Hell on Wheels (2011–2016): Season 5, Episode 13 - Episode #5.13 - full transcript
(LOUISE): Between the pounding
of that first spike in Council Bluffs,
and the last, yet to be struck,
here in northeastern Utah...
Thomas Durant, Collis Huntington
and their mighty railroads
have bamboozled
and brow-beat Congress
into paying for their splendid
blue-ribbon franchise...
(TYPEWRITER CLICKING)
Over-budget
and behind schedule,
progress at every turn
on the great Transcontinental Railroad
has been bedeviled
by labor unrest,
calamity of nature,
God, and man.
Having followed the loose
and turbulent population
that over the last four years has built
this monument to folly...
I can report no happier visage
than the two railroads
laying down of iron
within striking distance
of one another.
The line of workers stretches like an army
between Promontory and Weber Canyon,
the Central Pacific to the west...
(TYPEWRITER CLICKING)
...the Union Pacific
to the east...
Each company racing toward
the prize that lies between Ogden...
Its rich mineral deposits
promised by President Grant
to whomever
lays track there first.
I shall be glad,
after the last spike is driven,
to contemplate
the bond of iron
which is to hold our beloved nation
in one eternal union.
For it is, at last,
no longer a question of
"If the road will be built",
but of who will cross
the finish line first...
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Will it be Doc Durant,
the financial rascal with a burning desire
for wealth and fame?
Or Collis P. Huntington
and his Chinese workforce,
led now by America's
great railroad man, Cullen Bohannon?
The answer, dear reader,
will be decided in the coming days
on the plains of Utah,
"at or near Ogden"
as prescribed by Congress,
and blessed by
the Almighty above.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
COLLIS: As you can see, Governor,
our depot is under construction,
and we have already drawn up
plans to turn this flyspeck
into a functioning
railroad junction.
It's just a matter of--
- Our track is 12 miles from Ogden,
that is two days' work
and two miles closer
than the Central Pacific's,
and that is having laid
300 miles more track
since the railroads broke ground...
- Without contending
with the California Sierras
or the Great Nevada desert, sir.
- The Union Pacific's grade
arrived here first...
Ogden belongs to me!
- Gentlemen!
The President's decision
in Salt Lake was clear.
Ogden belongs to no one
until someone lays
track through it.
(DURANT): Grant made you
Deputy Secretary of the Interior
to make judgment calls, not to--
- You'll get your judgment,
Mr. Durant,
but not today.
(HORSE NEIGHS)
This is the mark!
The first one who lays rail to it...
Ogden is yours.
(HORSES NEIGHING)
(SIGHS)
(CULLEN): Seven-mile day ahead
and you're burning my daylight, Mr. Ming!
(CLANGING)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- White man offer, Chinaman go.
Half kutu, half work.
- Mmm-hmm.
(HORSE SNORTING)
(NEIGHING)
(NEIGHING)
(EVA): Figured somebody
might have killed you by now.
- Handsome animal.
- He ain't for sale,
if that's what you're thinking.
Somebody nearly did kill you,
didn't they?
I ain't surprised.
What was it over, love or hate?
(STRAPPING)
- I hear Mickey's working for Durant.
- He ain't out on the cut,
try the saloon.
- Obliged.
Durant tell you to poach my men?
- Jesus Christ Almighty.
I heard you made it out the desert.
- My workers. Right now.
- I got no use for rat-eaters,
Mr. Bohannon.
My workers got poached
same as yours.
- Dutch.
- He speaks true.
Rail crew's down 200 men
just this morning.
- Lured away by a man who works
for the Six Mile Canyon Mine.
They call him The Pirate.
- The Pirate. In Utah.
- No match for us, sure.
(HORSES NEIGHING)
- This mine within riding distance?
(MEN GRUNTING)
(HORSES NEIGHING)
- Get out the way, Chinaman!
- Oi, out of my way boy.
- Missed you on the cut this morning,
Mr. Lee.
- Railroad almost done,
men need job.
Pirate offer long job.
- We're looking for the one
who calls himself The Pirate!
- You found him!
- God damn, Jim!
- Good to see you too, Bohannon.
You looking for work?
- Looking for the man
who poached my workers.
- Hired, you mean.
- You know this gobshite?
- He used to be my friend.
- A railroad that cannot safely
convey goods and souls
is no railroad at all, Governor.
And when you build a track
with lies and bribes
and every shortcut
a devious mind can machinate,
what you leave behind
is a dangerous and a bumpy ride.
Were we riding on Union Pacific track,
our laps would be drenched right now,
for a fact.
