the transcontinental railroad was happening at the end of the victorian age as you were going into the industrial age and it was a perfect time for the united states. when the railroad was completed, it made a major impact in the industrial development of the nation. it was over 6.5 years. took just over six and a half years, built from 1862-1869. time period they started building the transcontinental railroad was when a lot of people were coming out after the gold rush and the silver rush was taking off. we were in the middle of the civil war. abraham lincoln really wanted to have access to all the materials that were available in the sierra nevadas, including the gold and silver, and connect the states in the united states. he chose that time to complete the act and start building the railroad. in the middle of the war, the defense of the country was a major factor that was making the decision and they wanted to get troops across the country in a quicker span of time. there were finished goods that would go to states in the west. it was hopefully going to be cut and that was lincoln'

which would have been abandoned earlier, just less than a year after the completion of the transcontinental railroad when they sold their rights to the central pacific railroad company. because the central pacific had worked through utah a lot longer, they had a much higher quality grade and so when they bought the rights from the union pacific, they switched over onto their grade. that's where we're standing, is on the original central pacific grade. we're coming up to the last cut that was made by the union pacific in their approach to promontory summit valley. in just a minute, we'll be able to look down and you can actually see in order to get through different elevation changes, they would cut through the rock. and blast with black powder, making these channels that they could actually build the railroad through. now, the work you're actually seeing these berms or hills up on the far side of this cut is from the 1860s. this is actually rock that was stacked up, and you can actually see they even kind of put some bigger rocks to act as a wall retaining wall to keep that from collapsing down into

i am walking you over to where the transcontinental railroad was completed. here, it isght within inches of where the original ceremony was held on may 10, 1869. included on this ties a list of the dignitaries from that company, including leland stanford, and the big four are all marked there. another thing you can see on this site is a connection with the resources that would have the twoilable to companies building the railroad. we have mocked up everything to make it as authentic as possible. if you look on the west side, you will see the cut ties. the central pacific had -- they cut all of their ties and brought them down from the mountain. the union pacific from the east had to hand cut their ties wherever they could find wood. not a lot available in the area so they would split them and you can see them mocked up, how they would cut them and bring them out when they could. the transcontinental railroad was happening at the end of the victorian age as you are going into the industrial age. it was a perfect time for the united states. when that transconti

we have hurt big interstate highways that are really big like the transcontinental railroad it had a defense rational. it was 41,000 miles of highways and a huge price tag. it opened up all kinds of opportunities and it helped -- >> host: it helped every state. >> guest: it helped the american economy after the war, the helped settlements because the suburbs were already there but they could grow because people could live in the idealic green suburb and get to work in cities. cities were abandoned at that time. we can get back to that later. but this defense rational we have had for all big projects including the sputnik space race and the cold war and those investments on defense are sparing. president eisenhower who wanteded the interstate highways said we could move troops and evacuate cities. in hurricane katrina it was clear you could not evacuate cities by everybody piling into cars and using the interstate. it doesn't happen. while they were great rationals at the time i say we are stuck in the past. we haven't had big enough visions since the 1950's maybe the early 1960's abo

. >> guest: in the history of really have to look at the transcontinental railroad. many people point to that as the glorious task and why couldn't it be like that today. when when i dug into the history which is fascinating it was not so glorious it because it took decades of discussion and nobody really did it until abraham lincoln forced to through. >> host: even during the time of the civil war. >> guest: isn't that amazing. there were a lot of compromises that need to be made. it did not work perfectly. the tracks started to be late from the east coast and west coast and they did not meet in the middle. so that took extra money to fix it. and there were tales of corruption, that is how jp morgan and rockefeller made their fortunes and started monopolies. but we could do it. we could envision that big budget because we are envisioning the growth of the u.s. from coast-to-coast. how do you use that coast-to-coast territory? you're not going to connected by stagecoach. the railroad connected it and made it possible for farmers to shift their products east to get go

