Okla-homey
5/10/2010, 08:02 AM
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May 10, 1869 Transcontinental railroad completed
http://img116.echo.cx/img116/8613/goldenspike4mz.gif
141 years ago today, in a remote corner of Utah, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects their railroads and makes transcontinental railroad service possible for the first time in U.S. history.
Although travelers would have to take a roundabout journey to cross the country on this railroad system, the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, forever closed a chapter of U.S. history. No longer would western-bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon train, and the west would surely lose some its wild charm with the new connection to the civilized east.
As early as 1852, Congress considered the construction of a transcontinental railroad, but the question became enmeshed in the regional politics of the time. In 1866, starting in Omaha and Sacramento, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads began working toward each other across a northernroute.
In attempt to speed their progress, the Federal government, gave huge grants of land along the competitors respective railroad construction routes. It was a powerful incentive indeed. Somewhat blinded their greed and eagerness for land, the two lines built right past each other, and the final meeting place had to be renegotiated. On May 10, 1869, the two lines finally met at Promontory Point, Utah.
The ceremony that day to mark the completion of the last set of ties and spikes was somewhat disorganized. The crowd pressed so close to the engines that reporters could not see or hear much of what was actually said, which accounts for many discrepancies in the various accounts.
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7960/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz26.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
UP's No. 119
Union Pacific's "No. 119" and Central Pacific's "Jupiter" engines lined up facing each other on the tracks, separated only by the width of one rail. Leland Stanford, one of the "Big Four" of the Central Pacific, had brought four ceremonial spikes.
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/8055/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz27.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
CP's "Jupiter"
The famed "Golden Spike" was presented by David Hewes, a San Francisco construction magnate. It was engraved with the names of the Central Pacific directors, special sentiments appropriate to the occasion, and, on the head, the notation "the Last Spike."
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/2443/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Leland Stanford. Governor of California and founder of the university which bears his name.
A second golden spike was presented by the San Francisco News Letter. A silver spike was Nevada's contribution, and a spike blended of iron, silver, and gold represented Arizona. These spikes were dropped into a pre-bored laurelwood tie during the ceremony. No spike represented Utah, and Mormon Church leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/9247/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
At 12:47 P.M. the actual last spike--an ordinary iron spike--was driven into a regular tie. Both spike and sledge were wired to send the sound of the strikes over the wire to the nation. However, Stanford and Thomas Durant from the Union Pacific both missed the spike. Still, telegraph operator Shilling clicked three dots over the wire: "done." Meanwhile, with an unwired sledge, construction supervisors James H. Strobridge and Samuel R. Reed took turns driving the last spike.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1069/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2623/insane7zo.jpg
May 10, 1869 Transcontinental railroad completed
http://img116.echo.cx/img116/8613/goldenspike4mz.gif
141 years ago today, in a remote corner of Utah, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects their railroads and makes transcontinental railroad service possible for the first time in U.S. history.
Although travelers would have to take a roundabout journey to cross the country on this railroad system, the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, forever closed a chapter of U.S. history. No longer would western-bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon train, and the west would surely lose some its wild charm with the new connection to the civilized east.
As early as 1852, Congress considered the construction of a transcontinental railroad, but the question became enmeshed in the regional politics of the time. In 1866, starting in Omaha and Sacramento, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads began working toward each other across a northernroute.
In attempt to speed their progress, the Federal government, gave huge grants of land along the competitors respective railroad construction routes. It was a powerful incentive indeed. Somewhat blinded their greed and eagerness for land, the two lines built right past each other, and the final meeting place had to be renegotiated. On May 10, 1869, the two lines finally met at Promontory Point, Utah.
The ceremony that day to mark the completion of the last set of ties and spikes was somewhat disorganized. The crowd pressed so close to the engines that reporters could not see or hear much of what was actually said, which accounts for many discrepancies in the various accounts.
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7960/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz26.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
UP's No. 119
Union Pacific's "No. 119" and Central Pacific's "Jupiter" engines lined up facing each other on the tracks, separated only by the width of one rail. Leland Stanford, one of the "Big Four" of the Central Pacific, had brought four ceremonial spikes.
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/8055/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz27.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
CP's "Jupiter"
The famed "Golden Spike" was presented by David Hewes, a San Francisco construction magnate. It was engraved with the names of the Central Pacific directors, special sentiments appropriate to the occasion, and, on the head, the notation "the Last Spike."
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/2443/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Leland Stanford. Governor of California and founder of the university which bears his name.
A second golden spike was presented by the San Francisco News Letter. A silver spike was Nevada's contribution, and a spike blended of iron, silver, and gold represented Arizona. These spikes were dropped into a pre-bored laurelwood tie during the ceremony. No spike represented Utah, and Mormon Church leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/9247/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
At 12:47 P.M. the actual last spike--an ordinary iron spike--was driven into a regular tie. Both spike and sledge were wired to send the sound of the strikes over the wire to the nation. However, Stanford and Thomas Durant from the Union Pacific both missed the spike. Still, telegraph operator Shilling clicked three dots over the wire: "done." Meanwhile, with an unwired sledge, construction supervisors James H. Strobridge and Samuel R. Reed took turns driving the last spike.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1069/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2623/insane7zo.jpg