God himself would break his back
trying to build 14 miles in two days.
And while Bohannon
is a formidable railroad man,
I... I need assurances
that you'll see to it
that the Central Pacific wins Ogden
and the two and a half million dollar
left in government railroad bonds.
- Mr. Huntington,
if you want Ogden,
you will make it your business
to be there first.
I might think your time
better spent swinging a hammer
than trying to hoodwink me
with a glass of water.
- Look, you give me Ogden,
and I will reroute
the five southern railroad lines I own
from Promontory to Cheyenne.
Your majestic city will sit as the most
important railroad junction in the country.
Can Thomas Durant give you that?
(EXHALES)
- I see...
(LAUGHS)
- I thought you would!
- You're every bit the snake he is.
This is a new day,
Mr. Huntington.
Unlike his predecessor, President Grant
has vowed to keep his administration
free from corruption.
He cannot be bought, sir.
And neither can I.
(EXHALES)
Thanks for the water.
(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS)
- I'm surprised to find you here, Jim.
(SIGHS)
- Everybody got to be somewhere, Bohannon.
- No, I mean down in the hole.
Thought you was afraid of the dark.
- The only reason I stayed
away from the tunnel
was Hannah didn't want me
tracking dirt into the house.
She's in Vermont with the kids.
- You here, family back east,
that don't seem like you, Jim.
- Mining has helped me
figure things out, Bohannon.
Life is simple down here.
Cut a vein, bleed it dry,
scrape away until there's nothing left.
- That's a real shame
about Hannah and the kids.
- Don't cry for me.
- I need my workers, Jim.
- What you need is work.
The railroad's done.
Those men know it,
that's why they're here!
- All I'm asking for is two days.
That's it.
(EXHALES)
- As far as the railroad figures go,
I'm skint, Mr. Bohannon.
- Mr. Strobridge.
(MICKEY): I know you
need long-term work.
And I have plans for it.
What do you say to San Francisco, boys?
There's a demand for skilled workers,
and I have it already arranged.
- I'm saying we've jobs here.
- You had a job on the railroad, Paddy.
You had a warm bed
when you were cold,
a full whiskey
when you were thirsty
and even fuller woman
when you were lonely.
(WORKERS SNIGGERING)
I provided the same to every loyal man
with an understanding...
- We ain't scared of you, Mick.
Not now Johnny Shea's gone.
- I'm trying to help you.
(GROANING)
(COUGHING)
Anyone else prefer mining
to railroad work?
- Mr. Lee,
I need these workers.
Just until we get to Ogden.
Whatever the mine's paying you,
I'll match it.
Plus a bonus if you get us there
before the UP. Bring these two.
I'll see to it they get home.
- Anyone who wants to leave here
is free to go.
You are not indentured to me
like you were to Chang.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
But know this, if anyone leaves here,
even for an hour,
you ain't got a job when you get back.
Is that clear?
- Mr. Lee, you been with the Central Pacific
since Sacramento,
you got us through the desert.
You're gonna want to see it finished.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- Chinaman need long work, Bossman.
Railroad done.
Mine is good. We stay.
- All right.
Load these bodies up on the wagon.
- But we stay.
- My offer stands either way, Mr. Lee.
We'll get him home.
- Thank you, Bossman.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- When you get to Ogden,
look me up, Bohannon,
I'll buy you a drink.
(MEN LAUGHING)
(HORSE NEIGHING)
- Come on. Don't be like that.
- Offer a hand?
- Ain't you got a race to win?
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Come on.
- Can't win with no workers.
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Oh, oh.
- And can't train a horse
that don't want to be trained,
but I keep trying anyways.
They call him Bucephalus.
But I call him...
(SPEAKS OTHER LANGUAGE)
It means Free Spirit.
(CHUCKLES)
- How'd you come by him?
(HUSHING)
- He was lost.
Then he found me.
It was love that nearly killed you,
wasn't it?
- Wasn't lost.
She ran.
- I done it, too.
I ran from my Mojave family.
Soldiers came to the camp,
found out the Indians
had a white girl living with them.
Swore they'd attack the village
unless they handed me over.
Me staying meant their death.
Sometimes the loving thing to do is run.
- This'll get you two, not three.
- Two bottles of the good stuff then.
- Save your money, Mr. Jackson.
(SIGHS)
Here.
- Knew I smelled me a traitor.
(CHUCKLES)
- Here you are.
- I can buy my own whiskey, Mr. Bohannon.
- No.
When I come through Cheyenne,
with a wife and baby
and no way to provide,
weren't necessary for you
to hire me neither.
