Question: What do the numbers and letters mean on the side of the cab of Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 No. 3985? — Ben Fairbank, San Antonio, Texas Answer: 21 – 21 4-6-6-4-4-69 ————— 404 UP […]
Train Topic: History
Ask Trains: What is the meaning behind Union Pacific steam locomotive code numbers?
Question: What do the numbers and letters mean on the side of the cab of Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 No. 3985? — Ben Fairbank, San Antonio, Texas Answer: 21 – 21 4-6-6-4-4-69 ————— 404 UP […]
Musical responses to the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike NEWSWIRE
OMAHA, Neb. — There have been all kinds of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad this May – from ceremonies at Promontory Summit, Utah, to the Big Boy steaming to and from Ogden, Utah’s, Union Station, to special exhibitions at museums all along the original route — but the […]
Golden Spike commemoration draws huge crowd for hours of ceremonies NEWSWIRE
PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah — For one day on Friday, lonely, windswept Promontory Summit filled with thousands of visitors eager to celebrate the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago today. The morning began with positioning steam locomotive replicas Jupiter and No. 119, representing the Central Pacific and Union Pacific, respectively. Soon afterward, a […]
Promontory speaker says Transcontinental railroad offers hope in modern times NEWSWIRE
Cast members from the musical “As One” gather for a group photo on a stage at the Golden Spike National Historic Park on Friday. The musical was the main educational and entertainment event during ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney A sign near a re-enactors’ encampment […]
Smithsonian to open new displays on transcontinental railroad NEWSWIRE
This and other historic images from the building of the Transcontinental Railroad will be part of a new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. National Museum of American History WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad by opening […]
Chicago Symphony musicians honor Golden Spike anniversary with Union Station concert NEWSWIRE
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform a free concert on Friday, May 3, 2019, at Chicago Union Station’s Great Hall. Bob Johnston CHICAGO—Union Station’s Great Hall reverberated with music, mostly from the middle of the 19th Century, in a free lunchtime concert performed by six Chicago Symphony Orchestra members on Friday. The ensemble played […]
Parking pass status for Golden Spike Site is limited NEWSWIRE
Parking passes for the May 10 celebration are gone; for May 11 and 12, very limited. Trains: Jim Wrinn PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah — If you don’t already have a parking pass for Golden Spike ceremony’s 150th anniversary celebrations next month, better buy one immediately or schedule your visit to the Golden Spike National Historical Park […]
Tracklayers reach incredible goals on the transcontinental railroad PART 1
Chinese workers load rail onto a tracklaying car from the piles left by the morning’s supply train. Sixteen rails, a keg of spikes, a keg of nuts and bolts, and 32 splice bars, along with the crew made the load. Horses to pull the car stand ready. The location is Granite Point, Nev., in late […]
Tracklayers reach incredible goals on the transcontinental railroad PART 2
Grading on the Central Pacific was done by hand, relying primarily on Chinese using picks, shovels, and horse-drawn dump carts, though black powder was freely used to break hard soil and move rocks aside. This scene is the 170-foot deep excavation at Prospect Hill, Calif. It dates from summer 1866, when more than a thousand […]
Spikes of the transcontinental railroad and on today’s railroads
A track worker hammers in spikes on a turnout. Steve Smedley Rusty track spikes near Canadian Pacific tracks at Brookfield, Wis, in 2012. Karl Riek The Golden Spike of the first transcontinental railroad was but one of millions in the nearly 2,000-mile route between Sacramento, Calif., and Omaha, Neb. Spikes date back to the first […]
The Golden Spike and other notable track completion ceremonies in the U.S. and Canada
Notable U.S. and Canadian railroad completions Trains: Rick Johnson Promontory Summit, Utah, may have hosted North America’s most famous final-spike ceremony, but the event on May 10, 1869, was not unique. Not all railroads had a completion “moment:” the New York Central is an example of a railroad formed through a series of mergers and […]
