Visualizing the Transcontinental Railroad on a Map

On May 10, 1869, two crews that had been laying track toward each other for six years met at Promontory Summit, Utah, and drove a golden spike. Two converging lines and one meeting point: a map animation with a built-in climax.

Build the race from both ends

1. Lay the Union Pacific line west from Omaha through Cheyenne and Ogden, and the Central Pacific line east from Sacramento over the Sierra Nevada.
2. Use Train mode for both routes and time the legs so the two railheads close in together. This animation is a race, and it should feel like one.
3. Hold the final frame on Promontory Summit for a beat. That pause is the golden spike.

Ease like a locomotive

A steam train doesn't dart. It rolls, and your animation should roll with it. Open the Motion tab and use Motion Curves to flatten the bezier into near-constant speed, with only a gentle ease at each terminus. Steady motion is what makes the convergence feel inevitable.

Rail stories on every continent

The template travels well. Contrast the 1869 race with Japan's Shinkansen network in motion or the nine-time-zone haul of the Trans-Siberian Railway as a map animation.

Lay your own two lines in Route Builder and stage a meeting in the middle. Any two converging routes will work; the drama is all in the timing.