It was this week in history that the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, joined together with a golden railroad spike. On May 10, 1869, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in Promontory, Utah, to drive the ceremonial golden spike into a rail line that connected their railroads, and united the Continental U.S.
Below, I’d like to share some historical railroading photos, sent to me by a good friend:
Chicago, 1951
A group of Minnesotans gamble on their way to San Francisco, 1952
Wyoming, 1954
Washington, D.C., 1967
Winding down the Feather River Valley, California, 1981
“Highballin!” In Montana, on the way to Spokane, from Denver, 1986
Self-portrait, Colorado, 1986
4 responses so far ↓
thefunctionkey // May 7, 2008 at 3:27 pm |
these photos are great! May 10th is National Train Day, and now I know why! Thank you!
Travel blog » Blog Archive » Review of interesting stuff seen this week // May 7, 2008 at 3:38 pm |
[...] Nice article with photos about Transcontinental Railroad. Enjoy. [...]
spiderella // May 7, 2008 at 3:52 pm |
These photos are pretty cool. I’m planning a solo, coast-to-coast (and back again in 10 days) train trip, and some days I need a little inspiration to help me believe I can pull it off. The “self portrait” picture did it for me today… Thanks so much.
someone else // May 8, 2008 at 11:31 am |
chu chuuuuuuu!