Where was the First Transcontinental Railroad finished?

The story goes that on May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad's tracks from the west were connected to the Union Pacific Railroad's tracks from the east in Promontory Summit, Utah.



The First Transcontinental Railroad was officially completed at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, on May 10, 1869. The event is famously known for the driving of the "Golden Spike" (the Last Spike), which ceremonially joined the tracks of the Central Pacific Railroad, which built eastward from Sacramento, and the Union Pacific Railroad, which built westward from Omaha. This monumental achievement connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail for the first time, revolutionizing travel and commerce in the United States. While the location is sometimes colloquially and incorrectly referred to as "Promontory Point" (which is a different geographic feature nearby), the official historical site where the engines No. 119 and Jupiter met nose-to-nose is Promontory Summit. Today, the location is preserved as the Golden Spike National Historical Park, where visitors can see reenactments and the original site of the unification.

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“Wedding of the Rails” Officials and workers of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railways held a ceremony on Promontory Summit, in Utah Territory—approximately thirty-five miles away from Promontory Point, the site where the rails were joined—to drive in the Golden Spike on May 10, 1869.

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Railways were introduced in England in the seventeenth century as a way to reduce friction in moving heavily loaded wheeled vehicles. The first North American gravity road, as it was called, was erected in 1764 for military purposes at the Niagara portage in Lewiston, New York.

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The building of the Transcontinental Railroad relied on the labor of thousands of migrant workers, including Chinese, Irish, and Mormons workers. On the western portion, about 90% of the backbreaking work was done by Chinese migrants.

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While much of the original transcontinental railroad tracks are still in use, the complete, intact line fell out of operation in 1904, when a shorter route bypassed Promontory Summit.

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Jay Gould Infamous for manipulating stock, Jay Gould was the most notoriously corrupt railroad owner. He became involved in the budding railroad industry in New York during the Civil War, and in 1867 became a director of the Erie Railroad.

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In 1870 it took approximately seven days and cost as little as $65 for a ticket on the transcontinental line from New York to San Francisco; $136 for first class in a Pullman sleeping car; $110 for second class; and $65 for a space on a third- or “emigrant”-class bench.

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The building of America's railroads involved African Americans, many working as slaves. Virtually every railroad built in the Pre-emancipation Era South was built using slave labor. During the Civil War (1861–1865) the US Military Railroads (USMRR) employed thousands of freeman and contraband slaves (as seen here).

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In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which designated the 32nd parallel as the initial transcontinental route, and provided government bonds to fund the project and large grants of lands for rights-of-way.

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Where is the real golden spike? It is located in Palo Alto, California. Leland Stanford's brother-in-law, David Hewes, had the spike commissioned for the Last Spike ceremony. Since it was privately owned it went back to California to David Hewes.

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Historic Strasburg takes pride in the fact that its railroad is the oldest continuously operating short-line railroad in America.

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The railroad opened for through traffic on May 10, 1869, when CPRR President Leland Stanford ceremonially drove the gold Last Spike (later often referred to as the Golden Spike) at Promontory Summit in Utah.

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The line from San Francisco, California, to Toledo, Ohio, was completed in 1909, consisting of the Western Pacific Railway, Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, Missouri Pacific Railroad, and Wabash Railroad.

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In 1862 Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Acts which designated the 32nd parallel as the initial transcontinental route and gave huge grants of lands for rights-of-way.

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The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick, a British engineer born in Cornwall. This used high-pressure steam to drive the engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod.

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