Editing Central Pacific Railroad (section)

==Timeline==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2022}}

'''1861'''
* June 28, 1861: "Central Pacific Rail Road of California" incorporated; name changed to "Central Pacific Railroad of California" on October 8, 1864, after the [[Pacific Railroad Acts|Pacific Railway Act]] amendment passes that summer.<ref>[http://www.cprr.org/Museum/CPRR_By-Laws.html By-Laws of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, Incorporated: June 28, 1861] "The Industrial and Financial Resources of the United States of America, as developed by the official returns of the Northern and Southern States and Territories, with an Appendix containing a detailed description of Federal, State, and City securities, railroad and canal bonds and shares, bank shares, etc. from statements nearest Jan. 1, 1863, and the Charters of the Union Pacific Railroads, the General Railroad Law of California, and the By-laws of the Central Pacific Railroad Co. of California." New York: Samuel Hallett, Banker and Railroad Negotiator.  1864</ref>

[[File:CPRR Button 1867.jpg|right|thumb|CPRR logo gilded "Staff" uniform button]]

'''1862'''
* July 1, 1862: President [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] signs the [[Pacific Railway Act]], which authorized the Central Pacific and the [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] to build a railroad to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>[http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Pacific_Railroad_Acts.html "An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes] 12 Stat. 489, July 1, 1862</ref>
'''1863'''
* January 8, 1863: Ground-breaking ceremonies take place at [[Sacramento, California]], at the foot of "K" Street at the waterfront of the [[Sacramento River]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Ambrose| first=Stephen E.| title=Nothing Like It in the World| publisher=Simon & Schuster| year=2000| location=New York| page=[https://archive.org/details/nothinglikeitinw00ambr_0/page/106 106]| isbn=0-7432-0317-8| url=https://archive.org/details/nothinglikeitinw00ambr_0/page/106}}</ref>
* October 26, 1863: First rail of the Pacific Railroad laid at [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]].<ref name="first rail 1863">{{cite web |title=The First Raid Laid: Sacramento Daily Union, Tuesday, October 27, 1863. |url=http://cprr.org/Museum/First_Rail_Laid_1863.html |website=cprr.org |access-date=20 July 2020 |quote=Yesterday morning the contractor to build a section of eighteen miles laid the first rail on the western end of the Pacific Railroad, as described in the bill passed by Congress.}}</ref>
'''1864'''
* April 26, 1864: Central Pacific opened to [[Roseville, California|Roseville]], {{convert|18|mi|km}}, where it makes a junction with the [[California Central Railroad]], operating from Folsom north to Lincoln.
* June 3, 1864: The first [[revenue]] train on the Central Pacific operates between [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] and [[Newcastle, California]]
* October 8, 1864: Following passage of the amendment to the Pacific Railroad Act, the company's name is changed to "Central Pacific Railroad of California", a new corporation.

[[File:Central Pacific Railroad 1865 sand cast journal box cover.jpg|thumb|right|1865 CPRR journal cover]]
[[File:"End of the Track. Near Humboldt River Canyon, Nevada." Campsite and train of the Central Pacific Railroad at foot of mo - NARA - 533792.jpg|thumb|right|End of the track near Humboldt River Canyon, Nevada, 1868]]
[[File:57. Summit station, C.P.R.R.jpg|thumb|right|Summit station at Sierra Nevada]]

'''1865'''
* February 1865: Central Pacific hired its first 50 [[Cantonese people|Cantonese]] emigrant laborers on a trial basis.
* May 13, 1865: Central Pacific opened {{convert|36|mi|km}} to [[Auburn, California]].
* September 1, 1865: Central Pacific opened {{convert|54|mi|km}} to [[Colfax, California]] (formerly known as "Illinoistown".)
'''1866'''
* December 3, 1866: Central Pacific opened {{convert|92|mi|km}} to [[Cisco, California]].

