Golden Spike National Historic Site

On Saturday April 12, Wayne and I headed North on I-15 to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site on the North end of the Great Salt Lake. Wayne had heard from a co-worker that we could ride our bikes on the old rail beds so we packed our bikes on top of our car and headed out to learn a little history and enjoy a beautiful sunny day on our bikes.

At the visitor center we ate a picnic lunch and then followed the ranger in a car caravan to the engine house where they keep the replicas of the 2 steam engines that met at this sight on May 10, 1869 completing the trans-continental railroad. They are called the Jupiter and #119

In the summer season, from May to October, these engines are driven out on the track each day to be photographed and admired by tourists. In April they are still kept in the engine house where dedicated volunteers clean and prep them for a new season. Our tour guide escorted us inside and gave us a few facts about the engines, the tracks, the workers who made the rail lines, and the two rival companies who worked hard to complete the rail system across the country.

While he talked, volunteers worked on varnishing cars that will be pulled by the engines in May.

Their families flitted around the engines while we tourists stayed safely behind the ropes, taking pictures and asking questions. We learned that this rail route was changed during WWII and now trains cross the Great Salt Lake at a causeway over Promontory Point. The rails that were on these northern rail beds were dismantled and re-used as part of the war effort.

Wayne and I returned to the Visitor Center, toured the museum, saw a short film, looked at the remaining tracks where they run the two engines in summer, and then drove our car with bikes to a parking lot for the 1.5 mile walking trail called the Big Fill Walk.

Instead of walking we took our bikes off the roof and headed back out on the road and up and down a big hill to reach the start of the North Auto Tour one-way road that drives on the old rail bed. It was great riding our bikes along the rail bed, stopping at markers along the way to observe the last cut, blasting sites, and a natural arch used as a rest stop by workers and so called "Chinaman's Arch". The road made a gradual turn and then descended a little faster than usual. This section of track was the sight of derailments when trains tried to take the hill too fast.

We then crossed the road and after a snack, took the walking trail (on our bikes) to the big fill and beyond. The two companies, Central Pacific from the west and Union Pacific from the East were both trying to go the farthest before meeting in Utah. The gov't was encouraging the laying of track by advancing money to prepare the grade. The advance crews were sometimes 200 miles out in front of the rail laying crews, choosing routes and preparing the grade. Because the exact spot to join was not chosen until close to the time of meeting, the advance teams prepared beds right along side of each other.

Unfortunately we didn't think to bring our camera on our bikes so this is the end of the pictures.

On the Big Fill Trail, we rode on the Central Pacific's rail bed which was eventually chosen for this part of the route, and could see what was left of the Union Pacific rail bed that was used for only 6 months before dismantling. We rode gradually down hill for a long ways, way beyond the informative sign posts of the walking trail. We saw a group of mule deer, hunting birds, and the largest rabbits I have ever seen. These Jack Rabbits were 2 feet tall sitting down and their ears added another foot above their heads. It was fun to watch them bound over the hills.

When we felt we had used half of our time, we turned around and began the big ascent. The nice thing about riding on a rail bed is that we could hardly tell that we were going uphill instead of down. As we rode across the Big Fill, a giant ridge of earth hauled in to support the rails between two plateaus, we could see that the Union Pacific rail bed beneath us just stopped at both ends of the canyon. They had built a temporary trestle bridge over the same gorge which was later torn down.

The walking trail had us switch to the Union Pacific bed after seeing the big fill, so we took our bikes down a steep rocky trail to follow the UP trail back. One of the informative plaques pointed out how much the UP rail bed had deteriorated in the 140 years since it was built. It was obvious walking, but even more obvious on a bike, as the trail changed from about a 5 foot wide trail on a 10 foot wide trail bed, to a one foot wide trail on the top of a ridge with steep drop-offs on both sides of the narrow trail.

Too bad we didn't have the camera for this part!

Wayne kept reminding me to keep up some speed as it is easier to travel straight, but it was un-nerving to be able to look down over both sides at the same time, knowing if I hit a rock in the trail it might send me over the edge. The narrow ridge lasted only for a few hundred feet and then I could relax and notice the scenery once again.

It was interesting to learn how the first trans-continental railroad was made, and fun to ride the rail beds on such a beautiful day. But by the time we got back to our car, I was ready to get off my bike and head for home and supper!