BGuthrie Photos: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Visitor Center: Lucin Cutoff

UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Visitor Center: Lucin Cutoff:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SPIKVL_160714_03.JPG: The Lucin Cut-Off A Bold Piece of Engineering
2. SPIKVL_160714_07.JPG: Why a cut-off was needed: Since the completion of the transcontinental railroad, Promontory Summit's sharp grades and many curves remained an obstacle hindering train travel. As trains became heavier and longer with increasing freight and passenger loads, they were broken into segments with helper or "hog" locomotives used to cross the Promontory Mountains. This resulted in bottlenecks and train jams even in good weather conditions. The time it took to travel 147 miles between Ogden and Lucin, Utah, took 36 hours and cost the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) (who leased the Central Pacific Railroad at the time), thousands of dollars in maintenance and operating costs.
3. SPIKVL_160714_11.JPG: In 1901, several things changed for the SP as an energetic E. H. Harriman, who had aggressively upgraded the lines of the Union Pacific Railroad, gained control of the company. The Great Salt Lake was also receding and the SP deemed feasible a route going straight across the lake from Ogden to Lucin. Construction of the cut-off began in March 1902.
4. SPIKVL_160714_14.JPG: Initial construction period (1902-1904): The original plans for construction called for the 32 miles across the water to be a rock filled causeway. However, because of the lake's soft bottom and regular sinking of the fill, a 12 mile trestle was built west of Promontory Point using over 38,000 pilings with several being driven at 120 feet before they hit solid ground.
5. SPIKVL_160714_16.JPG: The construction effort was massive, using over 3,000 men working 12 hour shifts around the clock, 7 days per week with an occasional holiday off. Nearby mountains were blasted to create the rock fill and wood pilings were brought in from Oregon. Launches (motor boats) were sent in mostly from San Francisco's Bay Area to push the barges and pile drivers out onto the lake.
6. SPIKVL_160714_21.JPG: The main construction period lasted less than 2 years and cost the SP over eight million dollars. The cut-off was officially completed on November 26, 1903, but because of bad weather and settling of the causeway, the first freight train did not use the cut-off until March 8, 1904, with passenger trains following in September.
7. SPIKVL_160714_28.JPG: After the completion of the cut-off in 1904, which included over 15 miles of filled embankments and 23 miles of temporary and permanent trestle, Thomas Edison called the marvel a "bold piece of engineering and well worth seeing."
8. SPIKVL_160714_31.JPG: Second construction period (1955-1959): After 50 years of use and trains becoming increasingly heavy, the cost for the upkeep of the 12 mile permanent trestle was quickly rising. Trains had to show [sic] to 20 mph to minimize the swaying action of the trestle.
9. SPIKVL_160714_34.JPG: The SP decided to build a permanent causeway parallel to the trestle and began dumping fill into the lake in 1955. The Morrison-Knudsen company was then contracted for $45 million to finish the job.
10. SPIKVL_160714_40.JPG: Nearby mountains were once again blasted apart and over 45 million cubic yards of rock fill were used to fill the 25 foot deep lake. The causeway was 600 feet wide at its base and only 35 feet wide at the top.
11. SPIKVL_160714_42.JPG: On July 18, 1959, the new causeway was opened to freight trains with passenger trains using it a month later.
12. SPIKVL_160714_50.JPG: Results of the Lucin cut-off: With the Lucin cut-off in full use in 1904, the results were immediate. The SP saved over $60,000 a month in operating costs, the distance through Utah was reduced by 44 miles, and heavy trains no longer had to be broken down or use helper engines to cross the cut-off. The running time between Ogden and Lucin was reduced form [sic] 36 hours to less than 10 hours in good weather conditions.
13. SPIKVL_160714_57.JPG: As the cut-off became the main line for the SP, the original Promontory line was reduced to branch status. Eventually, only one of two trains per week came through the area. Towns that depended on the railroad like Promontory, Kelton, and Terrace quickly died and became "ghost" towns.
14. SPIKVL_160714_66.JPG: The line through Promontory was completely abandoned in 1942. When steel was needed for the World War II effort, the rails were pulled between Corinne and Lucin to be used mostly at military installations. To commemorate the removal of the once famous Promontory line, an "undriving" or the last spike ceremony was held at Promontory Summit on September 8, 1942.
15. SPIKVL_160714_73.JPG: The Lucin cut-off today: Today, the Union Pacific Railroad (which merged with the Southern Pacific in 1996) actively operates trains across the cut-off on a regular basis and plans to continue as it is one of their main lines.
16. SPIKVL_160714_78.JPG: The 12 mile wooden trestle sat unused for 1959 until 1993 until the Trestlewood Company from Pleasant Grove, Utah, began salvaging the more than 30 million board feet of lumber. Today, the wood is used for flooring, furniture, siding, cabinets, and more.
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Wikipedia Description: Golden Spike National Historic Site
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Golden Spike National Historic Site is a U.S. National Historic Site located at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

It commemorates the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad where the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad met on May 10, 1869. The final joining of the rails spanning the continent was signified by the driving of a Golden spike.

The Golden Spike National Historic Site encompasses 2,735 acres (11 km�). In 2002, it received 49,950 visitors. It was authorized as a National Historic Site on April 2, 1957 under non-federal ownership. It was authorized for federal ownership and administration by an act of Congress on July 30, 1965.

In 1978, a general master plan for the site was adopted with the goal of maintaining the site's scenic attributes as closely as possible to its appearance and characteristics in 1869. In 2006, a petition to the Board on Geographic Names resulted in a name change for Chinamans Arch, a 20-foot limestone arch at Golden Spike NHS. In honor of the 19th century Chinese railroad workers, the arch is now known as the Chinese Arch.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (UT -- Golden Spike NHS) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2016_UT_Spike_Big_Fill: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Big Fill Loop Trail (50 photos from 2016)
- 2016_UT_Spike_Auto: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Auto Tour (42 photos from 2016)
- 2016_UT_SpikeVC: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Visitor Center: Main Displays (103 photos from 2016)
- 2016_UT_Spike: UT -- Golden Spike NHS (57 photos from 2016)
- 2003_UT_Spike_Big_Fill: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Big Fill Loop Trail (4 photos from 2003)
- 2003_UT_Spike_Auto: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Auto Tour (3 photos from 2003)
- 2003_UT_SpikeVC: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Visitor Center: Main Displays (2 photos from 2003)
- 2003_UT_Spike: UT -- Golden Spike NHS (11 photos from 2003)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [History 1800s (excl wars)] [Park (National Park Service)] [Transportation (Rail)]
2016 photos: Seven relatively short trips this year: two Civil War Trust conference (Gettysburg, PA and West Point, NY, with a side-trip to New York City), my 11th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including sites in Utah, Nevada, and California), a quick trip to Michigan for Uncle Wayne's funeral, two additional trips to New York City, and a Civil Rights site trip to Alabama during the November elections. Being in places where people died to preserve the rights of minority voters made the Trumputin election even more depressing. Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: just over 610,000.
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