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Promontory's Locomotives By Gerald Best 1980 43 pages
Promontorys Locomotives By Gerald Best
Copyright 1980
43 pages
Soft Cover
INTRODUCTION
When the West's Central Pacific met the East's Union Pacific at Promontory on May 10, 1869, our first transcontinental railroad was completed. With the driving of the "Golden Spike" America's railroads literally became the life line of a growing nation.
For 32 years hard-working steam locomotives climbed the grades on each side of Promontory Summit. Finished goods and those wishing a new life in the American West rolled westward, while raw materials moved east. In time the single-track main line to the scene of the "Golden Spike" lost its status as a new water level line across Great Salt Lake was opened in 1903 known as the Lucin Cutoff. From this time until 1942 the Southern Pacific, successor to the Central Pacific, maintained the old line as a branch, finally its rails were torn up.
Historians and souvenir hunters scoured the old right-of-way for nearly a century. Finally the Southern Pacific erected a stone monument to the "Last Spike" at Promontory during the 1910 era because of the interest. The site was again glamorized in 1944 with the issuance of a 3-cent postage stamp honoring the 75th anniversary of the "Golden Spike" ceremony. Railroad buffs and tourists alike trampled through the range land and dry farms in search of the monument and a glimpse of the old grades. Local residents even held a mock spike driving at the site each year on the 10th of May.
Through the efforts of various Utah organizations, headed by residents of Box Elder County, in which Promontory lies, the Utah Historical Society, the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, and others petitioned for some permanent facility with the 100th anniversary only a few short years ahead. At long last, Congress passed legislation declaring the Promontory site as a "National Historic Site" under the supervision of the National Park Service.
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