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Richmond Greenway

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The Richmond Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in Richmond, California .

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71-775: It runs along what was formerly the right-of-way of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway parallel to Ohio Avenue, between the end of the Ohlone Greenway adjacent to the intersection of Macdonald and San Pablo Avenues, and Point Richmond . There is a connector from the trail to the Macdonald 80 Shopping Center in the North & East neighborhood. The trail is landscaped with community gardens, native vegetation, daylighted portions of Baxter Creek , and an artificial creek channel used to filter pollution along its frontage. The western end of

142-512: A broad swath of land, as do many government-owned conversation areas. Some public rights-of-way are negotiated with government as a part of property development. This can result in a public-use right of way, such as an urban waterfront walkway, the public right to use a lobby as a shortcut during business hours, or public access to recreational land such as an urban park (which may include activities not limited to simply passing through). In England and Wales under current law, public access to rivers

213-679: A bulwark against potential incursions by the United States. Subsequently, two other transcontinental lines were built in Canada: the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) opened another line to the Pacific in 1915, and the combined Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR)/ National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) system opened in 1917 following the completion of the Quebec Bridge , although its line to

284-441: A certain number of years without obstruction by the property owner. Changes to circumstances (such as construction of a new road that connects to the dominant estate), disuse, and obstruction by the property owner may affect this type of right. In other geographic situations, several neighbors will agree to maintain (or inherit from the original developer) a private road that connects their properties, either as communally owned or as

355-647: A complete transcontinental link exists from Arica, Chile , to La Paz , Bolivia, to Buenos Aires, but this trans-Andean crossing is for freight only. On December 6, 2017 the Brazilian President Michel Temer and his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales signed an agreement for an Atlantic - Pacific railway. The construction will start in 2019 and will be finished in 2024. The new railway is planned to be 3750 km in length. There are two possible tracks in discussion: Both have an Atlantic end in Santos , Brazil but

426-414: A concession) are known as in gross and are typically created by arrangement. Right-of-way easements that benefit the general public are often created for foot, bridle, mountain bike, and ATV paths (often carrying a mix of users). These routes are all formally highways, but have legally restricted modes of use. Such rights-of-way might extend a recreational trail network from land owned by the government or

497-418: A contractual, appurtenant easement. Private ownership typically gives the owners more power, such as the right to restrict parking to owners and their guests. Traffic laws (such as obeying speed limits and stop signs) typically still apply to private roads if they are open to the general public. Transferrable easements (such as the right to use a specific boat ramp not used by the property owner or operate it as

568-423: A conversation non-profit, to connect trails to public roads, to make long-distance trails , or provide access to a beach or waterfront. Especially in common law jurisdictions, these can be created by longstanding use, also known as easement by prescription . They can also be purchased or by a government or conservation group or created by eminent domain. Property owners can also explicitly grant permission to use

639-656: A garden and an animal farm, and took groups of children to the Greenway to teach them about nature and pollution. Ms. Jones's advocacy "made possible the park we enjoy today." In 2006, an organization called Friends of the Richmond Greenway started organizing community events, advocating for the trail's expansion and helping with maintenance. 37°55′53″N 122°20′24″W  /  37.93131°N 122.33992°W  / 37.93131; -122.33992 Right-of-way (transportation) A right of way (also right-of-way )

710-457: A permanent public easement. Some jurisdictions legally recognize the right to roam —to move through any undeveloped land unless otherwise posted or fenced. This allows wandering beyond established trails. Even without a general the right to roam, not all rights-of-way have a physical indication of boundaries, and some easements do not specify any particular path to be taken when crossing. Some easements permit certain recreational activities across

781-555: A popular destination for foreign tourists in the city. Traditional rights of way take the form of servitude de passage (right of passage) and droit de marche-pied (right to walk, along canals and canalised rivers). There is a system of about 120,000 kilometres of well-marked footpaths in France. Many were formerly the main routes between villages and are often "steeper and more direct than modern roads". There are also, in addition, sentier de grande randonnée , long distance trails . In

