 The Central Pacific Railroad, the Pacific end of the railroad, largely took over nearly all freight across the Sierra Nevada (U.S.) mountains in Northern California.By 1870 there were railroad connections to Oakland, California and via a train ferry to San Francisco, California from Sacramento—effectively connecting all the major cities in California then to the east coast.Southern California's first railroad, the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad, was inaugurated in October, 1869 by John G. Downey and Phineas Banning.