Promontory Summit
Salt Lake Great Ogden Salt Lake City
UT AH
explore the rest of the park. The small museum located inside the Visitor’s Cen- ter is a good place to start; it features dis- plays on track laying and other aspects of the Golden Spike story, as well as a replica of the Hewe’s golden spike. Out- side is Southern Pacific’s obelisk monu- ment from 1916, now fully restored. The West Grade Auto Tour takes you
the GSNHS engine house. Since there are no passenger cars or other pieces of rolling stock at the site, no rides are giv- en; the locomotives are operated for demonstration purposes only. At 10:00 a.m. Jupiter steams down the non-his- toric wye that connects the engine house with the former Union Pacific main line, then backs west to the last spike site; at 10:30 it’s joined by No. 119.
In the afternoon demonstration runs are made to allow visitors to see the en- gines in action. At 1:00 p.m. Jupiter runs southeast down the former main line, alongside the Central Pacific sid- ing, while No. 119 steams northeast across the highway and then down the reconstructed UP siding in front of the Visitors Center. Both remain at the last spike site until 4:00 p.m. when No. 119 departs for the engine house, fol- lowed by Jupiter at 4:30 p.m. The daily runs provide many opportunities to photograph the engines at work, and train crews wear period-appropriate clothing for authenticity.
During the annual May 10th celebra- tion the full Golden Spike ceremony is reenacted with costumed actors, and Russell’s famous “champagne photo” is recreated. This is the busiest day of the year, and people-free photos can be a challenge. The ceremony is also reen- acted — on a somewhat lesser scale — on Saturdays and holidays from May 1st through Columbus Day. During the off-season tours of the engine house are available; the replicas are normally dis- assembled, cleaned, and repaired dur- ing this time (NPS has a small Ply- mouth “critter” to move them when they’re not under steam). One of the 4-4-0s is brought out for a special run in December
in conjunction with
GSNHS Winter Steam Festival. Activities
There’s more to see at GSNHS than just the replicas. During the summer months I’ve found that it’s best to photo- graph the locomotives during the morn- ing, and then use the high-sun hours to
the
seven miles southeast of Promontory Summit along the never-used Union Pacific grade, and back to the GSNHS on the Central Pacific grade. In April 1869 as the rails approached Promon- tory, the miles of track laid per day be- came a contest between the Central Pa- cific and UP crews. Union Pacific, having laid 8.5 miles in one day, bet the Central Pacific $10,000 that they could not best that record. On April 28th Central Pacific crews laid ten miles and 56 feet of rail in one day, claiming the prize. The location is marked by a repli- ca of the “Ten Miles of Track Laid in One Day” sign; the 1869 original re- sides in the Visitor’s Center. Northeast of the last spike site is the East Grade Auto Tour, which takes you through numerous cuts and fills on the Central Pacific/Southern Pacific grade. This was a difficult area to traverse, and the line features five cuts and four fills, as well as the natural Chinese Arch, named to honor Central Pacific’s Asian workforce. A short walk on the Big Fill Trail will take you to the site of Central Pacific’s impressive “Big Fill” and the location of UP’s “Big Trestle.” The more adventurous — those with four-wheel drive — can explore more of the abandoned grade west of Promonto- ry Summit which is now the BLM Transcontinental
Railroad National
Back Country Byway. Other Golden Spike activities are in the area — see page 10.
Getting There
Promontory Summit is located 32 miles from Brigham City, exit 365 off I-15. Take Utah 13 and 83 to Golden Spike Drive, and follow the signs to the Visitor’s Center. Note that no services are available at the site; food and lodg- ing can be found in nearby Brigham City and Ogden.
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