lieutenant general of the army, she did work as he was dealing with indians threatening the transcontinental railroad, she was doing indian missionary work in washington. she was always in 2 charitable work. her husband, a lot of talk about his flirtation and affairs, some evidence of that but it is clear that he loved her dearly and he was a very healthy man, he died two years after alan died. at the last moment of his life as he was unconscious, his children brought in a catholic priest, his mother -- wished done. you probably know more about the grants than any. he did go on to become president, gave up his military pension when he became president, president two terms, julia loved being the first lady, nobody love to be in first lady like julia. after his second term they went on a two year tour of europe and in her memoir those two years of touring europe take up more space than any other part of her life, all the things she bought and she ate. suddenly twin disasters struck the grants. first the financial firm he invested in went bankrupt, sold everything except the source they presented to the

general of the army and she did work as he was dealing with indians for threatening the transcontinental railroad, she was doing indian missionary work in washington and she started an orphanage in washington. she was also into charitable work. her husband, there have been a lot of talk about his flirtations and maybe his affairs. there is some evidence of that, but it is clear that he loved her dearly and although he was a very healthy man, he died two years after ellen died. and at the last moment of his life as he was unconscious, his children brought in a catholic priest and have the last rate set over him as their mother would have wished it done. the grants, it's probably you probably know more about them than any, of course he did go on to become president, he gave up his military pension when he became president. he was president to terms, julia love be in the first lady, there is nobody who love being first lady like julia did. then after his second term they went on a two-year tour of europe and in her memoirs, those two years of touring europe take on more space than any other part of

i am walking you over to where the transcontinental railroad was completed. here, it isght within

was struck ine 1859, completing the construction of the transcontinental railroad. then in st. louis we too were the nation'sr largest monument. nearby is the old courthouse, one of the nations -- tour to key west, to president truman's little white house and hear stories of his time here as he work and relaxed. watch today at 2:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span3. working with our cable affiliates and visiting with cities across the country. >> 100 years ago, president woodrow wilson signed a bill creating the national park service and thursday, we look back on the past century of these caretakers of america's natural and historic treasures. beginning at 10:00 eastern and throughout the day, we take you to national park service sites across the country as reported by c-span. we are alive from the national park service's most visited historic home, arlington house, the robert e and arlington national cemetery. join us with your phone calls as we talk with robert stanton, former national park service director and former arlington house -- arlington house manager. thursd

so was the transcontinental railroad. it's way the heck out in the middle of nowhere, utah, but it's essentially broadcast 19th century style by telegraph, and a little wire attached to the rail, so when he drives the golden spine, it sends out a signal. people in public areas in new york and in boston, chicago, everywhere, all erupt in cheers when the continent is spanned. and of course all the overall -- there's the coreless generation so it was a big kind of muscle flexing, and locally right here, the brooklyn bridge. there's a lot of nostalgia, but that's not true. when it opened in 1883, it was the most advanced piece of technology and arguably in the world. it was a very complex machine, and so millions of people turned out for this unveil. the president came, the congress came. world dignitaries came, and the speeches, as you can imagine, talking about in glorious event. they used the word progress over and over again. so there's a lot to celebrate in this time period. of course there's also, if you went to the cer

so, too, was the transcontinental railroad when was that completed in 1869. tremendous celebrations. it is way the heck out there in the middle of nowhere in utah. but it is essentially broadcast, 19th century style, by telegraph all across the country. people in public areas in new york and boston, chicago and everywhere all erupt in cheers when the continent is spanned. this is a great era of world fairs or expositions. so the philadelphia centennial is a huge world's fair. draws millions and millions of people from around the country and around the world. the showcase event at this and all the other world's fairs is technology. coreless generator on the right there, the most amazing piece of powered machinery on the face of the earth. it powered the entire exposition. it was a big kind of muscle flexing of america's technology and ingenuity. right here, the brooklyn bridge. today we look at the brooklyn bridge and it is this beautiful old bridge, the stone towers and gothic archways and it kind of takes us -- there is a lot of nostalgia associated with the

