What’s With the Golden Spike?
In case you’ve forgotten your history, the last link in the first Transcontinental Railroad was a spike of gold, engraved with the names of the railroad officers and directors. A special tie of polished California laurel was chosen to complete the line where the spike would be driven. Although the festivities were scheduled for May 8, bad weather forced a delay for two days (even though the spike is engraved with May 8). On the 10th, Union Pacific No. 119 and Central Pacific No. 60 (known as the Jupiter) locomotives were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit, separated only by the width of a single tie. The golden spike was dropped into a pre-drilled hole in the laurel tie, and tapped into place with a silver ceremonial spike maul. Immediately following the ceremony, the spike and tie were removed and replaced with a regular iron spike and normal railroad tie. The spike was donated to the Stanford Museum, and the tie was destroyed in the fires following the San Francisco earthquak
