In October 1860, railroad engineer Theodore Judah looked out across California’s Sierra Nevada range, dreaming of a railroad that would connect the United States from coast to coast. It was the start of a decade-long endeavor to build the world’s first transcontinental railroad.Two competing railroad companies would eventually begin construction, but laying ... Show More
Nov 2024
Transcontinental Railroad | Hell on Wheels | 3
In early 1866, Central Pacific workers were stalled in California, facing the monumental task of blasting 15 tunnels through solid granite in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Thousands of Chinese laborers would be pushed to their breaking point.One-thousand miles to the east, workers ... Show More
38m 52s
May 2021
The Chinese Immigrants Who Built America
May 10, 1869. On the dusty, barren plains of Promontory Summit, Utah, a crowd is gathered to celebrate an American milestone – the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the first piece of infrastructure to connect the two sides of the United States. But this achievement di ... Show More
23m 2s
Mar 2023
The Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian railway is the longest train line in the world, spanning 5700 miles, seven time zones, and straddling two continents.
Though today’s passengers on the week-long journey can enjoy relative luxury, the route has a dark past. Who were the labourers who built it, e ... Show More
50m 9s
May 2025
Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)
Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama and the dramatic collapse of the French Panama Canal company. Now, President Theodore Roosevelt has picked up the task. “No single great material work,” Roosevelt tells Congress, “is of such cons ... Show More
40m 33s