- Gave you a job slinging rock.
- I was glad to have it.
- Buncha big wigs be here for the finish.
- Mmm-hmm.
- Reckon history won't remember the hand
ol' Psalms play in building this railroad.
- One day...
some young man'll ride them rails
to see his fiancée
and he'll get hisself married.
- Mmm-hmm.
- Rancher in Omaha
sell his cattle to New York,
fisherman, his catch
from San Francisco to Chicago.
Some daughter will need
to go home, bury her daddy,
them rails right there'll take her.
You done that.
(CHUCKLES)
- We done that.
- But...
To the best goddamn
railroad man I know.
Couldn't sleep.
- Take less water with your whiskey.
- That's barkeep's advice.
You're a shareholder now.
- Not bad for an Irish bumpkin.
(CHUCKLES)
- It's a long way from a magic lantern show,
I know that.
- Never thought I'd end up
a railroad man.
- Careful it don't kill you.
- Railroad job got me
out of the saloon,
same as it'll get me
to San Francisco.
- Sze Yup company controls labor there,
I'd steer clear.
- I ain't afraid to tangle with the Chinese.
Whole lot of Irish'll be looking for work
come sundown tomorrow,
I'll secure their futures
as well as me own.
If you're in need...
(EXHALES)
- Right.
I ain't thought past
the first rail laid tomorrow morning.
- After that?
- Second rail.
- Last rail gets laid tomorrow.
Win or lose.
- I prefer to win.
- Central Pacific would be
the betting man's choice.
- Mick...
(SIGHS)
We laid four mile of track today.
That leaves us 10 tomorrow to your six.
And no man ever laid 10 mile
of track in one day before.
- After all this time,
I've learned never to bet
against Cullen Bohannon.
(SCOFFS)
- Well...
I don't believe in miracles, Mick.
- Me neither.
See you tomorrow.
- Yeah.
Hey, Mick.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(SIGHS)
(GROANS)
(EXHALES)
(CHATTERING)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- Bossman. Finish what we start.
- 10 miles in a day.
Ain't never been done.
- That is what they say
about the Great Wall.
- Tell the men to listen up.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
We have moved mountains.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
It's been an honor, gentleman.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Grab the rail!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Set the pace. Don't slow down.
And drum roll.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(CLATTERING)
- All right, move on.
Next rail! Next rail!
(MICKEY): Pick it up, boys. Pick it up.
(MEN GRUNTING)
Them's the rail, boys!
Them's the rail!
- And next rail!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Moving out of line!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Ho!
Ho!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SHOUTING)
- The bastards are gaining on us,
McGinnes.
- If it's faster you want,
pick up a bleedin' hammer.
- Mr. Psalms.
- Uh-huh.
- Half-spike the rail from here on out.
- That ain't safe, Mr. Durant.
- Thank you, Mr. Psalms.
- Paddy, Dutch,
half-spike the rails here on out.
It's double time, let's go.
Pick it up, lads!
- If we wrong now,
that's our asses.
- Lord look out for the righteous, Paul.
Hurry up now.
Hurry up, now.
Let's get it, boys.
(LOUISE): Central Pacific,
seven miles, stop.
Three to go, stop.
Union Pacific,
four-and-a-half miles, stop.
One and a half to go, stop.
Exhaustion setting in, stop.
Workers on both sides
dropping, stop.
Race will be won by feet,
not miles, stop.
By heart, not manpower, stop.
(GUNSHOT)
- Men. Listen to me.
There ahead lies the finish line,
less than one mile away.
I have worked tirelessly and endlessly
to get you here in the name
of this great endeavor.
Now, you must return the favor.
Work! Work like there's no tomorrow.
Get me to that finish line!
Psalms, where are you going?
(HAMMERS CLANKING)
- Mr. Bohannon...
(PANTING)
- What?
- Half on spikes, half on rails.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- You heard Matt.
- Come on, let's get it, boys.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(CULLEN): May clear!
Half inside, half no!
Down!
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Hold hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Got the hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Well, God told Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you help me
in the timber, Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you go in the timber,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ You argue some Bible,
Hammer ring ♪
- Double-time, McGinnes.
Double-time!
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Don't you want
do you want it, Hammer Ring ♪
♪ What you want
with the timber? Hammer Ring ♪
♪ What you want with the timber?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you build me an ark, sir?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you build me an ark, sir?
Hammer Ring ♪
(SINGING FADES)
(LAUGHING)
(ALL CHEERING)
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Hey!