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852-420: A public way is over the private property of a single neighbor. In these cases, the owner of the "servient" estate (which is the one being crossed) may simply give permission, or the "dominant" estate (the one needing access) may purchase the easement, for example to construct a driveway. Such easements are attached to the dominant estate, or appurtenant . The dominant estate cannot sell the easement separately from

923-401: A route, either through a deed restriction or informal means such as posted signs, and may place restrictions on times or types of traffic allowed. Whether this permission can be revoked or expire from disuse depends considerably on the legal jurisdiction, how it was granted, and the circumstances of public use. Some of these " permissive paths " are closed once a year to prevent the creation of

994-450: A transportation facility) can be created in a number of different ways. In some cases, a government, transportation company, or conservation non-profit purchases the full ownership of real estate , including everything above and below the ground. Many rights-of-way are created instead by easement , which is a right to cross that does not include full ownership of the land. For example, the original owner may still retain mineral rights under

1065-658: A truly transcontinental system in the 1900s. The line from San Francisco, California , to Toledo, Ohio , was completed in 1909, consisting of the Western Pacific Railway , Denver and Rio Grande Railroad , Missouri Pacific Railroad , and Wabash Railroad . Beyond Toledo, the planned route would have used the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad (1900) , Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway , Little Kanawha Railroad , West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway , Western Maryland Railroad , and Philadelphia and Western Railway , but

1136-412: A user to claim a right of way after 12 years of use across private land owned by another, 30 years on state land and 60 years on the foreshore . The claimant must apply to the courts, and have their claim confirmed by a court order, and then have it duly registered on the title deeds, a lengthy process. The user must prove "enjoyment without force, without secrecy and without the oral or written consent of

1207-446: Is a legal maneuver that avoids full abandonment, preserving a railroad easement for future reactivation without reverting property rights to real estate owners. Rail trails are often constructed on rights-of-way that no longer host active railroads, putting the property to productive use while preventing obstructions like buildings or crossing infrastructure from being built. These may be used for recreation or for bicycle commuting, given

1278-403: Is a transportation corridor along which people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access highways , railroads, canals, hiking paths, bridle paths for horses, bicycle paths, the routes taken by high-voltage lines (also known as wayleave ), utility tunnels, or simply

1349-456: Is defined as a right of way , and in addition there is a general presumption of access to the countryside. Private rights of way or easements also exist. Footpaths , bridleways and other rights of way in most of England and Wales are shown on definitive maps . A definitive map is a record of public rights of way in England and Wales. In law it is the definitive record of where a right of way

1420-696: Is generally provided on ocean waters under the law of the sea , subject to national laws. Public access to tidal shores depends on the jurisdiction. In the United States , railroad right-of-way easements carry with them, under applicable state laws, the right to control access by the public and even by the owner of the underlying land. Most U.S. railroads employ their own police forces, who can arrest and prosecute trespassers found on their rights-of-way. Some railroad rights-of-way (both active and disused) include recreational rail trails . In Canada railroad rights of way are regulated by federal law. In October 1880

1491-541: Is located. The highway authority (normally the county council , or unitary authority in areas with a one-tier system) has a statutory duty to maintain a definitive map, though in national parks the national park authority usually maintains the map. In Scotland , a right of way is a route over which the public has been able to pass unhindered for at least 20 years . The route must link two "public places", such as villages, churches or roads. Unlike in England and Wales there

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1562-529: Is more restricted than other parts of the UK, so that in many areas walkers can only enjoy the countryside because of the goodwill and tolerance of landowners. Permission has been obtained from all landowners across whose land the Waymarked Ways and Ulster Way traverse. Much of Northern Ireland's public land is accessible, e.g. Water Service and Forest Service land, as is land owned and managed by organisations such as

1633-399: Is no obligation on Scottish local authorities to signpost rights of way. However the charity Scotways , formed in 1845 to protect rights of way, records and signs the routes. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 codified in law traditional, non-motorised, access practices on land and water. Under the 2003 act a plain language explanation of rights is published by Scottish Natural Heritage:

