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i heard 2 stories bout it1- 2 spikes were driven in place by the presidents of both companies 2- more then 2 spike like 8 i think were driven in place by the leaders and there officials of each roadwhich one is true! PEACE Love Freedom
all wrong there were four spikes driven and they were gonna be drivin by the president of the first person to get there but he couldn't hit it so they tried the other pres and he was to hungover to hit em so they finally had a crew member who worked there do it. I just read that last weekend.
You may want to read Stephen Ambrose's great book abt the building of the transcontinental railroad. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Nothing Like It in the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen E. Ambrose ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I watched a show on this on the history chan, as lilman said, there were 4, and they had to had the workers do it, And if i remember correctly, there were 2 Gold spikes, 1 silver, and one made of iron, gold & silver?
Shawn "IcyFire" Kenselaar "...But in a way the Big Boy never left, It still offers the high tractive effort, In a articulated wheel configuration!"
you are right cept the gold and silver. it was a plain iron spike. I dunno what they all symbolized but they all had there own meanings. I'd have to use yahoo search to find out but I'm not that energetic. LOLZ
I would also suggest the book by the inimitable Lucius Beebe.: "The Central Pacific & Southern Pacific RR's" It was the first railroad book I ever bought, and is just loaded with pictures from all eras of the road(s) up to the early 70's. There is extensive coverage of everything. I warn you though, the book is going for about $100 these days. Might be less online, but the booksellers at trainshows are getting serious coin.
Steven Amborses book is one of the best in regards to the railroad. I was reading a book last week on the UP< and if my memory serves me correctly, the line is no longer used, and the spikes were taken up and placed in a railroad muesum nearby.Also, if you go to historychannel.com, click on store, and type in trains in the search box, you will get about 56 items, all on VHS and DVD that deals with trains. One of the videos is the stroy behind the transcon, and the railroad.Cheers, Chris
