<P> The original route from the Central Valley to the Bay skirted the Delta by heading south out of Sacramento through Stockton and crossing the San Joaquin River at Mossdale, then climbed over the Altamont Pass and reached the East Bay through Niles Canyon . The Western Pacific was originally chartered to go to San Jose, but the Central Pacific decided to build along the East Bay instead, as going from San Jose up the Peninsula to San Francisco itself would have brought it into conflict with competing interests . The railroad entered Alameda and Oakland from the south, roughly paralleling what would later become U.S. Route 50 and later still Interstates 5, 205, and 580 . A more direct route was obtained with the purchase of the California Pacific Railroad, crossing the Sacramento River and proceeding southwest through Davis to Benicia, where it crossed the Carquinez Strait by means of an enormous train ferry, then followed the shores of the San Pablo and San Francisco bays to Richmond and the Port of Oakland (paralleling U.S. Route 40 which ultimately became Interstate 80). In 1930, a rail bridge across the Carquinez replaced the Benicia ferries . </P> <P> Very early on, the Central Pacific learned that it would have trouble maintaining an open track in winter across the Sierras . At first they tried plowing the road with special snowplows mounted on their steam engines . When this was only partially successful, an extensive process of building snow sheds over some of the track was instituted to protect it from deep snows and avalanches . These eventually succeeded at keeping the tracks clear for all but a few days of the year . </P> <P> Both railroads soon instituted extensive upgrade projects to build better bridges, viaducts and dugways as well as install heavier duty rails, stronger ties, better road beds etc . The original track had often been laid as fast as possible with only secondary attention to maintenance and durability . The primary incentive had been getting the subsidies, which meant that upgrades of all kinds were routinely required in the following years . </P> <P> The Union Pacific would not connect Omaha to Council Bluffs until completing the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge in 1872 . </P>

Who was hired to work on the railroads