Home»Golden Spike: Joining the Rails

On May 10, 1869 a golden spike was tapped into a polished tie, linking the nation by rail. It happened near the shore of Great Salt Lake in UT Territory.

This gallery shows the National Historic Site, replica locomotives, and surviving infrastructure nearby, including the original railroad bed, and wooden trestles.

Many more images of 19th century railroading including Union Pacific and Central Pacific equipment are in the Twin Streaks of Rust gallery.

These images are only offered here. The copyright watermark does not appear.