so, too, was the transcontinental railroad when that was completed in 1869. tremendous celebrations. it's way the heck out in the middle of nowhere in utah, but it's essentially broadcast 19th century style by telegraph all across the country and they actually have a little telegraph wire atampd to the rail so when leland stanford drives the golden spike it connects and sends out a signal and people in public areas in new york, boston, chicago and boston, everywhere, all erupt in cheers when the continent is spanned. this is a great era of world's fairs or exposes so the philadelphia centennial is a huge world's fair. draws millions and millions of people from around the country and the world and the showcase event at this and all the other world events is technology. there's the generaton the right, the most amazing piece of power generating machinery and powered the entire exposition. so it was a big, big kind of muscle flexing of america's technology and ingenuity, and locally right here the brooklyn bridge which today you look at brooklyn bridge and it's

yay which was a instruction company and the union pacific railroad, they were building the transcontinental railroad, members of congress bought it, there was unscrupulous dealings. garfield had only ten share, he sold them before it became a big deal. and he was able to -- he got tainted a little bit because of his involvement in the scandal, but it didn't cause him great dist. in 1876, garfield's son neddy died and this time both he and lucretia were able to mourn together. as sad as the passing was, it brought this happily married couple finally together because they could share the grief. in 1879, a series of political events take place that are almost mind boggling that no one could have predicted. the republican leader of the house of representatives was james blaine of maine. blaine decides he'd rather be a senator. remember in those day, senators are not elected by the people, they are elected by the state legislatures. so blaine goes to the legislature in maine and says i want to be senator. they said fine, and he is elected to be the senator leaving vacant the leadership of the republican

one was one of the greatest achievements of the night century, the transcontinental railroad.. the private sector day. it's a great idea. time and time again, big projects have been undertaken by the private sector whether it's creation of the internet, network of airlines and airplanes and so forth. this is necessary and it's a great idea. >> he would renegotiate the contract. train for a trump tells you how it's going to finance it. hillary clinton does not talk about it. it's big government, but socialist ideas in a salad spinner and now comes these ideas paid for by the u.s. taxpayer. stuart: i also asked him about how it's going to get to growth of 4% or better. cut tax rates across the board. do you think that would work? the >> i think that's an outstanding idea. any great war war, what is happening you have to rebuild. it is a boom for the economy. if we rebuild america that will be a boom for the economy. the middle class will go back to work. the guys that can't work right now go back to these jobs because their machine tool guide. they can build this amount would be

golden utah, or the golden spike was struck in 1869, completing the construction of the transcontinental railroade it st. louis, we tour the tallest monuments of the nation. a memorial. located close by is one of the city passes most prominent landmarks. finally, we tour president harry s truman's white house, time here as he worked and relaxed. watch the cities tour today at on c-spaneastern three. the c-span cities tour working with our cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. >> book tv is live beginning at ,:00 p.m. eastern in washington a panel discussion with authors and educators about race relations is aiming the relationship between police and the african-american unity. aprilgton bureau chief ryan and offer -- author of the presidency of the presidency in black and white moderates that is russian. other panelists include a national correspondent, author , barack obama, the clintons, and the racial divide. clinton plessy center for african american studies chair, -- victoria christopher murray, author of stand your ground and university of baltimore school ,f law interim

. >>> so we're in utah, over to w transcontinental railroad was completed. this spot right here marked by the low wood tie is within inches of where the ceremony was held in 1869. included on this tie is a plaque that lists many of the dignitaries from that company, the central pacific in particular, including leyland stanford's name and the big four all marked there. another thing you can see here at the site is a connection with the resources that would have been available to the two companies building the railroad. we have actually mocked up everything, tried to make it as authentic as possible. if you look on the west side, you're going to see precut ties. the central pacific had plenty of