1865. The Great Plains.
1865年的北美大平原
Where 30 million buffalo roam.
3000万头美洲野牛在此狂奔
Vast, untouched, a wilderness dividing America.
这片广袤而未开发的荒原把美国一分为二
Crossing the continent takes six months.
横跨北美大陆需要花六个月
20,000 die on wagon trains.
西行的马车队中 有20000人半途丧命
By ship, it's an 18,000 mile journey around South America.
从水路需要绕道南美洲航行18000英里
To conquer the wilderness and unite East and West,President Lincoln green-lights a transcontinental railroad,2,000 miles long.
为了征服荒原，连接东西两岸，林肯总统批准修建一条横贯东西的铁路足有2000英里长
It will transform the nation triggering a tidal wave of settlement across the Great Plains.
它将改变整个国家引发一轮跨越大平原移民的热潮
Railroads were vital to the expansion of America.
铁路对美国的扩张发展至关重要
This technology connects people in a way that never before in the history of mankind has there been that kind of connection.
这项技术以一种，史无前例的方式将人们紧密相连
America's ancient wilderness meets modern American modern steel and muscle.
美国古老的荒原遭遇了现代技术与人力
An army of hammer-wielding men, Irish immigrants.
一大批挥舞榔头的工人，有的是爱尔兰移民
Civil War vets.Railway men.
有的是内战老兵，如今都成了铁路工人
Their mission: to tame nature itself.
他们的使命:征服大自然
The biggest obstacle heading east from California,a 12,000-foot wall of granite, the Sierra Nevada.
最大的障碍是位于加利福尼亚东面的高达12000英尺的悬崖峭壁，内华达山脉
With the Pacific of North America plates alive, billions of tons of ancient rock rise up crumpling like tinfoil.
由于北美洲毗邻的太平洋板块运动活跃，几十亿吨古老岩石拔地而起就像锡纸被挤皱起来一样
Over the last 4 million years,the Sierra Nevada mountains climb more than 2 miles high.
在过去的400万年里，内华达山脉上升了2英里多
They're still growing. 13 Feet in 1,000 years.
至今仍以每1000年13英尺的速度在升高
One day they could rival the Himalayas.
总有一天它会和喜马拉雅山一较高下