PROMONTORY, Utah, May 10 (Reuters) - Thousands of visitors, many of them train enthusiasts, are expected to crowd onto a remote bluff in northern Utah for a day of speeches, music and a historical re-enactment marking the 150th anniversary of the first U.S. Transcontinental Railroad. The three-day “Golden Spike” celebration opens on Friday at Promontory Summit, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Salt Lake City, where the Central Pacific Railroad from the west was joined to the Union Pacific Railroad from the east on May 10, 1869. Now a national historic park, the wind-swept site saw the culmination of a six-year feat of 19th-century engineering that transformed the American West as the nation was emerging from a bloody civil war. The festivities will feature full-size working replicas of the two steam engines that faced each other, nose to nose, in an iconic photograph taken of a celebration held the day the cross-country rail line was completed. The picture captures throngs of bearded crewmen toasting the occasion with bottles of whiskey as they clamored around the two engines, Central Pacific’s No. 60 Jupiter and Union Pacific’s No. 119. The locomotive reproductions are due to arrive Friday morning, to be followed by a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham and the performance of a stage musical “re-imagining” of the original 1869 ceremony. Another highlight will be a costumed re-enactment of 1869’s ceremonial driving of the last spike, cast in 17.6-karat gold, that connected the finished rail line more than 1,750 miles (2,816 km) between Sacramento, California, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The achievement was announced by telegraph, flashing the single-word message “Done” across the country in what was widely regarded as one of the nation’s first media events. Estimates of Promontory Summit’s that day range from several-hundred to 3,000. About 20,000 people are expected to attend Friday’s events, organizers said. The commemorative golden spike, which was immediately replaced by an ordinary iron spike in 1869, is currently on display with related artifacts at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. TRANSFORMATION AND PRIDE Construction of the railway, which cut U.S. coast-to-coast travel time from many months to just a week, greatly accelerated Anglo-European settlement of the American West and aligned it politically with the Union states of the North. It also hastened the demise of the Plains Indians, as well as the bison herds on which they depended. An anti-Chinese backlash following completion of the railroad led to passage of the federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, marking the first significant law restricting U.S. immigration. Those restrictions remained on books until 1943. Nevertheless, the great rail project stands as a historic cornerstone for many Chinese-Americans, whose ancestors accounted for the bulk of the Central Pacific labor force that carved railbeds over the through the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains. The Chinese worked for less pay for longer hours than their white counterparts, and performed the bulk of the most dangerous tasks. Untold numbers - as many as 1,200 by some estimates - perished in blasting accidents, snowslides, falls and other mishaps. Stymied by a lack of records from that era, many Chinese-Americans have only managed to trace their family’s roots to the Transcontinental Railroad in recent years, with the help of research organized by Stanford University in California. The revelation has given many a new sense of pride and place. “I grew up feeling like we did not belong in this country,” Andrea Yee, 80, a resident of Berkeley, California, whose great-grandfather, Lim Lip Hong, was a foreman on the railroad crews for four years. “This has really made me understand the whole picture of the building of America.” (Reporting by Terray Sylvester in Promontory, Utah; writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)<doc-sep>The Associated Press The May 10, 1869, completion of the Transcontinental Railroad was a pivotal moment in the United States, ushering in a period of progress and expansion nationwide. The presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in remote Promontory, Utah, to mark the occasion, driving a ceremonial last spike to connect their rail lines. The Baltimore Sun, relying on telegraphed dispatches by The Associated Press from Utah and dispatches from other U.S. cities, published the following article on the event and how it was celebrated across the U.S. It first appeared on May 11, 1869. The AP is reprinting it in honor of the Transcontinental Railroad's 150th anniversary. More:Refurbished 'Big Boy' locomotive weighs more than a Boeing 747 Completion of the Pacific Railroad Official Announcement — Telegraphing the Hammer Strokes — Rejoicing and Congratulation — Ringing of Bells and