Last week I traveled to Salt Lake City for the funeral of my mother’s last of twelve siblings. It was good to be with family to remember the last of a large generation. I was able to add on a trip to place I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time—Golden Spike National Historical Park. I remember the photo from my early school days of the two locomotives meeting from East and West, and the country linked. In my mind, the scene was in the middle of the flat, salt desert. I guess I should’ve taken a hint that the place was called Promontory Point! The day far exceeded my expectations.
The drive began by ascending from the flats near the Great Salt Lake to a wonderful view into the basin.
Sunrise over Great Salt Lake Basin
The venture began only 73 years after twelve independent states ratified the Constitution. A continental country in the midst of a civil war passed the Railway Act of 1862. With resources and manpower diverted by the war, the two train lines began from Omaha and Sacramento.
A wonderful project the National Park Service has recently begun is creating audio tours along hiking trails. With limited cell phone service, only the eastern edge of this park can support one. But a great hike it is on two of the old railroad beds called the Big Fill trail. I wrongly assumed the meeting of the railroads was a well-organized, thoughtful plan to pick out a good meeting spot. Instead, with no leadership from Congress, the competing Union Pacific RR and the Central Pacific RR raced to lay down railroad beds in order to claim rights to the surrounding land. They ran parallel track beds for over 250 miles!
One of the final engineering hurdles was crossing a large ravine in the Promontory Mountains near where they’d eventually agree to join the lines. Congress mandated that the track grade never be more than 2%, so crossing the mountains was an engineering feat. In this image, I’m standing on the “Big Fill” that the Central Pacific built across the ravine. Lower on the ravine to the left is where the Union Pacific began a trestle that reached across the ravine. You can also see the narrow notches carved out of the ridge on the other side. When the war was on, all the labor was done by Chinese, Irish and other immigrant labor with hand tools carving the land. Later, former soldiers and settlers joined the workforce.
Bill Fill trail, Golden Spike National Historical Park, Utah
Eventually, agreement was reached on where to join the lines, but the competing crews raced to lay track on road beds that had been laid. An average of one mile of rail was laid during the construction, but the Union Pacific crew laid down 8.5 miles one day. The Central Pacific crew tried to beat them on the final days before reaching Promontory Point. In the west part of the park, there is an auto trail on the old rail bed, and a sign modeled after the one the Central Pacific crew erected commemorates the effort.
West Auto Tour route
On May 10, 1869, the presidents of the companies met, crowds came on the trains, the crews gathered, telegraph operators were ready the transmit messages on the first transcontinental lines that were also installed as part of the project. Almost exactly 100 years later, people would again gather to wait for the news that we’d landed on the moon. A photo was taken of the presidents attempting to hammer in the golden spike to unite the lines, but the glass photographic plate was dropped! The famous photo was recreated the next day after most dignitaries had left. In less than 40 years, this part of the train line was bypassed by a causeway across the Great Salt Lake. In 1942, the iron and steel rails were salvaged for the war effort, and the line abandoned. The golden spike is now at Stanford University founded by the Central Pacific president Leland Sanford.
Tie commemorating the Golden Spike
In the 1970s, engineers attempted to recreate the two engines that met at Promontory Point. During the summer, the engines run on a mile of so of track that was replaced on the line. However, at this time of year, they go in for repair and refurbishment, but rangers lead tours on Saturdays to see the wonderful Victorian recreations of the Jupiter and the No. 119. I happened to be there on Saturday!
Ranger Lucas and the Jupiter
No. 119
After a diversion through ranch land and a visit to the northern tip of the Great Salt Lake, I returned through Golden Spike NHP and was treated to one last Golden Spike near the Big Fill.
Golden Spike sunset over the Promontory Peaks