A best interest plea means that  a defendant does not admit guilt to any offense, but agrees that a guilty plea is in his best interest under the circumstances. The defendant is sentenced, while still able to disagree with the prosecutor's description of events.
The transcontinental railroad began in Omaha, Nebraska and ended in Sacramento, California. Two companies built the railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad company began laying track from Omaha to the west while the Central Pacific Railroad company headed east from Sacramento. They both met at the middle in Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869.
Five years later, in 1869, another national railroad company, the Union Pacific, completed the country's first transcontinental railroad line. This was great for the development of the Midwest, Southwest, and California, but did little to promote the growth of the Pacific Northwest. The Northern Pacific's land grant stipulated that the company complete its transcontinental line by July 4, 1876.