Building a Railroad

Can you imagine if you were told after the Civil War that you had to lay tracks for a railroad from New York all the way to California? Not only did they have to worry about Indians, they also had to figure out how to bring in the supplies necessary and enough workers to get the job done. They had to cut down trees and carve the wood to make railroad ties. Some areas didn't have trees for many miles so they had to move the wood to the area they were laying the tracks. They not only needed steel, they needed blacksmiths to shape it sometimes having to make significant curves in the tracks. They had to dig the ground to make sure it was level. They had to build bridges then put the tracks on top of it with the requirement of being able to hold a train and cargo. There weren't computer programs helping them figure out how to engineer a bridge. There weren't computer programs that told them how much dynamite they'd need to cut paths through the mountains.

​When I think about what they accomplished it absolutely blows my mind. I don't think I was smart enough to become a doctor and I certainly wonder whether I could ever have been smart enough to become an engineer. They certainly are responsible for making our country what it is today.