Forgotten Tracks: Transcontinental Railroad in Utah

America's first transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869 with the driving of the Golden Spike. In 1904 when the Lucin cutoff was completed, 60 miles of the original grade was relegated to serve as a backup. The towns of Promontory, Kelton, Matlin, Terrace, and others slowly became ghost towns. In 1942, the rails along this part of the grade were ripped up and used in the American war effort during World War Two. Today, the original grade serves as a historic byway and people can travel along much of the original 1869 grade and get a taste of what it was like to be a passenger in the nineteenth century.

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