The Secret Nitroglycerin Factory That Built the Transcontinental Railroad (1866)

In a single week in 1866, the crews fighting their way over Donner Pass burned more black powder than exploded on some Civil War battlefields, and still moved only inches through the granite. This is the story of how the Central Pacific Railroad finally broke the Sierra Nevada, told through the tools, the powder, and the chemistry that did the work. From Bloomer Cut to the cliff at Cape Horn to the secret nitroglycerin factory beside Donner Lake, this is part one of the Granite Gauntlet. Every documentary takes days of research. You can help us keep going by leaving a small donation — just click the link and support us: https://buymeacoffee.com/construction... We walk the line the way the work moved, from the foothills to the summit. You will see why black powder nearly lost the race against the mountain, how three men drilled a single hole into granite with a hammer and a steel rod, why a chemist named James Howden built a bomb factory under a shed roof at seven thousand feet, and why Charles Crocker ordered the most powerful explosive of the age buried the moment the tunnel was through. We also settle the old Cape Horn basket legend against what the records actually say. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — The mountain that was winning 03:00 — Bloomer Cut and the first fight with rock 08:50 — Cape Horn and the basket legend 14:31 — The Summit Tunnel and drilling granite by hand 22:34 — Howden's nitroglycerin factory at Donner Lake 27:41 — Why they buried the bottles SOURCES & FAIR USE Historical imagery and archival photographs are used for educational and documentary purposes under fair use. Primary engineering figures drawn from John R. Gilliss, "Tunnels of the Pacific Railroad" (ASCE Transactions, 1870), Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum (cprr.org), and period newspaper records. #TranscontinentalRailroad #DonnerPass #CentralPacific #RailroadHistory #Engineering #SierraNevada #Nitroglycerin #IndustrialHistory #ConstructionHistory #HeavyEngineering Subscribe for more:    / @constructionlegends