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Auburn Annie · 08-22-2003, 07:10 PM

quote:Originally posted by johnfowles:
The Irish??
I do not understand how on earth you considered the Irish Gerry
I thought they were at the time far too busy scratching their heads having been given a spade and a fork and been told to "take their pick".
No but it must be an insult to the Chinese "navvies" as in CRT as I believe they built not only the Canadian Railroad but most of the State's too

I don't know about the CRT but as for the US transcontinental railroad, it was built by 2 competing companies, the Union Pacific (from east to west) and the Central Pacific (working from California eastward.) They met at Promontory Point Utah to drive in the final ceremonial spike. At its peak work force, the CP was made up of about 90% Chinese workers, the rest mostly Irish. On the other hand, the UP had few Chinese, made up of Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans of all sorts, including a few newly freed black Americans. See http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/hist-ov4.shtml for an overview of the construction.

08-22-2003, 07:10 PM	#34
Auburn Annie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 3,101	quote:Originally posted by johnfowles: The Irish?? I do not understand how on earth you considered the Irish Gerry I thought they were at the time far too busy scratching their heads having been given a spade and a fork and been told to "take their pick". No but it must be an insult to the Chinese "navvies" as in CRT as I believe they built not only the Canadian Railroad but most of the State's too I don't know about the CRT but as for the US transcontinental railroad, it was built by 2 competing companies, the Union Pacific (from east to west) and the Central Pacific (working from California eastward.) They met at Promontory Point Utah to drive in the final ceremonial spike. At its peak work force, the CP was made up of about 90% Chinese workers, the rest mostly Irish. On the other hand, the UP had few Chinese, made up of Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans of all sorts, including a few newly freed black Americans. See http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/hist-ov4.shtml for an overview of the construction.