Golden Spike National Historic Park
Golden Spike National Historic Park preserves and memorializes the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States. Touted as one of the greatest technological achievements of the 19th century, this is where the final/golden spike was driven into the track.
Visitor Center
The good sized visitor center at the heart of the park contains a gift shop, museum, and a small movie theatre. It’s here we learn the history of how this railroad was built, as well as the fierce competition between the Central Pacific Railroad (from the West) and the Union Pacific Railroad (from the east) to reach the finish first. The project lasted six years and drove six million spikes into the ground.
On the back side of the visitor center is a train display on either side of where the “Golden Spike” was driven home.
Train Display
The trains on display here are representative of the actual trains used by each railroad company.
There are platforms on the back side of each engine allowing visitors to see inside.
And if you’re lucky enough (or plan well) to be here at the right time for the demonstration… you can see these trains running. We were here at the right time and were fortunate to see both trains running. We even got to see No. 119 run down the track just behind the visitors center and back. The differences between the Steam and Coal powered engines are really interesting.
Auto Tours
After seeing everything around the Visitors Center, we drop the trailer in the parking lot and head out to complete the two auto tours. Both of these one-way self driving tours follow along the actual path of the railroad and have numbered locations that correspond to the self-guided tour information available from the visitor center or on the NPS app.
On the way to the West Auto Tour we catch site of the Great Salt Lake in the distance.
West Auto Tour
Beginning west of the visitor center, this tour follows the last seven miles of the original Transcontinental railroad grade. There are 9 designated points of interest on this route.
1 – The Last Climb
Turning onto the West Auto Tour road, we’re on the raised rail trackway and can see the landscape from a similar perspective of the train engineers and passengers.
2 – Parallel Grading
Notice the second grade visible on the right? In 1864 as part of the race between the railroad companies, Congress authorized each company to send crews to grade the line up to 300 miles ahead. This is one of the areas the crews actually met and passed one another with roadbeds. This complete duplication of efforts was finally stopped by Congress on April 10, 1869 when they established Promontory Summit as the meeting place for the railroad.
3 – Cut & Fill
During this project the crews made the most of the available construction materials. As cuts were cleared, the removed rock was then moved to low areas to fill and and level the ground.
4 – Stair-Step Cuts
5 – Hand-Built Railroad
The rock culverts visible along the road were built in 1869 without mortar and still look good today. The view isn’t bad either.
6 – Sidings
The grade is wider here so a second set of tracks could be installed for lower priority trains to pull off, allowing trains going in the opposite direction to pass.
7 – Ten Miles in One Day
Per the information provided in the tour brochure… “Here, on April 28, 1869, the Central Pacific established a record that has never been equaled.
The Union Pacific once laid eight and one half (8.5) miles of track in a single day and boasted that their feat could not be matched. Charles Crocker, Central Pacific’s construction superintendent, was determined to beat that record. He shrewdly waited until the distance between the two companies was so short that the Union Pacific could not try again.
Ten miles fifty-six feet of track were laid. It was an orchestration of humanity as magnificent as the Pacific Railroad effort itself.”
8 – Gravel for Ballast
The road ahead is made from gravel taken from the large excavation on the left. These sights were common along the railroad as routine maintenance regularly required stockpiles of loose rocks (ballast) for repairs.
9 – Approaching the Golden Spike
The crews coming from the west labored over 690 miles to reach this point. Imagine what they must have been feeling as they neared the end.
East Auto Tour
Just east of the visitor center begins this two mile tour continuing along the original Transcontinental railroad grade from Promontory Station. It provides views of the Wasatch Mountains, natural arches, and continues to teach visitors about railroad construction methods.
10 – An Unlikely Meeting Place
Directly from the tour information…
“In the spring of 1869, with the Union Pacific already in Ogden and the Central Pacific closing in from just west of the Great Salt Lake, Congress and the two companies agreed to meet at a point equidistant between two ends of the track. Promontory Summit became the site for the Last Spike just by chance.
During 1869, both rail lines terminated here and travelers were obliged to change trains to complete their journey east or west. It was an inconvenient arrangement since there was no water for locomotives, horses, or people. An early description listed the amenities.
The town consists of a few tents, the ticket houses of both companies, their telegraph offices, hordes of grasshoppers and swarms of sand fleas.
In early 1870, as part of an agreement between the companies, the terminus was moved to Ogden. As a result, trains no longer stopped regularly at Promontory and curious passengers only glimpsed the Last Spike site as they rolled by.”
11 – Union Pacific’s Last Cut
Some of the most difficult work coming from the east began here in the Wasatch Mountains, very near the end of the line. One ten mile section of the track going from the valley floor to the summit had an average climb of eighty feet per mile and included four long fills, four trestles bridges, five sizeable rock cuts, and many culverts. It’s here we’re encouraged to walk a short trail to see the site of the last cut.
12 – Trestles and Fills
The crew coming from the east (Union Pacific) began construction here much later than the west (Central Pacific) and their belated start required as many shortcuts as possible. So, a trestle bridge was built instead of filling it as originally planned. In the view from the trestle bridge below, you can see the fill completed by the Central Pacific workers while they were here in the winter of 1868-69, long before the Union Pacific crews arrived.
13 – Blasting
Deep rock cuts like this one required large quantities of explosives as well as specialized labor and tools.
14 – Choosing a Route
Entering the valley from the east, the Union Pacific had to choose between going around the lake from the north or the south. Salt Lake City residents pushed for a southerly route as it would bring the route through town; but the planning engineers chose the northern route based on geologic evidence.
15 – Natural Memorial
Directly from the tour information… “The limestone formation on your left, known as the Chinese Arch, has become a memorial to the thousands of Chinese who helped build the transcontinental railroad. Labor was scarce in California. The Central Pacific first employed Chinese experimentally in 1865. They proved themselves to be excellent workers and soon the company recruited directly from China. By 1868, over 11,000 Chinese laborers were employed on the railroad.
Many of the Chinese remained with the company after the race to Promontory ended. Travelers often noticed their tents along the transcontinental route. Apparently one such camp was here during the 1880s when the arch was given its special name.”
16 – The Steepest Grade
The Railroad Act of 1862 stipulated that grades could not exceed 2.2% or 116 feet of elevation per mile. This grade measures 1.7% or 90 feet per mile; which is a very hard pull for the steam engines during that time requiring “helper” engines to be stationed at the base of hill to assist heavy trains going up. It’s for this reason, the grade seldom exceeded 1.5% throughout the 1,776 miles of railroad project.
It’s getting late in the day and we still have to pick up the camper from the visitor center and continue our journey south. So, we ended the tour here; but there are actually two more spots. One is a view and the other is a short hike to see a large fill and trestle site.
Next stop… Timpanogos Cave National Monument
