<P> The first transcontinental rail passengers arrived at the Pacific Railroad's original western terminus at the Alameda Mole on September 6, 1869 where they transferred to the steamer Alameda for transport across the Bay to San Francisco . The road's rail terminus was moved two months later to the Oakland Long Wharf about a mile to the north . Service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier continued to be provided by ferry . </P> <P> The CPRR eventually purchased 53 miles of UPRR - built grade from Promontory Summit (MP 828) to Ogden, U.T. (MP 881), which became the interchange point between trains of the two roads . The transcontinental line was popularly known as the Overland Route after the principal passenger rail service that operated over the length of the line until 1962 . </P> <P> Building a railroad line that connected the United States coast - to - coast was advocated in 1832 when Dr. Hartwell Carver published an article in the New York Courier & Enquirer advocating building a transcontinental railroad from Lake Michigan to Oregon . In 1847 he submitted to the U.S. Congress a "Proposal for a Charter to Build a Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean", seeking a congressional charter to support his idea . </P> <P> Congress agreed to support the idea . Under the direction of the Department of War, the Pacific Railroad Surveys were conducted from 1853 through 1855 . These included an extensive series of expeditions of the American West seeking possible routes . A report on the explorations described alternative routes and included an immense amount of information about the American West, covering at least 400,000 sq mi (1,000,000 km). It included the region's natural history and illustrations of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals . </P>

Who came up with the idea to build the transcontinental railroad