Promontory Point, Utah, United States. The last ties and rails are laid, and the First Transcontinental Railroad is completed. The Coast-to-Coast journey suddenly drops from six months to a week. Everything changes. Even though the ticket costs a whopping $65 ($1,240 today). Lyman Potter, on a bet, will offer to, and actually complete, the journey across the United States, following approximately the same route as the railroad, departing from Albany, New York, pushing a wheelbarrow on foot. He departed on April 10, 1878, with only $3 and 55 cents in his pocket. He will reach San Francisco on October 27, having completed the journey on foot and in a wheelbarrow in 201 days.
