January 28

If you ever want to get an idea of just how big America is, simply take a train ride from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It is a great trip, but I should warn you that you must be extremely fond of trains. Trans-continental train service in the United States became possible on May 10, 1869, when the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads were joined at Promontory Summit, Utah. However, the first trans-continental train trip was made by the Panama Railway across the tiny Isthmus of Panama on the 28th in 1855.