1704-646: Is restricted, and only 2% of all rivers have public access rights. The Rivers Access Campaign is being undertaken by the British Canoe Union (BCU) to open up the inland water-ways in England and Wales on behalf of members of the public. Canals are not, in general, public rights of way in England and Wales. Waterways in the care of the Canal & River Trust are accessible for use by boats, canoeists, paddleboarders and other watercraft upon payment of an appropriate licence fee. Walkers and cyclists can freely use

1775-450: Is terminated, full rights automatically revert to the owner of the real estate over which the right of way passed. Some jurisdictions have a separate formal process for terminating disused right-of-way easements involuntarily, such as adverse abandonment for railroads in the United States. This allows property owners to regain full use after a railroad stops running but does not initiate the legal abandonment process on its own. Railbanking

1846-425: Is up to the owner to sell it to abutters, a conservation non-profit, another transportation company, or some other buyer. Full land ownership generally cannot be lost due to disuse, but abandoned right-of-way land can be taken by the government due to non-payment of property tax , by escheat if no private owner can be found (due to death without heirs or disincorporation), or by eminent domain if it wishes to return

1917-685: The California Gold Rush . Over the years the railway played a key role in the construction and the subsequent operation of the Panama Canal , due to its proximity to the canal. Currently, the railway operates under the private administration of the Panama Canal Railroad Company, and its upgraded capacity complements the cargo traffic through the Panama Canal. A second Central American inter-oceanic railroad began operation in 1908 as

1988-570: The East Coast Trail , established by a group of hiking enthusiasts, makes use of traditional trails between local communities along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula . In the Philippines , right of way disputes often arise when landowners block access to paths or roads that have been used by the public or specific individuals for a considerable period. The issue typically centers on whether

2059-610: The Isthmus of Panama , when that area was still part of Colombia . (Panama split off from Colombia in 1903 and became the independent Republic of Panama ). By spanning the isthmus, the line thus became the first railroad to completely cross any part of the Americas and physically connect ports on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . Given the tropical rain forest environment, the terrain, and diseases such as malaria and cholera , its completion

2130-562: The Land War of the 1880s to the end of British rule in 1922. Rights of way can be asserted by adverse possession , but proving continuous use can be difficult. A case heard in 2010 concerning claims over the Lissadell House estate was based on the historical laws, since amended by the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act, 2009 . The 2009 act abolished the doctrine of lost modern grant, and allows

2201-518: The National Trust and the Woodland Trust . Northern Ireland has much the same legal system as England, including concepts about the ownership of land and public rights of way, but it has its own court structure, system of precedents and specific legislation concerning rights-of-way and right-to-roam. In Québec City , Canada, which was originally built on the riverside bluff Cap Diamant in

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2272-749: The Panic of 1907 strangled the plans before the Little Kanawha section in West Virginia could be finished. The Alphabet Route was completed in 1931, providing the portion of this line east of the Mississippi River . With the merging of the railroads, only the Union Pacific Railroad and the BNSF Railway remain to carry the entire route. The completion of Canada's first transcontinental railway with

2343-521: The Republic of Ireland , pedestrian rights of way to churches, known as mass paths , have existed for centuries. In other cases, the modern law is unclear; Victorian era laws on easements protect a property owner's rights, amplified by the 1937 constitution , which stipulate that a right of way has to be specifically dedicated to public use. Opposing these, those claiming general rights of way hark back to an anti- landed gentry position that lasted from

2414-469: The Scottish Outdoor Access Code . Certain categories of land are excluded from this presumption of open access, such as railway land, airfields and private gardens. Section 4 of the access code explains how land managers are permitted to request the public to avoid certain areas for a limited period in order to undertake management tasks, however longer term restrictions must be approved by

2485-416: The centerline presumption (formerly strip and gore doctrine ). This doctrine may also be used to assert mineral rights under neighboring government-maintained roads in some jurisdictions, a question which has become more relevant since the invention of horizontal drilling . In other jurisdictions or circumstances, the right-of-way is simply a normal parcel which happens to have an unusual shape, and it

2556-522: The local authority . The ability to temporarily restrict public access is commonly exercised without notice by shooting, forestry or wind farm operators, but does not extend to public rights of way. In Scotland the public have a higher degree of freedom on rights of way than on open land. Blocking a right of way in Scotland is a criminal obstruction under the Highways Act, just as in England and Wales, but

