In 1852, shortly after the Gold Rush, forward-thinking businessmen led by Charles Wilson incorporated the Sacramento Valley Railroad, the first railroad west of Missouri. Wilson hired 28-year-old Theodore Judah to design the alignment along R Street in Sacramento and the open flat land that is today's Folsom Boulevard. Built in 1855-1856 along the south bank of the American River with plans to continue over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the 23-mile line was constructed from English iron with 5-foot gauge rails laid two blocks at a time. By January 1856, it had reached Granite City, today's Folsom, and Judah had moved on to larger projects with the Big Four and what would become the Transcontinental Railroad. Passing through rich farmland and open prairie, stations at Routier, Mills, and Citrus soon enabled Rancho Cordova farmers to get their produce to market. In 1862, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, spurring the creation of the nation's first transcontinental railroad. Bypassed by the newly incorporated Central Pacific Railroad, built from Sacramento over Donner Pass to the north, the line made its final extension, the Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad, built in 1863-1865 from Folsom to Placerville, in a failed attempt to beat its rival over the mountains and fulfill its original vision. Known as the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch since 1898 and in continuous operation since 1856, part of the route still carries Union Pacific freight. During the 1950s through the 1970s, the rail line supported Cold War and Space Race efforts at both Mather AFB and Aerojet, helping make Rancho Cordova a Cold War boomtown. The historic Mills Station Building was relocated and rebuilt, and in 2002 Sacramento Regional Transit opened light rail service to Mather/Mills Station to serve a burgeoning Rancho Cordova job center, continuing the route's economic importance along the Rancho Cordova Heritage Corridor.