'''1867'''
[[File:Donner Pass Summit Tunnel West Portal.jpg|thumb|right|Summit Tunnel, West Portal ''(Composite image with the tracks removed in 1993 digitally restored)'']]

* June 25, 1867: 5,000 Chinese railroad workers went on strike in protest against the longer hours and wage inequality they were facing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=150 years ago, Chinese railroad workers staged the era's largest labor strike|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/150-years-ago-chinese-railroad-workers-staged-era-s-largest-n774901|access-date=2020-07-17|publisher=NBC News|date=June 21, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>
* August 28, 1867: The [[Sierra Nevada]]s were finally "conquered" by the Central Pacific Railroad, after almost five years of sustained construction effort by its mainly Chinese crew about 10,000 strong, with the successful completion at [[Donner Pass]] of its 1,659-foot (506 m) Tunnel No. 6 (a.k.a. the "Summit Tunnel").<ref>Cooper, Bruce C. [http://cprr.org/Museum/Sierra_Grade_8-2003/Donner_Pass-Summit_Tunnel/index.html CPRR Summit Tunnel (#6), Tunnels #7 & #8, Snowsheds, "Chinese" Walls, Donner Trail, and Dutch Flat Donner – Lake Wagon Road at Donner Pass] CPRR.org.</ref>
* December 1, 1867: Central Pacific opened to Summit of the [[Sierra Nevada]], {{convert|105|mi|km}}.
'''1868'''
* June 18, 1868: The first passenger train crosses the Sierra Nevada to Lake's Crossing (modern day [[Reno, Nevada]]) at the eastern foot of the Sierra in Nevada.
'''1869'''
* April 28, 1869: Track crews on the Central Pacific lay {{convert|10|mi|km}} of track in one day. To date, this is [[Tracklaying race of 1869|the longest stretch of track to have been built in one day]].
* May 10, 1869: The Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks meet in [[Promontory, Utah]], connecting [[Omaha, Nebraska]] with [[Sacramento, California]].
* May 15, 1869: The first transcontinental trains are run over the new line to Sacramento, California.
* September 6, 1869: The first transcontinental train reaches the [[San Francisco Bay]] at [[Alameda Terminal]], achieving the first Pacific Railroad from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean.<ref>{{cite news |title=THE FIRST THROUGH TRAIN ON THE WESTERN PACIFIC ROAD. |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18690907.2.6&srpos=12&e=------186-en--20--1-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-%22first+through+train%22----1869--- |publisher=Daily Alta California |date=7 September 1869 |quote=The opening of the Western Pacific Railroad from Stockton [Sacramento] to Alameda was finally consummated last evening [Sept. 6] by the arrival at the latter place of the first through train.}}</ref>
* November 8, 1869: Central Pacific subsidiaries, [[Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)]] and [[San Francisco and Oakland Railroad]], complete the final leg of the route, connecting [[Omaha, Nebraska]] to [[Oakland, California]].<ref>{{cite news |title=RAILROAD CELEBRATION AT OAKLAND. |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18691109.2.6&srpos=2&e=------186-en--20--1-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-%22first+through+train%22----1869--- |publisher=Daily Alta California |date=9 November 1869 |quote=Yesterday was a day that will be marked in the history of Oakland. The last link binding the Atlantic and the Pacific has been forged, and the entire length of the Pacific Railroad from Omaha to Oakland is completed and in full operation.}}</ref>
'''1870'''
* June 23, 1870: Central Pacific is consolidated with the [[Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)]], [[San Francisco and Alameda Railroad]] and [[San Francisco and Oakland Railroad]] to form the "Central Pacific Railroad Co." (of June 1870).
* August 22, 1870: Central Pacific Railroad Co. is consolidated with the California & Oregon; San Francisco, Oakland & Alameda; and San Joaquin Valley Railroad; to form the "Central Pacific Railroad Co.", a new corporation.
'''1876'''
* April 30, 1876: Operates the [[California Pacific Railroad]] between South [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]] and Sacramento, [[Calistoga, California|Calistoga]] and [[Marysville, California|Marysville]] until April 1, 1885 (see below).
'''1877'''
* July 16, 1877: Start of the [[Great railroad strike of 1877]] when railroad workers on strike in [[Martinsburg, West Virginia]], derail and loot a train; United States President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] calls in Federal troops to break the strike.
'''1883'''
* November 18, 1883: A system of one-hour standard [[time zone]]s for American railroads was first implemented. The zones were named Intercolonial, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. Within one year, 85% of all cities having populations over 10,000, about 200 cities in total, were using [[standard time]].
'''1885'''
* April 1, 1885: Central Pacific is leased to [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]].
'''1888'''
* June 30, 1888: Listed by ICC as a "non-operating" subsidiary of Southern Pacific.
'''1899'''
* July 29, 1899: Central Pacific is reorganized as the "Central Pacific Railway".
'''1959'''
* June 30, 1959: Central Pacific is formally merged into the Southern Pacific.