2627-565: The tracks of either a single railroad or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies along a continuous route. Although Europe is crisscrossed by railways, the railroads within Europe are usually not considered transcontinental, with the possible exception of the historic Orient Express . Transcontinental railroads helped open up interior regions of continents not previously colonized to exploration and settlement that would not otherwise have been feasible. In many cases they also formed

2698-688: The 17th century, there are strategically placed public stairways that link the bluff to the lower parts of the city. The Upper City is the site of Old Québec's most significant historical sites, including 17th- and 18th-century chapels, the Citadel and the city ramparts. The Breakneck Stairs or Breakneck Steps (French: Escalier casse-cou ), Quebec City's oldest stairway, were built in 1635. Originally called escalier Champlain "Champlain Stairs", escalier du Quêteux "Beggars' Stairs", or escalier de la Basse-Ville "Lower Town Stairs", they were given their current name in

2769-472: The 18th and 19th centuries) have been given the power of eminent domain for the limited purpose of providing a certain type of transportation between specified locations. In the Western United States, the transcontinental railroad was funded by government land grants that gave railroads both the physical right-of-way and surrounding land that could be sold after becoming valuable parcels connected to

2840-510: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway lines carried freight through the city of Richmond. These transit networks enabled much of Richmond's considerable industrial activity. As a result, the Richmond Greenway was host to numerous "environmental hardships." During the late 1960s Richmond resident Lillie Mae Jones became a Greenway activist, working to turn the right of way of the former Santa Fe Rail Line. She organized community cleanups, created

2911-626: The Pacific ends are in Ilo and Matarani in Peru. Another longer Transcontinental freight-only railroad linking Lima , Peru, to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil is under development. The first railroad to directly connect two oceans (although not by crossing a broad "continental" land mass ) was the Panama Canal Railway . Opened in 1855, this 77 km (48 mi) line was designated instead as an "inter-oceanic" railroad crossing Country at its narrowest point,

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2982-850: The Pacific opened in 1914. The CNoR, GTPR, and NTR were nationalized to form the Canadian National Railway , which currently is now Canada's largest transcontinental railway, with lines running all the way from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast. There is activity to revive the connection between Valparaíso and Santiago in Chile and Mendoza , Argentina, through the Transandino project. Mendoza has an active connection to Buenos Aires . The old Transandino began in 1910 and ceased passenger service in 1978 and freight 4 years later. Technically

3053-749: The […] owner", a restatement of the centuries-old principle of Nec vi, nec clam, nec precario . A court order granting a right of way is personal to the applicant for their lifetime, and cannot be inherited or assigned. In England and Wales , other than in the 12 Inner London boroughs and the City of London , public rights of way are paths on which the public have a legally protected right to pass and re-pass. The law in England and Wales differs from that in Scotland in that rights of way only exist where they are so designated (or are able to be designated if not already) whereas in Scotland any route that meets certain conditions

3124-506: The affected parties have a legal right to use the route that traverses private property to reach a public road or a national highway . This causes delays in many infrastructure projects, and a laborious process at the local government level. Transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via

3195-467: The backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks. Many of them continue to have an important role in freight transportation and some like the Trans-Siberian Railway even have passenger trains going from one end to the other. A transcontinental railroad in the United States is any continuous rail line connecting a location on the U.S. Pacific coast with one or more of

3266-552: The building of Canada's first transcontinental rail line, the Canadian Pacific Railway , started. It was built by a consortium contracted by the government, and financed by CA$ 25 million in credit and required 25 million acres (100,000 km ) of land. In addition, the government defrayed surveying costs and exempted the railway from property taxes for 20 years. In the United Kingdom , railway companies received

3337-641: The country by rail. The first of these, the 3,103 km (1,928 mi) "Pacific Railroad" , was built by the Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad , as well as the Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870) , to link the San Francisco Bay at Alameda, California , with the nation's existing eastern railroad network at Omaha, Nebraska / Council Bluffs, Iowa — thereby creating the world's second transcontinental railroad when it

