Why was the Union Pacific railroad to begin in Omaha? Why was the Central Pacific to begin in Sacramento?
It was partly engineering and partly political. The struggle between the north and south over where to build the railroad had been going on since the mid 1840’s when Asa Whitney began lobbying Congress. Whitney was unsuccessful, but the Pacific Railroad Surveys of possible routes by the army corps of topographical engineers in the mid 1850’s resulted. (In retrospect a rather pointless fight, as essentially all the proposed transcontinental railroad routes were soon built.) Judah and Doc Strong had figured out a “practical route” over the Sierra Nevada mountains, and General Dodge had located a feasible route using the Platte River basin. Congress was able to finally approve the (first) route only after the start of the Civil War and the resignation of the southern Senators from Congress. Another answer would be that after years of Congressional lobbying by Judah, the Pacific Railroad Act of 1962 signed by Lincoln which provided the bond funding said specified Sacramento and Council Blu