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle
on my hammer, Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle
on my hammer, Hammer ring ♪
♪ Hold the hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Got my hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Kept my hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
(SINGING FADES)
♪ Well, the God told Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Well, the God told Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Who's goin' in to timber,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Gotta talk about Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Gotta talk about Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
(SINGING FADES)
- Hold!
(MEN SHOUTING AND CHEERING)
(ALL APPLAUDING)
(PANTING)
(ALL SHOUTING)
(LIVELY MUSIC)
Hey, man, why aren't
you celebrating, huh?
- No work tomorrow.
- Oh, man, tomorrow
you worry about tomorrow.
Tonight we celebrating!
(LAUGHS)
Come on, with me.
(MAN SINGING INDISTINCTLY)
(LAUGHS)
- Hey, it's done.
The whole thing is bloody finished.
(LAUGHS)
(SHOUTING)
(ALL CHEERING)
(WOMAN YELLS AND GIGGLES)
- It's quite a thing
we bear witness to tonight.
- On that much, we agree.
- Mmm.
Well, we agree
on more than that.
We agree that a deal
is indeed a deal.
(CHUCKLES)
(LAUGHS EXCITEDLY)
2.4 million dollars
in the coal fields of Ogden.
- Let's get this done.
- President Grant's recent amendment
to the United States Railroad Act.
- A glass of champagne, Thomas.
Let's celebrate
what we've accomplished tonight.
- Stating expressly that bonds
are not to be issued
until government inspectors
have deemed the road worthy.
All travel on the line
is to cease immediately
until said inspection has taken place,
and it is determined which railroad
has a rightful claim to Ogden.
(LAUGHTER)
- All right.
- All right?
- Read for yourself.
- Another stunt,
Governor Campbell,
for which Mr. Durant
is very well famous.
- Stunt or not,
in the event of a dispute,
an inspector needs to verify.
You seemed plenty confident in your track's
integrity yesterday, Mr. Huntington.
I can't imagine there'll be
a problem with it today,
or with your records.
- Goddamn it!
Thomas, the fact is,
and cannot change,
it will read about
in the history books,
I beat you, sir.
I beat you to Ogden.
I win. You lose.
It's over, sir.
- Only if your rail stands up
to inspection, Collis.
Only then.
(LOUISE):
Congratulations, Mr. Bohannon.
- Mmm.
(LOUISE LAUGHS)
- You did it.
(MAN YELLING):
Hey! Hey! We did it!
- They did it.
- How are you feeling
right about now?
For the record, of course.
- Like it's over.
- Does that make you happy or sad?
- The cost was high.
- Well...
You did the impossible,
the unimaginable.
Is any cost really too high?
(CHUCKLES)
- Them's is questions
for presidents and poets to answer.
- Mmm.
History will not forget you, Mr. Bohannon.
Or what you did.
- Yeah...
(SIGHS)
You say so.
- So what's next
for America's greatest railroad man?
- The Chinamen got a saying...
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Make friends with change,
it's the only thing
you can count on.
(GRUNTS)
- Your absurd little plan won't work.
You think I'm scared?
You think I'll hand you Ogden
to avoid a government inspection?
Thomas, I won.
- When those government inspectors
order you to rip up and rebuild
half the shoddy track you laid
either side of the 50 miles
you buttered up for Campbell,
it'll cost you a hell
of a lot more than Ogden.
- And when those very same inspectors
look at your track,
half-spiked, half tied,
held together with a prayer,
they're gonna ask
some very tough questions,
including what the hell have you done
with all their money.
You'll land in jail over this.
- I've been there before, Collis.
I'm willing to go back.
Are you?
- You're mad.
- Good night, Collis.
- I'll give you half a million dollars.
- I don't want the money.
- Three-quarters of a million dollars.
- Enjoy the festivities.
- Oh, for Christ's sake, take it!
Take Ogden.
If that will put an end to this,
Thomas, by all means,
take it.
But the ceremony
happens at Promontory,
on CP soil.
And I keep
all the government bonds.
All two and a half
million dollars' worth.
- It's a pleasure doing
business with you, Collis.
- Go to hell!
(DOOR SLAMS)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(ALL CHEERING)
- I won.
- Mmm.
Wine?
- You may have gotten here first, but...
I own it.
All of it.
I made a deal with Huntington.
- Mmm.
- I beat you.
- All right.
All right, Doc.
You win.
You win.
- I beat you, Bohannon!
You lost!
(DOOR CLOSES)
(EXHALES)
(GROANS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(CONTINUES GROANING)
(PANTING)
(GROANING)
(PANTING AND GROANING)
(SOBBING)
of that first spike in Council Bluffs,
and the last, yet to be struck,
here in northeastern Utah...