3408-584: The driving of the Last Spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia , on November 7, 1885, was an important milestone in Canadian history . Between 1881 and 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) completed a line that spanned from the port of Montreal to the Pacific coast, fulfilling a condition of British Columbia 's 1871 entry into the Canadian Confederation . The City of Vancouver , incorporated in 1886,

3479-585: The engineers were ex-Army men who had learned their trade keeping the trains running during the American Civil War . The Central Pacific Railroad faced a labor shortage in the more sparsely settled West. It recruited Cantonese laborers in China, who built the line over and through the Sierra Nevada mountains and then across Nevada to their meeting in northern Utah . Chinese workers made up ninety percent of

3550-554: The existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa , with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay . Its construction was considered to be one of the greatest American technological feats of the 19th century. Known as the "Pacific Railroad" when it opened, it served as a vital link for trade, commerce, and travel and opened up vast regions of the North American heartland for settlement. Much of

3621-419: The extensive network of towpaths that run alongside the canals in England and Wales. See Towpath#Britain for information on the legal status of towpaths. In Canada rivers are crown land and there is a legal "right to navigate over navigable waters. However, the difficult legal question is what constitutes navigable waters. There is no federal or provincial law defining this, nor is there any list of waters

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3692-457: The far slower and more hazardous stagecoach lines and wagon trains . The number of emigrants taking the Oregon and California Trails declined dramatically. The sale of the railroad land grant lands and the transport provided for timber and crops led to the rapid settling of the "Great American Desert". The Union Pacific recruited laborers from Army veterans and Irish immigrants, while most of

3763-642: The lack of publicly accessible rights of way maps in Scotland makes it very difficult to enforce. The unofficial National Catalogue of Rights of Way (CROW), compiled by the Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society (Scotways), in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage, and the help of local authorities. There are three categories of rights of way in CROW: Northern Ireland has very few public rights of way and access to land in Northern Ireland

3834-481: The long-distance transportation network. In new developments, the government may create the road network in cooperation with the land-owning developer or parcel owners—easement boundaries are defined in writing, and public roads formally "dedicated" as government-maintained. In some jurisdictions, utility companies may by law have a general easement to access certain areas when necessary to construct and maintain their networks. In many cases they must request permission from

3905-832: The mid-19th century, because of their steepness. The stairs have been restored several times, including an 1889 renovation by Charles Baillargé . Rights of way have been created in the US, both by historic use ( prescription ) and by grants made by the national and state governments, local authorities and private landowners. Trails that had been established by indigenous peoples were used by Europeans settling North America. Some became highways, while others have been incorporated recently into hiking trails. Examples include: Natchez Trace ; Santa Fe Trail ; Bozeman Trail . In Seattle , there are over 500 public stairways. Some rights of way in North America are hundreds of years old. In Newfoundland

3976-438: The neighboring property, and if the property is sold it would convey to the new owners. Courts may declare this type of easement exists as a matter of equity to resolve a dispute, if the easement was apparently left out of property deeds despite obvious necessity, if there was an apparent intent to create an easement but this was never formalized, or in some jurisdictions if an undocumented right of way has been in continuous use for

4047-608: The original route, especially on the Sierra grade west of Reno, Nevada, is currently used by Amtrak's California Zephyr , although many parts have been rerouted. The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West . It brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive. It replaced most of

4118-722: The owner to expand or perform construction activities on a government or private right-of-way. When a road, railroad, or canal is no longer needed, the effect on property rights depends on the jurisdiction and how the right of way was created. Many jurisdictions have a formal process of voluntary discontinuation or abandonment, often involving public comment. This allows the government to clarify which facilities it will and will not spend money to maintain, which can affect property owners and values. It also clearly distinguishes between transportation facilities which are temporarily not being used versus those which are permanently out of use, and provides for orderly transfer of rights. When an easement

4189-432: The paved or unpaved local roads used by different types of traffic. The term highway is often used in legal contexts in the sense of "main way" to mean any public-use road or any public-use road or path. Some are restricted as to mode of use (for example, pedestrians only, pedestrians, horse and cycle riders , vehicles capable of a minimum speed). Rights-of-way in the legal sense (the right to pass through or to operate

