始从内布拉斯加州的奥马哈开始向西修建铁路。这两条路线最终将在犹他州的海角峰会合。

4. The four California businessmen, philanthropists turned railroad tycoons that made up the Central Pacific Railroad were Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins. The men were collectively known as “The Big Four,” and all profited handsomely from their association with the railroad

   利兰•斯坦福、科利斯•P•亨廷顿、查尔斯•克罗克和马克•霍普金斯，这四位加州商人慈善家后来成为铁路大亨，组成了中央太平洋铁路公司。这四位被统称为“四巨头”，他们都从与铁路的合作中获得了丰厚的利润。

5. Thomas C. Durant was appointed Vice President of the Union Pacific railroad company in 1863. He held this post until 1869 when he implicated in a scandal involving fraud within the company.

   托马斯•C•杜兰特于1863年被任命为联合太平洋铁路公司的副总裁。他担任这一职务直到1869年，当时他卷入了一桩涉及公司内部欺诈的丑闻。

6. 15,000+ Chinese immigrant, 10,000 Irish immigrants, 3-4,000 Mormon Workers, and 2,000 Civil War veterans were involved in the construction of the railroad

   15000多名中国移民、10000多名爱尔兰移民、3000至4000多名摩门教工人和2000名内战老兵参与了这条铁路的建设。

7. In 1864 the Central Pacific railroad hired their first Chinese workers with workers being paid as little as $26 a month for a six day work week.

   1864年，中央太平洋铁路公司雇用了第一批中国工人，工人们每周工作六天，月工资只有26美元。

8. Charles Crocker (CPRR Construction Supervisor) convinces foreman James Harvey Strobridge to look to increasing Chinese employment in order to enlarge the overall labor pool on January 20, 1865

   1865年1月20日，查尔斯•克罗克（CPRR建设主管）说服工头詹姆斯•哈维•斯特劳布里奇考虑增加雇佣中国人，以扩大整个劳工数量。

9. Tunnels needed to be constructed through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Summit Tunnel Number 6, the longest of the 13 tunnels at 1,659 feet and 124 feet below surface was completed in fall of 1865. This was due to many Chinese workers undertaking triple shifts.

   建设工程需要在内华达山脉内修建隧道。6号山顶隧道是13条隧道中最长的一条，全长1659英尺，位于地表以下124英尺，于1865年秋季完工。这是通过许多中国劳工实行三班倒工作制实现的。

10. At Cape Horn, California the train tracks needed to go around the mountain. In order to accomplish this, Chinese workers were lowered down the side of the mountain in baskets and told to drill holes and plant explosives before being hauled up. Some workers were killed when baskets fell or explosions exploded prematurely.

    在加利福尼亚州的合恩角，火车轨道需要绕山而行。为了做到这一点，中国工人被用篮子从山的一侧放下去，并被告知在被拉上来之前要钻洞和埋炸药。一些工人因篮子掉落或爆炸过早而死亡。

11. The winter of 1866-1867 was one of the harshest winters in history; seeing 44 recorded storms and a total of 40 feet of snow at the summit. Chinese workers had to continue working to dig out tunnels through the Sierra Nevada that were sometimes 500 feet long. They stayed in ice caves before entering the darkness of the tunnels for their shifts. Avalanches would wipe out entire camps and kill workers; the largest killed 20 workers while smaller ones would pick off individuals.

    1866年至1867年的冬天是历史上最严酷的冬天之一。有多达44场的暴雪记录，在山顶上的积雪达到了40英尺厚。中国工人不得不继续挖掘穿越内华达山脉的隧道，这些隧道有时长达500英尺。在他们轮班进入黑暗的隧道之前，他们待在冰洞里。雪崩会摧毁整个营地，杀死工人；最大的一场夺去了20名工人的生命，较小的一些也使得几个人失去生命。

12. In June 1867, several thousand Chinese went on strike due to unfair wages. They were seeking an increase in pay from $35 to $40 per month and a reduced work day of 8 hours instead of their current 12+. The strike lasted about a week and ended when management cut off food trains and starved the workers out; the strike was unsuccessful.

    1867年6月，几千名中国工人因工资待遇不平等而举行罢工。他们要求将工资从每月35美元提高到40美元，并减少至每天8小时的工作时间，而不是他们当时的12多个小时。罢工持续了大约一个多星期，当管理层切断食品供应，工人们忍饥挨饿时，罢工结束了。这场罢工并没有成功。

13. On April 28, 1869 The Central Pacific railroad team, which consisted of mostly Chinese workers, set a record for laying 10 miles and 56 feet of track in 12 hours at Rozel, Utah. This beat the previous record of 7 miles that their competitors at the Union Pacific claimed could not be beaten.

    1869年4月28日，主要由中国工人组成的中央太平洋铁路公司在犹他州罗泽尔创造了12小时内铺设10英里56英尺铁轨的记录。这打破了之前他们的对手----联合太平洋铁路公司创下的并声称无法被超越的一天铺设7英里的记录。

14. Promontory Point, Utah was the meeting point where the two railroads came together on May 10, 1869. The last tie was laid and hammered together with a Golden Spike, made of bronze and gold.

    犹他州的海角峰是两条铁路交汇的地方，1869年5月10日，一根用金子和铜制成的“金道钉”被钉入相交的两条铁轨，宣告铁路建成完工。

15. The total length of the first transcontinental railroad was 1776 miles, with 690 miles completed by the Central Pacific Railroad and 1086 miles by the Union Pacific Railroad

    第一条横贯大陆铁路全长1776英里，其中中央太平洋铁路公司完成了690英里，联合太平洋铁路公司完成了1086英里。

Sources / 资料来源：

• Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project Stanford University 北美中国铁路劳工项目 斯坦福大学

• Spencer Fox Eccles: Treasures of the Transcontinental Railroad Exhibition (Salt Lake City, Utah) by Utah Department of Heritage and Arts and Golden Spike 150 展览Spencer Fox Eccles: 很观大陆铁路的宝藏 （犹他州盐湖城），由犹他州文化遗产和艺术局及金道钉150联合举办

• Tracing the Path Photo Exhibition (Salt Lake City, Utah) by the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association and Golden Spike 150
重走铁路线专题照片展 （犹他州盐湖城），由中国铁路工人后裔协会和金道钉150联合举办

• Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum 中央太平洋铁路照片历史博物馆

2019 is the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. To commemorate the contribution of the Chinese laborer to this monumental railroad, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) has designated its 2019 TCS NYC Marathon event as MOCA Spike 150 – Running Forward With Our Stories！ We encourage everyone to participate through 1) our national relay and 2) a story a day which consists of 150 Chinese American personal stories. We hope you will continue to follow and support us. Go tell your story. Reflect on the past; root in the present and embrace the future. Let us add to the American history, making it fuller and richer.

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