Golden Spike 150 at Promontory

May 10, 1869: The Union Pacific Railroad, building East from Omaha, and the Central Pacific Railroad, building west from Sacramento, meet at Promontory Summit, a desolate gap in the mountains north of the Great Salt Lake. A ceremony is held, and four ceremonial spikes made of precious metals are tapped into a special tie, completing the world's first transcontinental railroad line and forever binding the two halves of America. Exactly one and a half centuries later, thousands of Americans came to Promontory from all across the nation to once again celebrate the completion of the railroad, and the uniting of the continent.
INDEX:
0:10 Exploring the park
2:10 Ceremony
6:10 Reenactment
18:08 Musical Performance
20:00 Locomotive Demonstration

[@DynamoProductions-trains]

Nicely done

[@SmokyMtnSteam]

Thanks!

[@SantaFe19484]

Awesome video!

[@Cwilliam1999]

Happy 150th Trasnscon #Done

[@railroadvelocipedeproducti2020]

Nice!

[@thecarolinianrailfan8339]

I hope that you had fun. I wonder where you will be going this summer.

[@SmokyMtnSteam]

It was a great experience. I don't have too much planned for the summer at this time but I've got a busy fall coming up!

[@christopherdibble5872]

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954.

[@Rebel9668]

Cool video although I do have to admit I skimmed through much of the various speeches of the re-enacting politicians, lol. They should attach a coach or two to each of the locomotives and pull an occasional excursion over the tracks. Granted it would be a short run, but I've seen shorter. :)

[@SmokyMtnSteam]

Haha, I expected most people would skim through the ceremony bit. It would be really neat to see them add some rolling stock and lay some more track, after all they do have miles of two intact grades just waiting to see rails again. While the National Park Service doesn't seem interested in train rides, at least we have two beautiful and fully operating locomotives to tell the story.

[@ArnavKhode]

The locomotives bells are very historic

[@BCSchmerker]

+SmokyMtnSteam *Apparently the organizers for this event are deaf to 19th-Century American music history.* The concert band Time 3:02 played a Song that didn't exist at the time: *GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.* (Lee Greenwood) Songs of Universal/Sycamore Valley Music, BMI when period-correct pieces such as: *BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM* (George Frederick Root) Hall-Mack Co., ASCAP and: *BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC* (William Steffe/Julia Ward Howe) Theodore Presser Co., ASCAP would be far more appropriate. The most appropriate overture of the time? *HAIL, COLUMBIA!* (Philip Pfeil/Joseph Hopkinson) Carr's Music Warehouse, MPA And the most appropriate finale? *THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER* (John Stafford Smith/Francis Scott Key) Carr's Music Warehouse, MPA

[@markfrench8892]

I personally thought it was too much like a Hollywood production.

[@markfrench8892]

I personally thought it was the next best thing to a Hollywood production. Cheesy and corny as all get out. The only redeeming thing was the two replic locomotives.