![]() ![]() The event at Promontory Summit was billed as the "wedding of the rails" and was officiated by the Reverend John Todd. Three of the eight Chinese workers who brought up the last rail were guests of honor at the Promontory Summit's golden anniversary celebrations in Ogden, Utah in May 1919. Strobridge's boarding car, being honored and cheered by the CPRR ( Central Pacific Railroad) management. Russell photograph could not include the Chinese workers photographed earlier participating in the joining of the rails ceremony, because at the moment the famous photo was being taken it was after the conclusion of the ceremony and the Chinese workers were away from the two locomotives to dine at J.H. Their absence may have been the result of the timing of the famous photograph: Historians opine that the lack of Chinese workers seen in the official portrait was due to racism, since anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States prevailed over many decades including the late 1860s. It is unknown how many people attended the event estimates run from as low as 500 to as many as 3,000 government and railroad officials and track workers. On May 10, the Jupiter and 119 were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit, separated only by the width of a single tie. 29 Antelope to attend the ceremony, while the Union Pacific had also chosen another, unidentified engine for their train, but both engines encountered mishaps en route to the ceremony. The Central Pacific had originally chosen their no. 60 (officially named the Jupiter) locomotives, neither of which had been originally chosen for the ceremony. The trains carrying the railroads' officials were drawn by Union Pacific's No. After a hearty party in Ogden the night of May 9, the dignitaries arrived at Promontory Summit on the morning of May 10, where the Golden Spike Ceremony was finally planned and took place, with the last iron spike driven at 12:47 PM. A hasty telegraph to Ogden, Utah Territory sent Union Pacific's engine "119" to the rescue. The cars coasted across, but Durant no longer had a way to get to Promontory. The engineer would not take his locomotive, whose number is lost to history, across the rickety structure, but he gave each of the passenger cars a hefty heave. ![]() After almost a two-day delay, when Durant's train arrived at the Devil's Gate Bridge in Wyoming, floodwaters turned a mild creek into a raging torrent, which threatened to collapse the railroad bridge. Vice-President Thomas Durant's dignitary railcar to a siding in Piedmont, Wyoming until he wired for money to pay them. Over 400 laid-off unpaid graders and tie cutters chained U.P.R.R. However, the original date of May 8 had to be postponed for two days because of bad weather and a labor dispute on the Union Pacific side. in April 1869, where it was also agreed that a ceremony would be held to drive in the Last Spike to commemorate the occasion. ![]() Promontory Summit, Utah Territory had been agreed upon as the point where the two railheads would officially meet, following meetings in Washington, D.C. A specially-chosen Chinese and Irish crew had taken only 12 hours to lay the final 10 mi (16 km) of track in time for the ceremony. In May 1869, the railheads of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads finally met at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. More than 4,000 workers, of whom two thirds were Chinese, had laid more than 100 mi (160 km) of track at altitudes above 7,000 ft (2,100 m). Both locations are significant to the Overland Route Promontory Summit is where the original, abandoned alignment crossed the Promontory Mountains while the modern alignment, called the Lucin Cutoff, crosses the mountains at Promontory Point.īy the summer of 1868, the Central Pacific (CP) had completed the first rail route through the Sierra Nevada mountains, and was now moving down towards the Interior Plains and the Union Pacific (UP) line. The location is sometimes confused with Promontory Point, a location further south along the southern tip of the Promontory Mountains. It is notable as the location of Promontory Summit, where the First transcontinental railroad from Sacramento to Omaha in the United States was officially completed on May 10, 1869. Rising to an elevation of 4,902 feet (1,494 m) above sea level, it lies to the north of the Promontory Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. Promontory is an area of high ground in Box Elder County, Utah, United States, 32 mi (51 km) west of Brigham City and 66 mi (106 km) northwest of Salt Lake City. Russell's picture recording the meeting of the First transcontinental railroadĤ ft 8 + 1⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm) standard gauge ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |