The Pacific Railway Acts were passed by the United States Congress in 1862 and 1864.
The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 gave land grants in the western United States to the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad (later the Southern Pacific Railroad) to construct a transcontinental railroad. The act granted 10 square miles (26 km²) of public land on each side of the track for every mile laid.
See also, First Transcontinental Railroad (North America)
