To allow the companies to raise additional capital, Congress granted the railroads a 400-foot (120 m)
right-of-way corridor, lands for additional facilities like sidings and maintenance yards. They were also granted alternate
sections of government-owned lands—6,400 acres (2,600 ha) per mile (1.6 km)—for 10 miles (16 km) on both sides of the track, forming a
checkerboard pattern. The railroad companies were given the odd-numbered sections while the federal government retained the even-numbered sections.