1869: Promontory Summit

April 8, 1869
After months of wrangling, the two railroads agree to meet at Promontory Summit, Utah.

April 28, 1869
CP crews lay an astounding ten miles of rail between sunrise and sunset.

May 6, 1869
A washed-out bridge and unpaid workers delay the arrival of UP officials by two days.

May 8, 1869
Despite the delay, Californians celebrate the railroad's completion.

May 10, 1869
Engines No. 119 and Jupiter practically touch on the track as the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads meet.

Railroad Slang

Railroad workers were famous for their slang. A track laborer was a "gandy dancer," while an engineer was a "hogger." The unfortunate fellow who missed a meal was called a "fly light." The guy that snuck in a nap on the job was a "hay." And if a worker was disciplined, he was said to "dance the carpet." The sheets of paper which communicated the schedules of trains were, naturally, called "flimsies."

The Miles Per Day Contest

The competing companies raced to Promontory Summit, each trying to top the other's daily progress. Workers of the Central Pacific, who had measured progress in feet per day through the Sierra Nevada, zipped across easier terrain, laying six miles of track in one day. In response, Union Pacific workers built seven miles in a day. Then the Central Pacific regrouped for one last massive effort and laid down an astonishing ten miles in one day, April 28, 1869.

"Done!"

"WHEN THE LAST SPIKE IS DRIVEN AT PROMONTORY POINT, WE WILL SAY 'DONE!' DON'T BREAK THE CIRCUIT, BUT WATCH FOR THE SIGNALS OF THE BLOWS OF THE HAMMER."
-- telegraph operator W. N. Shilling

"We all yelled like to bust."
-- a railroad worker

The Pacific Railroad Act required telegraph lines to be erected alongside the rail. Separate gangs of workers dug holes, erected poles, and strung cable. Populated areas were immediately, and almost constantly, connected, though occasionally buffalo would use the poles as scratching posts, knocking them down.

A telegraph wire was attached to the final golden spike, so that the joining of the rails would be heard nationwide. W. N. Shilling, a Western Union telegraph operator, kept other operators across the nation informed as the completion ceremony proceeded in Utah. After he sent the message, "Done!", the entire nation erupted in cheers. Cannons facing the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans fired simultaneously. The Liberty Bell rang in Philadelphia. Americans everywhere marched in parades, lit fireworks, fired cannons, and offered prayers.

The Golden Spike

"May God continue the unity of our Country, as the Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world. Presented by David Hewes San Francisco."
-- message engraved on the Golden Spike

The solid gold spike that joined the transcontinental rails weighed eighteen ounces. Its donor, San Francisco real estate developer David Hewes, had the head inscribed with the words, "The Last Spike." It was placed in a pre-drilled hole for tapping by CP president Leland Stanford, who used a silver hammer. Stanford kept the spike after the ceremony and it now resides in a museum at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California.