With the tools and technologies available to railroads today, it’s difficult to imagine the challenges facing the men who built the first transcontinental railroad. As historian Stephen Ambrose described it, there were no steam shovels, pile drivers or other power tools to move earth and cut through mountains. The 2,000 miles of track crossed vast stretches of desert, prairies and three mountain ranges. There was little water or food and few trees to make rails. The only way to get tracks to the end of the line was to carry them across tracks already in place.

When a group of businessmen gathered in a room above a Sacramento hardware store on a mid-November evening in 1860, it probably seemed like just another meeting. The attendees could not have known that the bargain they were about to strike would help revolutionize the American West.

They came to hear about an investment opportunity in the Central Pacific Railroad. A railroad engineer named Theodore Judah was trying to raise funds to conduct a survey. He was looking for the best route for a railroad that would start in Sacramento, climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and end near the rich mining region of Nevada. This 115 mile-stretch of track would eventually be part of the transcontinental railroad. But few of those present (beyond Judah), held such grand visions on this evening. These were practical businessmen, mostly interested in how the railroad would help them turn a profit.

Judah laid out the potential benefits of a California railroad. It would open the door to growth, he said, allowing businesses to sell more goods in California and Nevada and stifle competition. These were encouraging words, and nearly everyone in attendance that night purchased shares in the Central Pacific.1

Among the initial investors were four local shopkeepers: Charles Crocker, who dealt in dry goods; Mark Hopkins, a druggist; Leland Stanford, a wholesale grocer; and Collis Huntington, partner with Hopkins in the drugstore, as well as an attorney. Judah was initially unimpressed with his investors.

But Judah learned what these men were capable of soon enough. Their business dealings would dramatically change the face of California, the American West and the entire nation. For this reason Crocker, Hopkins, Stanford and Huntington would become the "Big Four."

From the beginning, the four men took control of the Central Pacific Railroad Company. They also formed a separate construction company, to which they awarded all construction contracts. Such a blatant conflict of interest on the part of directors, prohibited by law today, helped the quartet to profit from nearly all phases of construction.

It’s difficult not to admire men like Crocker, Hopkins, Stanford and Huntington. Their achievements speak for themselves. But to say they built the railroad would be a disservice to others. It ignores the contributions of the tens of thousands of Chinese, Irish and other immigrants who did the backbreaking and dangerous work.

Moreover, we should not ignore the suspected abuses of power. The Big Four created a monopoly. There was evidence they committed fraud and lied to Congress. In their haste to turn a profit, they took shortcuts with construction, requiring much of the work to be redone by others. Corruption was widespread among the UP and CP, and there was a perception the owners got rich at the people’s expense.

With the completion of the transcontinental railroad, change exploded across the West with the power of a runaway locomotive. Whether you consider them visionaries or opportunists, the Big Four were on board for the ride. They were passengers as well as conductors in a wild train ride that affected every aspect of American life.

Given the enormity of the job, it’s no wonder the men who built the railroad seem like giants to some of us today. They are remembered by many as grand visionaries who conquered a continent and brought the country together. To others they were simply businessmen who took advantage of an opportunity presented to them. They were monopolists and robber barons who got rich at the expense of others.

You can make up your own mind about the character and contributions of these men. The following short profiles will introduce you to the characters involved. They are intentionally brief, but telling nevertheless. Some of these men, driven by vision and passion, brought the idea of a transcontinental railroad to life before a hopeful nation. Others provided the money and business know-how required for such a fantastically complex and expensive project. And others still got their hands dirty, working side by side with the thousands of workers who helped unite the nation along a ribbon of iron and timber on May 10, 1869, in Promontory Point, Utah.