Transcontinental railroad: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

A transcontinental railroad is a railway across an entire continent.

• Americas: The first transcontinental railroad was the Panama Railway, completed in 1855, near the narrowest point on the continent.It is 48 miles long.
  • North America: The first North American transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, after track was laid over a 1,700 mile (2,700 km) gap between Sacramento, California and Omaha, Nebraska in six years.
    • Canada: Canadian Pacific completed the first trans-Canada railway in 1885.
• Asia: The first Asian transcontinental railroad was the Trans-Siberian railway (with connecting lines in Europe), completed in 1905. It is the world's longest rail line at 9,289 kilometres (5,787 miles) long.
• Australia: The first trans-Australian railway was completed 1912. The first north-south trans-Australia railway opened in January, 2004.
• Africa: Although there is no African transcontinental railroad, the Cape-Cairo railway was famously planned by Cecil Rhodes but was never built.

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