Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 6 – July 15th:
It was nice waking up in a warm bed, and only having to walk a few feet to get a shower.
After 5-days of traveling back-roads with my dog, my Ford truck was is in need of a cleaning. Naples Car & Truck Wash was close to the motel, so I took the truck over for a cleaning. I have to say, I was very happy with this car wash. They’re equipped to wash anything from a dog to a semi-truck. They’re vacuum’s are free, they’re brushes put out a lot of suds, and I liked being able to use my credit card and not have to keep putting quarters in the machine.
After getting the truck cleaned up, we hit the local McDonald’s for breakfast, and then made our way north on US 191. My first issue for the day was fuel. Diesel prices here were 50-70 cents more a gallon than I had seen in Colorado. I had hoped that prices would be cheaper in Wyoming, but that just wasn’t going to be the case.
Taking US 191 north to Wyoming, and then traveling west back in to Utah, looked like it was going to be the best route for scenery.
Heading north out of Vernal Utah, we passed Steinaker Lake:
and the region along 191 was very rocky:
But then turned to national forest:
And lead us to Flaming Gorge:
When we reached IS-80, we headed west back in to Utah, and then went west on IS-84. From there we took IS-15 north to SR 13 north. SR 13 splits off at SR 83, and SR 83 will take you to 7200 N Road. We turned left on 7200 N Road, and followed it to W. Golden Spike Drive. W. Golden Spike Drive lead us to the Golden Spike National Historical Site.
Golden Spike National Historic Site – Promontory Summit, Utah:
The Golden Spike National Historic Site is part of the Nation Park system located at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It commemorates the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad, where the Central Pacific Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad, met on May 10, 1869. The final joining of the rails was signified by the driving of the ceremonial Golden Spike. While most of us likely learned about the golden spike and this event in school, most probably don’t recall where in the country it actually happened. You would think that east meets west would have happened in the central United States, but that’s not what history tells us.
Side Note: History tells us that this event completed the Transcontinental Railroad. But it’s a misrepresentation of history. The truth is, and you can search this for yourself, the Transcontinental Railroad had a gap in it because there wasn’t a bridge over the Missouri River in Omaha Nebraska. Passengers and freight would have to be unloaded from a train on one side of the river, loaded on to a ferry (operated by the Union Pacific Transfer Company), transported across the river, and then loaded on to another train. The railroad bridge over the Missouri River that truly created a ‘transcontinental’ railroad wasn’t actually finished until 1872.
Meaningless History Note #2: In the 1999 film ‘Wild Wild West’ with Will Smith, the joining ceremony was attended by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, but in reality, Grant did not attend the Golden Spike ceremony.
Visiting the site was pretty interesting. Especially if you really stop and grasp what these men had accomplished. It wasn’t just about putting down railroad ties, and nailing iron rails to them. They had to cut through rocks, fill in low areas, build bridges, and create railroad beds with grades less than 2%. Ever seen railroad tracks running parallel with the highway, and noticed how the tracks appear level even though the highway is going up and down hills? You can’t run railroad tracks up a hill, so laying tracks takes a lot of surveying and planning.
There is also a visitor center that contains historical artifacts providing more insight into the creation of the railroad, and its accomplishments.
Replicas of The Last Tie And Last Spike:
On May 10, 1869 the transcontinental railroad was symbolically completed with four spikes of gold and silver. They were carefully set into holes predilled in a polished tie of California laurelwood. After a brief ceremony, these were removed and replaced by iron spikes driven into a standard tie of white pine.
The laurel tie was displayed in San Francisco until destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.
This missing golden spike:
Of the (4) spikes used during the 1869 ceremony, the (2) silver spikes are accounted for.
The ‘last golden spike’ is said to be on display in the Stanford University Museum. However, some argue that the last golden spike given to Stanford disappeared (was stolen) at the time of the reported looting of the Stanford Museum during the time of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, and was subsequently replaced with a fake replacement spike.
And finally, the 2nd golden spike used in the ceremony has been missing, well, forever. The whereabouts of this gold spike is unknown. It was present at the ceremony. It had been speculated that the spike was given to one of the Union Pacific dignitaries, but there was no mention of the spike in any of their memoirs. It was also possible that the spike was returned to the San Francisco News Letter newspaper. If so, its fate is most likely the same as the newspaper company, when, in 1906, the San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed the News Letter Building. The fate of this spike remains a mystery.
Imagine what the missing golden spike would be worth today? Especially with its historical significance. And then there’s the whole controversy about whether the ‘last golden spike’ is the ‘real’ last golden spike. Sounds like it should be another ‘National Treasure’ movie with Nicholas Cage.
The Golden Spike National Historic Site also has replicas of the Central Pacific’s ‘Jupiter’, and Union Pacific’s ‘119’ locomotive’s. These would have been the locomotives that you see stopped nose to nose in the history photos. Unfortunately, they were not running the day I was there due to track repairs. They’re stored in the engine house, but it had closed before I got there.
The historic site has self guided auto tours that allow you to drive on original railroad grades from either the Union Pacific, or Central Pacific railroad.
After spending some time exploring the area, we headed back to SR 83, and headed north. We had only traveled a short distance, when we came upon an outdoor museum of rockets and missiles. That’s the fun part of taking roadtrips. You just never know what you’re going to discover. Even in the middle of nowhere.
ATK Rocket Garden – Promontory, Utah:
The ATK Rocket Garden was a display in front of Orbital ATK Aerospace System near Promontory Utah. The company describes themselves as:
As a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, Orbital ATK designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation-related systems to customers around the world both as a prime contractor and as a merchant supplier. Our main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; satellites and associated components and services; composite aerospace structures; tactical missiles, subsystems and defense electronics; and precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition.
The outdoor museum had a wide range of rocket engines (or what they called motors) that powered everything from air-to-air missiles, to the space shuttle. It’s right outside by the road, so it doesn’t cost anything to stop and look. It was pretty interesting that you can go from looking at the beginning of the railroads with steam locomotives, to space shuttle rocket engines, pretty much right across the street.
To view photos of the ATK Rocket Garden, click HERE.
It was getting late, and I wanted to get to the campground before dark. We continued north on SR 83, and then headed west on IS-84 in to Idaho.
When we got to Twin Falls, we headed north on US 93, and arrived at the Twin Falls / Jerome KOA campground. I was able to get the tent set up, the grill lit, and cook some pork chops before dark.
After relaxing with an adult beverage, and looking at my atlas for a while, I decided to make a radical turn in our course of direction. Tomorrow morning, the trip takes on a new route, with a new objective!
Links:
Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Main Page
Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 7
Photos of ATK Rocket Garden – Promontory, Utah