1 h 10 maio 1869 ano - GOLDEN SPIKE CEREMONY, PROMONTORY SUMMIT, UTAH

Descrição:

After a washed-out bridge and a Union Pacific labor dispute delayed the ceremony for two days, the Union Pacific No. 119 and Central Pacific Jupiter met at Promontory Summit, Utah — drawn almost nose to nose and separated by the width of a single railroad tie. Ceremonial spikes were tapped by a special silver spike maul into the ceremonial laurel tie. Dignitaries and workers gathered around the locomotives to watch Central Pacific President Leland Stanford drive the ceremonial gold spike to officially join the two railroads. Telegraph operators transmitted the blows of the hammer, as East met West and started a new chapter in western expansion. The line operated until 1904, when it was replaced by the Lucin Cutoff. The original line was removed for scrap at the beginning of World War II.