July 2, 1864---A Republican Bailout: The Railroad Act of 1864

JULY 2, 1864:    

President Lincoln signs into law the Railroad Act of 1864. This Act provides millions of dollars in government subsidies and millions of acres of free land grants to the struggling, nearly bankrupt Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads to finish building the Transcontinental Railroad, a project begun in January 1863 but stalled by the war. Wartime shortages have made materials costly. Construction expenses are astronomical. The Central Pacific has laid 18 miles of transcontinental rails east of Sacramento; the Union Pacific, none west of anywhere as of today. With this bailout, Lincoln the railroad lawyer has just made both companies rich, and they will get much richer.    

As the Confederacy contracted, its retreating troops tried to destroy as much infrastructure as possible to deny its use to the Union. Yankee ingenuity always thwarted their plans. This 80 foot high 400 foot long bridge over Potomac Creek was built of new lumber in only nine days, When President Lincoln saw it, he exclaimed that he had "seen one of the wonders of the world, a bridge built of beanpoles and cornstalks!" The bridge was replaced several times during the war.