Thomas Durant, Collis Huntington
and their mighty railroads
have bamboozled
and brow-beat Congress
into paying for their splendid
blue-ribbon franchise...
(TYPEWRITER CLICKING)
Over-budget
and behind schedule,
progress at every turn
on the great Transcontinental Railroad
has been bedeviled
by labor unrest,
calamity of nature,
God, and man.
Having followed the loose
and turbulent population
that over the last four years has built
this monument to folly...
I can report no happier visage
than the two railroads
laying down of iron
within striking distance
of one another.
The line of workers stretches like an army
between Promontory and Weber Canyon,
the Central Pacific to the west...
(TYPEWRITER CLICKING)
...the Union Pacific
to the east...
Each company racing toward
the prize that lies between Ogden...
Its rich mineral deposits
promised by President Grant
to whomever
lays track there first.
I shall be glad,
after the last spike is driven,
to contemplate
the bond of iron
which is to hold our beloved nation
in one eternal union.
For it is, at last,
no longer a question of
"If the road will be built",
but of who will cross
the finish line first...
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Will it be Doc Durant,
the financial rascal with a burning desire
for wealth and fame?
Or Collis P. Huntington
and his Chinese workforce,
led now by America's
great railroad man, Cullen Bohannon?
The answer, dear reader,
will be decided in the coming days
on the plains of Utah,
"at or near Ogden"
as prescribed by Congress,
and blessed by
the Almighty above.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
COLLIS: As you can see, Governor,
our depot is under construction,
and we have already drawn up
plans to turn this flyspeck
into a functioning
railroad junction.
It's just a matter of--
- Our track is 12 miles from Ogden,
that is two days' work
and two miles closer
than the Central Pacific's,
and that is having laid
300 miles more track
since the railroads broke ground...
- Without contending
with the California Sierras
or the Great Nevada desert, sir.
- The Union Pacific's grade
arrived here first...
Ogden belongs to me!
- Gentlemen!
The President's decision
in Salt Lake was clear.
Ogden belongs to no one
until someone lays
track through it.
(DURANT): Grant made you
Deputy Secretary of the Interior
to make judgment calls, not to--
- You'll get your judgment,
Mr. Durant,
but not today.
(HORSE NEIGHS)
This is the mark!
The first one who lays rail to it...
Ogden is yours.
(HORSES NEIGHING)
(SIGHS)
(CULLEN): Seven-mile day ahead
and you're burning my daylight, Mr. Ming!
(CLANGING)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- White man offer, Chinaman go.
Half kutu, half work.
- Mmm-hmm.
(HORSE SNORTING)
(NEIGHING)
(NEIGHING)
(EVA): Figured somebody
might have killed you by now.
- Handsome animal.
- He ain't for sale,
if that's what you're thinking.
Somebody nearly did kill you,
didn't they?
I ain't surprised.
What was it over, love or hate?
(STRAPPING)
- I hear Mickey's working for Durant.
- He ain't out on the cut,
try the saloon.
- Obliged.
Durant tell you to poach my men?
- Jesus Christ Almighty.
I heard you made it out the desert.
- My workers. Right now.
- I got no use for rat-eaters,
Mr. Bohannon.
My workers got poached
same as yours.
- Dutch.
- He speaks true.
Rail crew's down 200 men
just this morning.
- Lured away by a man who works
for the Six Mile Canyon Mine.
They call him The Pirate.
- The Pirate. In Utah.
- No match for us, sure.
(HORSES NEIGHING)
- This mine within riding distance?
(MEN GRUNTING)
(HORSES NEIGHING)
- Get out the way, Chinaman!
- Oi, out of my way boy.
- Missed you on the cut this morning,
Mr. Lee.
- Railroad almost done,
men need job.
Pirate offer long job.
- We're looking for the one
who calls himself The Pirate!
- You found him!
- God damn, Jim!
- Good to see you too, Bohannon.
You looking for work?
- Looking for the man
who poached my workers.
- Hired, you mean.
- You know this gobshite?
- He used to be my friend.
- A railroad that cannot safely
convey goods and souls
is no railroad at all, Governor.
And when you build a track
with lies and bribes
and every shortcut
a devious mind can machinate,
what you leave behind
is a dangerous and a bumpy ride.
Were we riding on Union Pacific track,
our laps would be drenched right now,
for a fact.
God himself would break his back
trying to build 14 miles in two days.
And while Bohannon
is a formidable railroad man,
I... I need assurances
that you'll see to it
that the Central Pacific wins Ogden
and the two and a half million dollar
left in government railroad bonds.
