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Central Pacific

Where Two Lines Raced To Drive The Last Spike In Transcontinental Track

If you were asked to name pivotal meetings in American history, the linking of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads might not immediately come to mind. But it was perhaps the most important. Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, it took months to get from coast to coast, and more than $1,000. After these two lines met at Promontory Summit in northern Utah, a New Yorker could travel to California in a week for as little as $70.

The official painting is full of dignity and decorum lamentably absent in the actual photograph.

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