Arguably the most important part of the transcontinental rail journey -- and the most difficult section of track to lay -- was the connection between council bluffs , iowa , and san francisco , known as the overland route .
This nationalist program included : a huge increase in central government power fueled by the first income tax and by heavy taxes on liquor and tobacco , vast land grants as well as monetary subsidies to new transcontinental railroads ; and the reestablishment of a protective tariff .