From all the history i've read about it(sorry can't remember the sources)they weren't "tested".There was a severe labor shortage of the Irish to do track work.So Charles Crocker told Strobridge to try the Chinese.Strobridge was against the idea but was told to do it.They turned out to be very hard workers that could do whatever was asked of them.They were paid less(less than a dollar a day) to boot and had to pay their own room and board.They worked them like dogs and virtually enslaved them by forcing them to shop in company stores for their food and supplies.And still they came by the thousands.I guess the hardship they endured could be considered a test of sorts.Nobody will ever know the amount of them that perished to get the transcontinental railroad built.
