'Done!': Marking 150 Years of the Transcontinental Railroad

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May 11, 2019

A group of re-enactors commemorated the 150th anniversary of the completion of the largest part of the Transcontinental Railroad, part of a wider celebration attended by thousands of people at the Golden Spike National Historical Park at Promontory Summit in Utah.

It was there on May 10, 1869, that two railroad companies met to drive the Golden Spike and complete the biggest step in many people's dream of a coast-to-coast rail journey. Workers by the thousands starting laying track in Sacramento, Calif., and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and then met on that historic day in that historic place, 66 miles northwest of Salt Lake City. Along the way, Central Pacific had laid 690 miles of track and Union Pacific had laid 1,087 miles of track. Later that year, workers completed the final leg to the West coast, with tracks leading from Sacramento to Oakland.

Transcontinental Railroad 150 years

In another repeat performance, a re-enactor sent a short yet significant message via telegraph: "Dot, Dot, Dot. Done!" That message, sent in 1869, meant that the Pacific Railway had been completed. Symbolizing the meeting of the two railroads was the presence of two famous locomotives, the Central Pacific's Jupiter and No. 119 from Union Pacific. The re-enactment ceremony featured replicas built for a 1972 celebration, to mark the 110th anniversary.

The replica engines rang their bells and blew their whistles. Festivities included performance by a band a children's choir. Attending were Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, and current Union Pacific chairman Lance Fritz.

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