- Mr. Huntington,
if you want Ogden,
you will make it your business
to be there first.
I might think your time
better spent swinging a hammer
than trying to hoodwink me
with a glass of water.
- Look, you give me Ogden,
and I will reroute
the five southern railroad lines I own
from Promontory to Cheyenne.
Your majestic city will sit as the most
important railroad junction in the country.
Can Thomas Durant give you that?
(EXHALES)
- I see...
(LAUGHS)
- I thought you would!
- You're every bit the snake he is.
This is a new day,
Mr. Huntington.
Unlike his predecessor, President Grant
has vowed to keep his administration
free from corruption.
He cannot be bought, sir.
And neither can I.
(EXHALES)
Thanks for the water.
(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS)
- I'm surprised to find you here, Jim.
(SIGHS)
- Everybody got to be somewhere, Bohannon.
- No, I mean down in the hole.
Thought you was afraid of the dark.
- The only reason I stayed
away from the tunnel
was Hannah didn't want me
tracking dirt into the house.
She's in Vermont with the kids.
- You here, family back east,
that don't seem like you, Jim.
- Mining has helped me
figure things out, Bohannon.
Life is simple down here.
Cut a vein, bleed it dry,
scrape away until there's nothing left.
- That's a real shame
about Hannah and the kids.
- Don't cry for me.
- I need my workers, Jim.
- What you need is work.
The railroad's done.
Those men know it,
that's why they're here!
- All I'm asking for is two days.
That's it.
(EXHALES)
- As far as the railroad figures go,
I'm skint, Mr. Bohannon.
- Mr. Strobridge.
(MICKEY): I know you
need long-term work.
And I have plans for it.
What do you say to San Francisco, boys?
There's a demand for skilled workers,
and I have it already arranged.
- I'm saying we've jobs here.
- You had a job on the railroad, Paddy.
You had a warm bed
when you were cold,
a full whiskey
when you were thirsty
and even fuller woman
when you were lonely.
(WORKERS SNIGGERING)
I provided the same to every loyal man
with an understanding...
- We ain't scared of you, Mick.
Not now Johnny Shea's gone.
- I'm trying to help you.
(GROANING)
(COUGHING)
Anyone else prefer mining
to railroad work?
- Mr. Lee,
I need these workers.
Just until we get to Ogden.
Whatever the mine's paying you,
I'll match it.
Plus a bonus if you get us there
before the UP. Bring these two.
I'll see to it they get home.
- Anyone who wants to leave here
is free to go.
You are not indentured to me
like you were to Chang.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
But know this, if anyone leaves here,
even for an hour,
you ain't got a job when you get back.
Is that clear?
- Mr. Lee, you been with the Central Pacific
since Sacramento,
you got us through the desert.
You're gonna want to see it finished.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- Chinaman need long work, Bossman.
Railroad done.
Mine is good. We stay.
- All right.
Load these bodies up on the wagon.
- But we stay.
- My offer stands either way, Mr. Lee.
We'll get him home.
- Thank you, Bossman.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- When you get to Ogden,
look me up, Bohannon,
I'll buy you a drink.
(MEN LAUGHING)
(HORSE NEIGHING)
- Come on. Don't be like that.
- Offer a hand?
- Ain't you got a race to win?
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Come on.
- Can't win with no workers.
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Oh, oh.
- And can't train a horse
that don't want to be trained,
but I keep trying anyways.
They call him Bucephalus.
But I call him...
(SPEAKS OTHER LANGUAGE)
It means Free Spirit.
(CHUCKLES)
- How'd you come by him?
(HUSHING)
- He was lost.
Then he found me.
It was love that nearly killed you,
wasn't it?
- Wasn't lost.
She ran.
- I done it, too.
I ran from my Mojave family.
Soldiers came to the camp,
found out the Indians
had a white girl living with them.
Swore they'd attack the village
unless they handed me over.
Me staying meant their death.
Sometimes the loving thing to do is run.
- This'll get you two, not three.
- Two bottles of the good stuff then.
- Save your money, Mr. Jackson.
(SIGHS)
Here.
- Knew I smelled me a traitor.
(CHUCKLES)
- Here you are.
- I can buy my own whiskey, Mr. Bohannon.
- No.
When I come through Cheyenne,
with a wife and baby
and no way to provide,
weren't necessary for you
to hire me neither.
- Gave you a job slinging rock.
- I was glad to have it.
- Buncha big wigs be here for the finish.
- Mmm-hmm.
