How the railroad shaped agriculture and civil rights in California

Kids growing up in California learn about the transcontinental railroad in the fourth grade, and the mostly Chinese laborers who laid the track eastward from Sacramento, leveling, drilling, and tunneling through the Sierra Nevada to meet the tracks that were being built east to west. The so-called Big Four railroad tycoons behind the Central Pacific Railroad also are well-known. But some of this history can get overlooked, like how the railroad — and its connection to food and agriculture — shaped much of California’s story.

Trains helped make the Golden State a farming powerhouse. With refrigerated cars, and icing stations across train routes, California produce could reach Midwestern and Eastern locales. But innovation went hand in hand with exploitation of the land — and of the workers. 

With few food options on the first cross-country railroad lines, especially in the West, businessmen stepped in.  Track-side restaurants, called Harvey Houses, served fancy cheeses, oysters,  sirloin, and generous slices of pie. The young waitresses, often brought in from the Midwest, worked hard under restrictive conditions. The advent of dining cars meant passengers with means could eat gourmet meals in luxury, while the Black porters and waiters faced discrimination. Their networking, organizing, and activism would lead to big changes on the railroad and in the country.

As author and archivist Benjamin Jenkins put it, “The railroad really revolutionizes just about every part of California’s politics, society and economy.”