TWO PEAS AND THE POD: ❎#73-THE GOLDEN SPIKE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE (UT)

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Our view this morning as we made our way down the mountain to return to I-15 South.

As you can see above, on the reverse side of the Utah State Quarter they're proud to be known as the "Crossroads of the West".

In the 1860s the Union Pacific Railroad began laying track westward from Omaha, NE and at the same time the Central Pacific Railroad began laying track eastward from Sacramento, CA. They met in Promentary, UT and that's where we visited the Golden Spike National Historic Site today.

The cool Welcome Sign as you near the Visitor Center.

A giant sized art installation in the parking lot of the Visitor Center.
Yes, ROVER is hiding behind the tree, but not THE POD.

This is a replica Ceremonial Timber that is displayed at the point where the two tracks met.

It was the first transcontinental railroad in the United States and forever changed not only both coasts, but the central regions of the country as well. Previously, most of these areas were unreachable for most citizens.

We learned that while both railroad's locomotives where steam driven, the eastern locomotives burned coal to produce steam while the western locomotives burned wood to acheive the same result. The reason for this is because that was what was abundantly available to them.

As usual we arrived a week too late to see the locomotives in action and outdoors, but we did get to see them in the engine room where they were being maintained by the National Park Service so that next season they are as pristine as can be.

Both of these locomotives are replicas, but they are damn near perfect in reflecting what the originals were like.