Golden Spike National Historic Site Railroad Track - Promontory, Utah
N 41° 37.076 W 112° 33.097
12T E 370731 N 4608519
The National Park Service has heroically attempted to re-establish the look of the original track that was once the Transcontinental Railroad, at the place where the two competing railroads originally joined together on May 10, 1869.
Waymark Code: WM4VPJ
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 10/02/2008
Views: 27
MODERN TRACK
Modern railway track of the ballasted timber variety (there are a number of other types out there, particularly in rail transit) consists of a number of components. These include (from the ground up) a compacted subgrade, compacted subballast, compacted ballast, crossties, running rail, tie plates, cut track spikes, rail anchors, joint bars, bolts, washers and nuts. These last items - anchors, spikes, plates, joint bars, etc. are referred to as ‘OTM’, as in ‘Other Track Material’.
OLD TRACK
The track of 1869 lacked a number of these more modern innovations (listed above) for a number of reasons, perhaps primarily because they lacked the money. The original goal was to get trains running, not to build a low-maintenance railroad. The roadbed was graded, but the only compaction probably was a consequence of horse-drawn wagons rolling over the roadbed during the construction process. No subballast was used. Next, crossties were placed on the roadbed to the proper spacing and alignment and the rail was attached by driving spikes into the ties. No tie plates or rail anchors were used. Instead of ballast, the assembled track was supported simply by filling the spaces between the ties (known as the ‘crib’) with the native soil.
TRACK REPLICA ACCURACY
The replica track at Promontory (there are two miles of it; they run two replica steam locomotives on it) is a great attempt at simulating the past, and the National Park Service should be given a great deal of credit for making the attempt. For the record, the differences between the replica track and the original 1869 track are as follows:
1) The replica utilizes track ballast, which is a material consisting of clean particles of stone (meaning no fine particles, such as earth). Ballast provides drainage, support and stability for the track. It was not used in the 1869 track. Likely it is used here to reduce maintenance costs; ballasted track will hold its alignment much better than track embedded in earth.
2) The replica track utilizes steel rails; the original track used iron rails. Iron rails in any quantity likely no longer exist, and rolling new ones would probably be cost-prohibitive.
3) The ‘milled’ crossties for the Central Pacific would not have contained incision marks and probably would not have been treated with a preservative.
Actually, this is not quite as long a list as I thought it would be. Again, the National Park Service has performed a great service to the Nation in preserving and telling this part of our history.
In addition to the normal listed requirements for logging your visit, see if you can add any other observations about the track. All comments are welcome!
Where is original located?: The original track was replaced by maintenance of way forces over a period of time, as rail technology improved. Then, in 1942, this part of the railroad was completely removed as it was no longer needed.
Where is this replica located?: Promontory, Utah, at the coordinates given.
Who created the original?: The Central Pacific Railroad, which was absorbed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which in turn was absorbed (ironically) by the Union Pacific Railroad.
Internet Link about Original: http://www.nps.gov/gosp/index.htm
Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1869
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Visit Instructions:
Post at least one photo of the replica.