Other Demonstrations. PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah, May 10, noon. — To the Associated Press: The last rail is laid. The last spike is driven. The Pacific railroad is completed. The point of junction is 1,086 miles west of the Missouri river, and 690 miles east of Sacramento. LELAND STANFORD, Central Pacific Railroad T.C. DURANT, SIDNEY DILLON, JOHN DUFF, Union Pacific Railroad The news received in New York NEW YORK, May 10. — The last spike in the Pacific railroad was driven today at five minutes past 3 o'clock P.M., New York time. San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Plaister Cove, the end of the cable, were connected with Promontory Point by telegraph, and the hammer strokes on the last spike were duly transmitted according to arrangement. When the news was received in New York a hundred guns were fired in the City Hall Park, and Mayor Hall forwarded a congratulatory message to the Mayor of San Francisco. A commemorative celebration had previously been held in Trinity Church, at which a telegram forwarded by the Chamber of Commerce to the Chamber in San Francisco was read, and an address delivered by Rev. Dr. Vinton. After prayer and reading of portions of the Episcopal service, the organ pealed and chimes rung as the large congregation left the church. Flags on the city hall and on many public and private buildings were displayed all day in honor of the great event. Free trade and the Pacific Railroad A meeting of the American Free Trade League of New York was held at Cooper Institute tonight at which many of the prominent members of the organization were present. David Dudley Field called the assemblage to order, and Howard Potter presided. Addresses were delivered by William Cullen Bryant and Edward Atkinson, and the following resolution was adopted: "Resolved, That in the opening of the great Pacific railroad today, connecting New York and San Francisco, we recognize a pledge, not only for one country, one constitution and one destiny, but with a due regard to the revenue, for the freest sort of trade with all countries and all continents." Ringing the bells in Philadelphia Philadelphia, May 10. — At 2:30 o'clock P.M. precisely, Philadelphia time, the news was received of the driving of the last spike of the Pacific railroad. Word was sent to the mayor, and in a few minutes the bells in Independence Hall and the various fire stations were rung, drawing crowds into the streets under the impression that a general alarm of fire was being rung. The people soon ascertained the reason of the ringing of the bells, and flags were immediately displayed everywhere. A large number of steam fire engines ranged in front of Independence Hall with screaming whistles and hose carriage bells ringing. Joy was expressed in every face at the completion of this great work of country. The sudden flocking of the people to the State House reminded one of the reception of the news of the surrender of Lee's army, when a similar scene was enacted. The rejoicing at Chicago Chicago, May 10. — The celebration of the completion of the great inter-ocean railroad connection today was the most successful affair of the kind that ever took place in Chicago, and probably in the West. It is entirely impromptu, and therefore almost every man, woman and child in the city did their part toward making it a success. The procession was unique in appearance and immense in length, the lowest estimate putting it down at seven miles. During the moving of the procession, Vice President Colfax received the following dispatch: "Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10. — Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Vice President: The rails were connected today. The prophecy of Benton is today a fact. This is the way to India. "G.M. DODGE, "JOHN DUFF, "SIDNEY DILLON, "T.C. DURANT." This evening Vice President Colfax, Lieut. Governor Bross and others addressed large audiences at Liberty Hall, in which they spoke eloquently of the great era which this day marks in the history of our country. During the evening there was general indulgence in fireworks, bonfires, illumination, &c. The celebration elsewhere There was great rejoicing over the event at Scranton, Pennsylvania, where cannon, bells and whistles of locomotives were employed to give eclat to the occasion. In Buffalo, New York, a large gong was attached to the telegraph wire, and at 2:41 P.M. by the time of that city began to ring out the hammer strokes. The crowd sung the Star-Spangled Banner, and jubilee speeches were made by the orators. Omaha dispatches say that telegrams from Echo City report that the troubles of the railroad laborers near Piedmont were amicably settled. The AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report.<doc-sep>On May 10, 1869, the ceremonial golden spike that was driven into a polished cypress crosstie at windswept Promontory Point, Utah, marked the completion of the transcontinental railroad — or what was then called the Pacific Railroad or Overland Route. The railroad, linking Omaha, Neb., to Sacramento, Calif., some 1,780 miles, made it possible to travel from coast to coast by the steamcars in a matter of days, rather than months in prairie schooners.<doc-sep>
