Big Boy, No. 844 reenact Golden Spike’s nose-to-nose moment in Ogden ceremony NEWSWIRE

Big Boy, No. 844 reenact Golden Spike’s nose-to-nose moment in Ogden ceremony NEWSWIRE

By Jim Wrinn | May 9, 2019

| Last updated on November 3, 2020


Anniversary celebration moves to Promontory Summit on Friday

Ogden_Ceremony_Wrinn
Big Boy No. 4014 and 4-8-4 No. 844 form the backdrop as a giant Golden Spike is hammered in place at an Ogden, Utah, ceremony by officials and descendants of participants in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.
TRAINS: Jim Wrinn
OGDEN, Utah — With a call on the radio from Union Pacific Chairman Lance Fritz as part of a Thursday morning ceremony, Big Boy No. 4014 eased into a scene that was a twist on an iconic American image of two locomotives facing nose to nose on a fine spring day in Utah.

With UP’s Ed Dickens at the throttle, No. 4014 moved to a spot on a stage with 4-8-4 No. 844 in front of a banner that read “#done”. The two locomotives posed like the Jupiter and No. 119 at Promontory 150 years ago for a ceremony honoring the Golden Spike.

Frtiz, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, U.S. Rep. Bob Bishop, and descendants of UP construction boss Grenville Dodge and Chinese laborers used hammers to tap an oversized golden spike, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.

The locomotives arrived Wednesday and will remain on display through Saturday. On Sunday, they begin their eastward trek home to Cheyenne. On Friday, the celebration moves to Promontory Summit for a ceremony and recreation of the 1869 completion ceremony.

Share this article