4260-439: The property to some productive use. Property outside of linear corridors, especially if improved with buildings (such as railroad stations and large highway interchanges) is more likely to be fully owned and sold off as real estate. Legal discontinuation or abandonment may trigger public auction or negotiated sale of government-owned land. Some right-of-way easements are created because the only way to access certain parcels from

4331-488: The public can use". Under federal law, all natural inland waterways of the United States are classifiable as "navigable" or "non-navigable". Navigable rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams are treated as "public highways", open to surface passage by anyone. The doctrine of navigable servitude gives the federal government primary regulatory power over navigable waters, but users are also subject to state police power . Ownership of non-tidal non-navigable waters goes along with

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4402-470: The railroads of the nation's eastern trunk line rail systems operating between the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers and the U.S. Atlantic coast. The first concrete plan for a transcontinental railroad in the United States was presented to Congress by Asa Whitney in 1845. A series of transcontinental railroads built over the last third of the 19th century created a nationwide transportation network that united

4473-634: The right to "resume" land for a right of way, by means of private Acts of Parliament . Resumption means compulsory acquisition of land. The various designations of railroad right of way are as follows: Construction of houses/buildings beside railway right-of-way presents a significant safety risk. For example, the Hanoi Department of Tourism in Vietnam ordered the permanent closure of cafes and shops along Hanoi Train Street for safety reasons despite its being

4544-499: The right-of-way easement, but not the right to exclude people from passing through certain parts of what would otherwise be private land. A government may build a right of way on land it already owns, for example a public park or "unowned" land leftover from the creation of the country), or seize land or an easement by eminent domain (compulsory purchase). Private companies can purchase land or easements, and in some cases (such as private toll roads (turnpikes), canals, and railroads in

4615-404: The submerged land, and issues of public access and trespass are treated similarly to private property on land. This may be determined by explicit deed, or implicitly as an extension of ownership of adjacent land, depending on the local ownership history and state law. The right to roam in northern European countries, including Scotland, usually includes rivers and lakes. Freedom of navigation

4686-637: The trail connects in Point Richmond with a bikeway through Point Molate and onto the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge . Pedestrian bridges may be added in the future to cross major avenues such as San Pablo Avenue and 23rd Street . An additional side project will add a bike lane/bike trail between the Richmond Greenway and the Ohlone Greenway at Potrero Avenue via 23rd Street, Carlson Boulevard, Cutting Boulevard , and Potrero. Beginning in 1904,

4757-401: The typical gentle slopes and connectivity of railroad rights-of-way. Some courts will extend the real property boundaries of abutters to the middle of the abandoned right-of-way, even if the right-of-way is outside the boundaries defined in the property deed. Treating the property as if it were an undocumented easement in this way avoids long, narrow strips of unproductive land. This is known as

4828-608: The workforce on the line. The Chinese Labor Strike of 1867 was peaceful, with no violence, organized across the entire Sierra Nevada route, and was carried out according to a peaceful Confucian model of protest. The strike began with the Summer Solstice in June, 1867 and lasted for eight days. The Transcontinental Railroad required land and a complex federal policy for purchasing, granting, conveying land. Some of these land-related acts included: George J. Gould attempted to assemble

4899-447: Was a considerable engineering challenge. The construction took five years after ground was first broken for the line in May, 1850, cost eight million dollars, and required more than seven thousand workers drawn from "every quarter of the globe." This railway was built to provide a shorter and more secure path between the United States' East and West Coasts. This need was mainly triggered by

4970-464: Was completed from Omaha to Alameda on September 6, 1869. (The first transcontinental railroad was the Panama Railroad of 1855.) Its construction was made possible by the US government under Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862, 1864, and 1867 . Its original course was very close to current Interstate 80 . The United States' first transcontinental railroad was built between 1863 and 1869 that connected

5041-519: Was designated the western terminus of the line. The CPR became the first transcontinental railway company in North America in 1889 after its International Railway of Maine opened, connecting CPR to the Atlantic coast. The construction of a transcontinental railway strengthened the connection of British Columbia and the North-West Territories to the country they had recently joined, and acted as

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