When Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced their merger deal Tuesday to form “America’s first transcontinental railroad,” it puzzled some who recalled the golden spike driven in 1869 at Utah’s Promontory Summit. That last spike only connected two railroads from Omaha, Neb., to Sacramento, Calif.

Union Pacific has signed an agreement to acquire Norfolk Southern in a stock and cash transaction, at an enterprise value of $85bn, which will result in a combined enterprise worth over $250bn. This strategic move will create the first modern transcontinental railroad in the US,