What is the length on the transcontinental railroad?
The first transcontinental railroad was 1776 miles long from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California (an easy American number to remember). The exact mileage varies over time as the railroad line was later realigned to slightly improve the route. You can get a different answer if you instead measure the length from Council Bluffs, Iowa or to Oakland or San Francisco, California, but the above answer is as originally built. A more precise number (to the foot) is on our homepage. They actually measured every foot of the entire route with a surveyor’s chain (see the construction reports). Another source records the distance as follows: Central Pacific comprised 742 miles of line from Sacramento, California to Ogden, Utah. Union Pacific comprised 1,032 miles of line from Omaha, Nebraska to Ogden, Utah. Total length of the first transcontinental railroad from Sacramento, California to Omaha, Nebraska was 1,774 miles.
