U.S.History the rail road has been broke could they have hired thieves back then also?

Question

U.S.History the rail road has been broke could they have hired thieves back then also?

Answer 1

Hiring a thief is always a possibility, regardless of time or circumstance.

Answer 2

Actually, the builders of the first Transcontinental Railroad, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, were known for their theivery.  This is where the term "getting railroaded" came from.

The rails across the plains, and the right of way they needed, often came at the expense of individuals and families, and were the first excellent examples of "eminent domain" abuse, which is once again rearing its ugly head, but in other areas but for the same reason:  $$$$$.

They were given a section of land, alternating, every other section, alternating sides of the tracks, all along the thousands of miles of route.

The CP was not to be outdone, in this regard. In addition to the huge tracks of land granted, there were large subsidies paid once grading began "in the mountains" of the Sierra Nevada. Building eastward, the CP began grading "in the mountains" about 2.25 miles east of what became Arcade Station in Old Sacramento.  In actuality, one heads east for 22 miles before reaching the Sierra foothills.  The CP construction engineers had succeeded in moving an entire mountain range many miles from its original location.

In addition, the CP and its founding fathers were collectively referred to as "the octopus".

All the land grabbing and fraud was financed by the people of the US in the form of funding for the Pacific Railway Act, which commissioned and in large part funded the construction of the cross country rail line. Still immoral in practice, as far as the graft and corruption was concerned, it did open up the west in earnest and it was the vision of Abraham Lincoln who made it happen, as it was he who signed the bill into law.

But, railroaders themselves, the unselfish, not only doing a job but performing a vital service to the nation, are not theives. Yes, well paid, and they earn every d**n penny of it. If that is the implication behind the question, then I'm afraid you're out of touch, my friend.