By Terray Sylvester PROMONTORY, Utah (Reuters) - As train bells clanged and steam whistles tooted, thousands of people on Friday witnessed the re-enactment of a ceremony in Utah's high desert that marked the completion of the first railroad to span the North American continent 150 years ago. The spectacle - recreating a historical moment that took place on May 10, 1869 - featured the driving of a golden spike into a replica of the final railroad tie that joined the Union Pacific Railroad with the Central Pacific Railroad. The linking of East and West was the culmination of a 6-1/2-year feat of 19th-century engineering that transformed the American frontier as the nation was emerging from a bloody civil war. The site at Promontory Summit, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Salt Lake City, is now preserved as a national historic park, named Golden Spike. Addressing Friday's crowd as keynote speaker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham said that the achievement at a time of unprecedented national upheaval offered a lesson in political perspective. "If Americans want to know what is possible, come here," he said. "Big ideas and big dreams are the best stuff of American history." Friday's festivities featured full-size working reproductions of the two steam engines nosing up to each other, cowcatcher to cowcatcher, in a re-creation of an iconic photo from the day the first Transcontinental Railroad was completed a century and a half ago. TELEGRAPH FLASH: 'DONE' That picture captured throngs of bearded crewmen raising a toast to the occasion as they clamored around the two engines, Central Pacific's No. 60 Jupiter and Union Pacific's No. 119. Participants in Friday's event struck similar poses for a series of photos inspired by the original. The photo opportunity followed a costumed re-enactment of 1869's ceremonial driving of the last spike into a specially built railroad tie, connecting the finished 1,776-mile (2,858-km) line of newly laid track between Sacramento, California, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Story continues The actual spike, cast in 17.6-karat gold, and three other ceremonial spikes of gold and silver alloys, were tapped into pre-drilled holes with a silver-plated mallet. Shiny replicas were used in the re-enactment. The moment was punctuated by whistle blasts, hissing steam and clanging bells of the two locomotives, and by a staging of the original coast-to-coast telegraph bulletin announcing the ceremony's end - the single-word message "Done." The performance of a live musical "re-imagining" of the 1869 ceremony followed. The actual commemorative spikes were immediately replaced by ordinary iron spikes at the end of the 1869 event to prevent them from being stolen. Some of them, along with the silver mallet and related artifacts, were on display this week at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. Re-enactments of the 1869 ceremony have been presented weekly for many years at the Golden Spike historic park. But this year's event, kicking off a three-day festival of music, theater and special exhibits at the site, drew a crowd organizers said numbered about 20,000 people. TRANSFORMATION AND PRIDE The advent of the railway, which cut cross-country travel time from many months to just a week, greatly accelerated Anglo-European settlement of the American West and aligned it politically with the Union states of the North. It also hastened the demise of the Plains Indians, as well as the bison herds on which they depended. Construction of the railroad drew many thousands of immigrants to the United States, especially Irish and Chinese laborers who formed the backbone of the project's workforce. The Chinese, accounting for the bulk of the Central Pacific's crews, faced especially harsh conditions as they carved and blasted railbeds through rock over rugged terrain in the Sierra Nevada mountains, all without power tools and for less pay than their white counterparts. In a taped video message played at Friday's ceremony, China's current ambassador to the United States, Cui Tianakai, saluted the railroad as a "telling example of how the Chinese and American people can come together to get things done and make the impossible possible." Ireland's U.S. ambassador, Daniel Mulhall, attended the celebration in Utah, raising a toast to the thousands of Irish immigrants who labored on the Union Pacific side of the project. (Reporting by Terray Sylvester in Promontory, Utah; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank McGurty, Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish)