weighed 56 pounds to the yard, and was of
wrought iron in a "pear-shaped" configuration.
Congressional acts required the Pacific
Railway to be built with materials of
American manufacture, and steel rail,
available only from Europe at that time,
could not be used. Such light iron could not
stand the abuse of increasingly heavy
locomotives, and it was replaced in just a few
years with more durable steel. The piece
before you is one of the few complete sections
of Transcontinental Iron left today.
This sign is found along a route which has been photographed for inclusion in
the UntraveledRoad virtual world. To see and follow the route this sign
is on, click on its image.
