The Civil Engineers Who Constructed the Central Pacific Railroad across the Sierra Nevada

Much has been written about the leaders of the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) for the period of construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, but often little is known of the many that toiled behind the scenes to support the leaders. Constructing the Central Pacific Railroad over the Sierra Nevada was the mightiest construction project in the world at that time. Some of the civil engineers, such as Theodore Judah, the first Chief Engineer of the CPRR, are well known to readers of history. But the civil engineers that actually surveyed the route, laid the grades, designed the bridges and tunnels, and were the resident engineers for construction, are little known. Many of these young engineers started their careers on the Transcontinental Railroad and went on to make names for themselves on subsequent projects. Some disappeared from history. The 150^th Anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at the Gold Spike Ceremony in Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, will be in two years in 2019, and ASCE has started planning activities to celebrate the event. Recognition of many of the civil engineers that have been forgotten by history will be part of the event. This paper presents some of those civil engineers with their backgrounds.