The "building the transcontinental railroad" idea was used once before in a TV series way back in the mid-50s. It was called "UNION PACIFIC" and was a low budget syndicated western series starring a little-known actor named Jeff Morrow. He was a "trouble shooter" for the railroad and had to solve various problems with Indians, outlaws, weather, terrain, etc. It used mostly "stock shots" of trains from old movies, and occasionally a few location shots with some old engine (maybe one of the Virginia & Truckee RR engines). Most of it was shot on a soundstage with the same bunch of extras pretending to lay some fake track across a really bad piece of phony "scenery" consisting of papermache boulders, cactus and trees. Really bad. Hopefully this new entry will at least look more realistic. Although, some CGI effects are way over the top, almost worse than the old model effects they replaced. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Richard Symmes