- Reckon history won't remember the hand
ol' Psalms play in building this railroad.
- One day...
some young man'll ride them rails
to see his fiancée
and he'll get hisself married.
- Mmm-hmm.
- Rancher in Omaha
sell his cattle to New York,
fisherman, his catch
from San Francisco to Chicago.
Some daughter will need
to go home, bury her daddy,
them rails right there'll take her.
You done that.
(CHUCKLES)
- We done that.
- But...
To the best goddamn
railroad man I know.
Couldn't sleep.
- Take less water with your whiskey.
- That's barkeep's advice.
You're a shareholder now.
- Not bad for an Irish bumpkin.
(CHUCKLES)
- It's a long way from a magic lantern show,
I know that.
- Never thought I'd end up
a railroad man.
- Careful it don't kill you.
- Railroad job got me
out of the saloon,
same as it'll get me
to San Francisco.
- Sze Yup company controls labor there,
I'd steer clear.
- I ain't afraid to tangle with the Chinese.
Whole lot of Irish'll be looking for work
come sundown tomorrow,
I'll secure their futures
as well as me own.
If you're in need...
(EXHALES)
- Right.
I ain't thought past
the first rail laid tomorrow morning.
- After that?
- Second rail.
- Last rail gets laid tomorrow.
Win or lose.
- I prefer to win.
- Central Pacific would be
the betting man's choice.
- Mick...
(SIGHS)
We laid four mile of track today.
That leaves us 10 tomorrow to your six.
And no man ever laid 10 mile
of track in one day before.
- After all this time,
I've learned never to bet
against Cullen Bohannon.
(SCOFFS)
- Well...
I don't believe in miracles, Mick.
- Me neither.
See you tomorrow.
- Yeah.
Hey, Mick.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(SIGHS)
(GROANS)
(EXHALES)
(CHATTERING)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- Bossman. Finish what we start.
- 10 miles in a day.
Ain't never been done.
- That is what they say
about the Great Wall.
- Tell the men to listen up.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
We have moved mountains.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
It's been an honor, gentleman.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Grab the rail!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Set the pace. Don't slow down.
And drum roll.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(CLATTERING)
- All right, move on.
Next rail! Next rail!
(MICKEY): Pick it up, boys. Pick it up.
(MEN GRUNTING)
Them's the rail, boys!
Them's the rail!
- And next rail!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Moving out of line!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Ho!
Ho!
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(SHOUTING)
- The bastards are gaining on us,
McGinnes.
- If it's faster you want,
pick up a bleedin' hammer.
- Mr. Psalms.
- Uh-huh.
- Half-spike the rail from here on out.
- That ain't safe, Mr. Durant.
- Thank you, Mr. Psalms.
- Paddy, Dutch,
half-spike the rails here on out.
It's double time, let's go.
Pick it up, lads!
- If we wrong now,
that's our asses.
- Lord look out for the righteous, Paul.
Hurry up now.
Hurry up, now.
Let's get it, boys.
(LOUISE): Central Pacific,
seven miles, stop.
Three to go, stop.
Union Pacific,
four-and-a-half miles, stop.
One and a half to go, stop.
Exhaustion setting in, stop.
Workers on both sides
dropping, stop.
Race will be won by feet,
not miles, stop.
By heart, not manpower, stop.
(GUNSHOT)
- Men. Listen to me.
There ahead lies the finish line,
less than one mile away.
I have worked tirelessly and endlessly
to get you here in the name
of this great endeavor.
Now, you must return the favor.
Work! Work like there's no tomorrow.
Get me to that finish line!
Psalms, where are you going?
(HAMMERS CLANKING)
- Mr. Bohannon...
(PANTING)
- What?
- Half on spikes, half on rails.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
- You heard Matt.
- Come on, let's get it, boys.
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(CULLEN): May clear!
Half inside, half no!
Down!
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Hold hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Got the hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Well, God told Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you help me
in the timber, Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you go in the timber,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ You argue some Bible,
Hammer ring ♪
- Double-time, McGinnes.
Double-time!
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Don't you want
do you want it, Hammer Ring ♪
♪ What you want
with the timber? Hammer Ring ♪
♪ What you want with the timber?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you build me an ark, sir?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you build me an ark, sir?
Hammer Ring ♪
(SINGING FADES)
(LAUGHING)
(ALL CHEERING)
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Hey!
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle
on my hammer, Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Broke the handle
on my hammer, Hammer ring ♪
♪ Hold the hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Got my hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Kept my hammer in my Bible,
Hammer Ring ♪
(SINGING FADES)
♪ Well, the God told Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Well, the God told Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Who's goin' in to timber,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Won't you ring your hammer?
