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A new, shorter, "better" route was already being surveyed out in 1864–67. A new route was found and surveyed that went along part of the [[South Platte River]] in western of Nebraska and after entering what is now the state of [[Wyoming]] ascended a gradual sloping ridge between Lodgepole Creek and Crow Creek to {{convert|8200|ft|m}} [[Sherman Summit|Evans pass]] (also called Sherman's Pass) which was discovered by the Union Pacific employed English surveyor and engineer, James Evans, in about 1864.<ref>Discovery of Evan's Pass [http://up150.com/timeline/sherman-summit] accessed 8 Mar 2013</ref> This pass now is marked by the [[Ames Monument]] (41.131281,-105.398045 lat., long.) marking its significance and commemorating two of the main backers of the Union Pacific Railroad. From North Platte, Nebraska (elevation {{convert|2834|ft|m}}) the railroad proceeded westward and upward along a new path across the [[Nebraska Territory]] and [[Wyoming Territory]] (then part of the [[Dakota Territory]]) along the north bank of the [[South Platte River]] and into what would become the state of Wyoming at Lone Pine, Wyoming. Evan's Pass was located between what would become the new "railroad" towns of [[Cheyenne, Wyoming]] and [[Laramie, Wyoming]]. Connecting to this pass, about {{convert|15|mi|km}} west of Cheyenne, was the one place across the [[Laramie Mountains]] that had a narrow "guitar neck" of land that crossed the mountains without serious erosion at the so-called "gangplank" (41.099746,-105.153205 lat., long.) discovered by [[Major General]] [[Grenville Dodge]] in 1865 when he was in the U.S. Army.<ref>Gankplank discovery [http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2013/02/28/news/doc512ef29f863e8182631906.txt] accessed 5 Mar 2013</ref> The new route surveyed across Wyoming was over {{convert|150|mi|km}} shorter, had a flatter profile, cheaper and easier to construct, closer to Denver and the known coalfields in the [[Wasatch Range|Wasatch]] and [[Laramie Range]]s.
The railroad gained about {{convert|3200|ft|m}} in the {{convert|220|mi|km}} climb to Cheyenne from North Platte Nebraska—about {{convert|15|ft|m}} per mile (1.6 km)--a very
[[File:Dale Creek Bridge The Pacific Tourist.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Dale Creek Bridge]]
The Union Pacific reached the new town of Cheyenne in December 1867 having laid about {{convert|270|mi|km}} that year. They paused over the winter to get ready to push the track over Evan's (Sherman's) pass. At {{convert|8247|ft|m}}, Evans/Sherman's pass is the highest point reached on the transcontinental railroad. The Union Pacific connection at Cheyenne to Denver with its [[Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company]] railroad line was made in 1870. The new "railroad" town of Cheyenne (elevation {{convert|6070|ft|m}}) on the new Union Pacific route was chosen to be a major "railroad" town with its connection to Denver and was build with extensive railroad yards, maintenance facilities and Union Pacific presence. It was about {{convert|35|mi|km}} from Evans pass. Its location made it a good place to install extra [[steam locomotives]] to trains with [[snowplow]]s to help clear the tracks of winter snow or haul the freight over Evan's pass. The Union Pacific's junction with the Denver Railroad with its connection to [[Kansas City, Kansas]], [[Kansas City, Missouri]] and the railroads east of the Missouri River again increased Cheyenne's importance as the junction of two major railroads. Cheyenne later became Wyoming's largest city and the capital of the new state of Wyoming.▼
The Union Pacific reached the new town of Cheyenne in December 1867 having laid about {{convert|270|mi|km}} that year. They paused over the winter to get ready to push the track over Evan's (Sherman's) pass. At {{convert|8247|ft|m}}, Evans/Sherman's pass is the highest point reached on the transcontinental railroad. About {{convert|4|mi|km}} beyond Evans/Sherman's pass the railroad had to build an extensive bridge over the [[Dale Creek Crossing|Dale Creek]] canyon. The [[Dale Creek Crossing]] was one of their more difficult railroad engineering challenges.<ref>Pride and pitfalls along a coast to coast track, by Michael Kenney. Boston Globe. January 10, 2000. A book review: Empire Express: Building the first transcontinental Railroad, by David Haward Bain.</ref> Dale Creek Bridge was {{convert|650|ft|m|sing=on}} long and {{convert|125|ft|m|}} above Dale Creek.<ref name="up">{{cite web |url=http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/hist-ov/hist-ov4.shtml |title=UP construction}}</ref> The bridge was made of pre-built timber components in [[Chicago, Illinois]] and then shipped on rail cars to Dale Creek. The final assembly was made when the components got to the building site. The eastern and western approach to the bridge site, near the highest [[elevation]] on the [[Union Pacific Railroad]], required making a cut through granite for nearly a mile on each side of the bridge.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TZp_GT7PscIC|title=Nothing like it in the world: the men who built the transcontinental railroad, 1863-1869|first=Stephen E|last= Ambrose|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2001. | isbn=978-0-7432-0317-3}}</ref> The initial bridge had a train speed limit of {{convert|4|mi|km}} per hour across the bridge. Beyond Dale Creek the railroad stopped at what became the town of [[Laramie, Wyoming]] where they paused to build another bridge across the [[North Platte River]] as it headed north out of Colorado.
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The railroad established many townships along the way: [[Elkhorn, Nebraska|Elkhorn]], [[Grand Island, Nebraska|Grand Island]], [[North Platte, Nebraska|North Platte]], [[Ogallala, Nebraska|Ogallala]], [[Sidney, Nebraska]] as the railroad followed the Platte River across Nebraska territory. The railroad even dipped into what would become the new state of [[Colorado]] as it followed the [[South Platte River]] west into what would become [[Julesburg, Colorado]] before turning northwest along Lodgepole Creek into Wyoming. In the [[Dakota Territory]] (Wyoming) the new towns of: [[Cheyenne, Wyoming|Cheyenne]], [[Laramie, Wyoming|Laramie]], [[Green River, Wyoming|Green River]] and [[Evanston, Wyoming]] (named after James Evans) were established as well as many more fuel and water stops. The [[Green River (Wyoming)|Green River]] was crossed with a new bridge and a new "railroad" town of Green River constructed there after the tracks reached the Green River on October 1, 1868—the last big river. The tracks reached Evanston on December 4, 1868 having laid almost {{convert|360|mi|km}} of track over the Green River and the [[Laramie Plains]] that year. Evanston in 1871 became a significant train maintenance shop town where extensive repairs were done on the cars and steam locomotives.
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