who directed the union pacific railroad’s movement west
Union Pacific Railroad The line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War.[3] The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah, 53 miles (85Â km) west of Ogden on May 10, 1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America.[4] Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha.