Chinese Railroad Workers

Hello. My name is Wong Ah-Lin. I want to tell you about a very big job I once had. A long, long time ago, I traveled on a big boat across the wide, blue water. The journey took many, many days. I came all the way from my home far away to a country called America. I came to help build something amazing. It was a long, long road for the choo-choo trains to ride on. This road was called a railroad, and it would stretch all the way across the big country so everyone could travel and see new places. It was a very important job, and I was excited to help.

Every day, I worked hard with my many new friends. We were a big team, and we were very strong together. We would lift the long, heavy pieces of metal track and lay them on the ground, one by one. After the track was in place, we used our hammers to put in shiny spikes that held it down. All day you could hear us working. Tap, tap, tap. Our hammers made a happy song. The biggest job was when we came to a great big mountain. It was so tall. But we were not scared. We worked together to make a path right through the mountain for the choo-choo train. It was hard work, but helping my friends made it fun.

Then, one very special day, our work was finished. It was May 10th, 1869. The track we built from one side met the track that our friends built from the other side. Hooray. We were all so happy and proud. To celebrate, a special shiny golden spike was used to join the last two pieces of track together. Soon after, we heard a toot-toot. The first choo-choo train came riding down the road we had built. Seeing it chug along made my heart feel so full. Our hard work made it possible for people to travel across the whole country. It showed that when we all work together, we can do amazing things.