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Gotta talk about Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
♪ Gotta talk about Noah,
Hammer Ring ♪
(SINGING FADES)
- Hold!
(MEN SHOUTING AND CHEERING)
(ALL APPLAUDING)
(PANTING)
(ALL SHOUTING)
(LIVELY MUSIC)
Hey, man, why aren't
you celebrating, huh?
- No work tomorrow.
- Oh, man, tomorrow
you worry about tomorrow.
Tonight we celebrating!
(LAUGHS)
Come on, with me.
(MAN SINGING INDISTINCTLY)
(LAUGHS)
- Hey, it's done.
The whole thing is bloody finished.
(LAUGHS)
(SHOUTING)
(ALL CHEERING)
(WOMAN YELLS AND GIGGLES)
- It's quite a thing
we bear witness to tonight.
- On that much, we agree.
- Mmm.
Well, we agree
on more than that.
We agree that a deal
is indeed a deal.
(CHUCKLES)
(LAUGHS EXCITEDLY)
2.4 million dollars
in the coal fields of Ogden.
- Let's get this done.
- President Grant's recent amendment
to the United States Railroad Act.
- A glass of champagne, Thomas.
Let's celebrate
what we've accomplished tonight.
- Stating expressly that bonds
are not to be issued
until government inspectors
have deemed the road worthy.
All travel on the line
is to cease immediately
until said inspection has taken place,
and it is determined which railroad
has a rightful claim to Ogden.
(LAUGHTER)
- All right.
- All right?
- Read for yourself.
- Another stunt,
Governor Campbell,
for which Mr. Durant
is very well famous.
- Stunt or not,
in the event of a dispute,
an inspector needs to verify.
You seemed plenty confident in your track's
integrity yesterday, Mr. Huntington.
I can't imagine there'll be
a problem with it today,
or with your records.
- Goddamn it!
Thomas, the fact is,
and cannot change,
it will read about
in the history books,
I beat you, sir.
I beat you to Ogden.
I win. You lose.
It's over, sir.
- Only if your rail stands up
to inspection, Collis.
Only then.
(LOUISE):
Congratulations, Mr. Bohannon.
- Mmm.
(LOUISE LAUGHS)
- You did it.
(MAN YELLING):
Hey! Hey! We did it!
- They did it.
- How are you feeling
right about now?
For the record, of course.
- Like it's over.
- Does that make you happy or sad?
- The cost was high.
- Well...
You did the impossible,
the unimaginable.
Is any cost really too high?
(CHUCKLES)
- Them's is questions
for presidents and poets to answer.
- Mmm.
History will not forget you, Mr. Bohannon.
Or what you did.
- Yeah...
(SIGHS)
You say so.
- So what's next
for America's greatest railroad man?
- The Chinamen got a saying...
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
Make friends with change,
it's the only thing
you can count on.
(GRUNTS)
- Your absurd little plan won't work.
You think I'm scared?
You think I'll hand you Ogden
to avoid a government inspection?
Thomas, I won.
- When those government inspectors
order you to rip up and rebuild
half the shoddy track you laid
either side of the 50 miles
you buttered up for Campbell,
it'll cost you a hell
of a lot more than Ogden.
- And when those very same inspectors
look at your track,
half-spiked, half tied,
held together with a prayer,
they're gonna ask
some very tough questions,
including what the hell have you done
with all their money.
You'll land in jail over this.
- I've been there before, Collis.
I'm willing to go back.
Are you?
- You're mad.
- Good night, Collis.
- I'll give you half a million dollars.
- I don't want the money.
- Three-quarters of a million dollars.
- Enjoy the festivities.
- Oh, for Christ's sake, take it!
Take Ogden.
If that will put an end to this,
Thomas, by all means,
take it.
But the ceremony
happens at Promontory,
on CP soil.
And I keep
all the government bonds.
All two and a half
million dollars' worth.
- It's a pleasure doing
business with you, Collis.
- Go to hell!
(DOOR SLAMS)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(SPEAKING CANTONESE)
(ALL CHEERING)
- I won.
- Mmm.
Wine?
- You may have gotten here first, but...
I own it.
All of it.
I made a deal with Huntington.
- Mmm.
- I beat you.
- All right.
All right, Doc.
You win.
You win.
- I beat you, Bohannon!
You lost!
(DOOR CLOSES)
(EXHALES)
(GROANS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(CONTINUES GROANING)
(PANTING)
(GROANING)
(PANTING AND GROANING)
(SOBBING)