It’s been awhile since we visited a national park site and we sure did time this one right. Promontory Summit, here we come! 🚂
Golden Spike National Historical Park celebrates the world’s first transcontinental railroad.The day we came to visit was the 155th anniversary of the completion of the railroad so there were actors in period clothing doing a reenactment of the Wedding of the Rails ceremony. It was just like being there on May 10, 1869 except with iPhones!Before the Transcontinental Railroad was built, people traveled for six months by ox-drawn wagon to get from the east coast to the west coast. Once the railroad was finished it only took six days to travel across the country.Most of the railroad was built by hand since there were no bulldozers or dump trucks back then.The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) started building from the east beginning in Omaha and meeting at Promontory Summit. The crew – made up of European immigrants, formerly enslaved people and even some Native Americans, laid 1,086 miles of track.The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) started building from the west beginning in Sacramento and meeting at Promontory Summit. Their workforce, made up of Chinese immigrants, laid 690 miles of track. They had to face the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains and created 15 tunnels through them with shovels, picks and hammers often working at high elevations. Sometimes they only made eight inches of progress per day while digging tunnels through solid granite.The Central Pacific Railroad laid a record of 10 miles of track in one day.Central Pacific’s locomotive, Jupiter, pulled up to the one-rail gap left in the track.And then the Union Pacific’s locomotive, No. 119, also pulled up to the one-rail gap left in the track.The reenactment of the Wedding of the Rails Ceremony was accurate down the last detail. The actors read the actual speeches and acted out their parts in history. The telegraph operator tapped out the messages in Morse Code including the final telegraph with a single word, “DONE.”Four ceremonial spikes were placed in pre-drilled holes into a polished laurel tie during the ceremony to complete the railroad. Fun fact: an actual railroad worker had to tap in the spikes because the presidents of the railroads we too hungover from celebrating the night before to be able to accurately hit them! 😵💫 The actual Golden Spike has been in a museum at Stanford University since 1892.Golden Spike Junior RangersWe learned about the different parts of the track: tie, rail, fishplate, spike and ballast. This golden spike made of chocolate was not historically accurate but it did improve everyone’s attitudes. 🍫The Monument to Their Memory “honors the courage, resilience, determine and sacrifices of the transcontinental railroad workers from 1863 to 1869. A dedicated, yet unsung, labor force of Chinese immigrants, alongside Irish, African Americans, Native Americans, Civil War veterans, and Mormon settlers, and other immigrant groups whose backbreaking efforts were crucial in the awe-inspiring construction of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.” – Ilan AverbuchSince we were relatively close to the Great Salt Lake we decided to drive down a gravel road for 18 miles to check it out. 🙃Spiral Jetty is an art installation that was previously in the lake but now is not due to drought. We debated walking down to touch the lake but it was a long way and the bugs were awful because of the dried lake bed. Plus it smelled bad so we high tailed it out of there!On our way out of town we passed the Northrop Grumman Rocket Garden.Some people see a piece of a rocket; Everett saw a studio for a recording a quick movie. 🎥
The high desert of Utah is basically the middle of nowhere so it seems like a prudent place to build and test rockets. 🚀The wide range of weather in this area is impressive and confusing. 🌦️🌈After a day of trains, lakes, and rockets we were more than ready for dinner! The historic town of Ogden was pretty neat.After the completion of the transcontinental railroad, Ogden welcomed the world via the Union Station Depot, the junction for railroad travel for several decades.The Ogden Utah Temple was impressive to see.Even better than looking at a Mormon temple was visiting the ice cream shop across the street. 🍦
Leave a Reply