How the Golden Spike Joined America's Coasts
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May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Tomorrow happens to be National TrainDay, which was designated as the first Saturday after theanniversary of the driving of the “Golden Spike.”
On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific and Union Pacificrailroads were joined in a remote area of Utah, completing thefirst transcontinental railroad. This made the West Coast easilyaccessible for the first time, along with the vast expansebetween the Pacific Ocean and the Missouri River. This region,often called the “Great American Desert,” previously had been asalien to easterners as the moon.