Journey to Promontory, the latest special issue from Trains magazine, explores one of the most important transportation events in America's history – the completion of the first transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. Written by top experts including John Hankey, Bill Stephens, and Jim Ehrenberger, the special edition recounts the 150-year history of our nation's first super railroad with extraordinary detail and imagery. Featured topics include how railroads won the west, building the tracks, where the Golden Spike made history, Sherman Hill - then and now, today's modern Union Pacific, site maps and historical photos, Promontory, Utah now, celebrating the 150th anniversary, and much more!
Uniting the nation, East meets West
TRANSCONTINENTAL TRANSFORMATION • Behind the clichés and glossy yellow of Union Pacific’s creation are New England business savvy, Abraham Lincoln’s pen stroke, and a Shakespearian drama
TRANSCONTINENTAL TIME LINE
HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE TODAY?
Promontory pilgrimage • Even with the railroad complete, traveling was still no small feat
What’s the “Point?”
Who took the picture? • Three photographers documented the first transcontinental railroad, and one took the photo of a lifetime
Tracks across Sherman Hill • How the Union Pacific built — and rebuilt — the main line in Wyoming and Utah
Union Pacific 1870-2020
Following the Golden Spike • One man’s pursuit of the ghosts of the original transcontinental railroad
PROMONTORY TODAY • In a lonely desert setting, the epicenter of transcontinental railroad history awaits
DRIVING THE REST OF THE RAILROAD
THE JUPITER AND THE 119 LIVE ON
THE DRIVING TOUR
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE • Ever-evolving Union Pacific faces more change 150 years after Promontory
Motive power evolution • From humble beginnings, UP has come to lead locomotive innovation
Keepers of the flame • UP’s Heritage fleet uses big steam to burnish the company’s image
ALONG THE TRANSCON