BGuthrie Photos: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Big Fill Loop Trail

UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Big Fill Loop Trail:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

[1] SPIKBF_160714_001_STITCH.JPG

Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

[2] SPIKBF_160714_003_STITCH.JPG

Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

[3] SPIKBF_160714_004_STITCH.JPG

Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

[4] SPIKBF_160714_005_STITCH.JPG

Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

[5] SPIKBF_160714_006_STITCH.JPG

Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

[6] SPIKBF_160714_007.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[7] SPIKBF_160714_010.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[8] SPIKBF_160714_014.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[9] SPIKBF_160714_019.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[10] SPIKBF_160714_023.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[11] SPIKBF_160714_024.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[12] SPIKBF_160714_027.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[13] SPIKBF_160714_029.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[14] SPIKBF_160714_036.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[15] SPIKBF_160714_040.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[16] SPIKBF_160714_045.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[17] SPIKBF_160714_048.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[18] SPIKBF_160714_049.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[19] SPIKBF_160714_052.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[20] SPIKBF_160714_053.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[21] SPIKBF_160714_059.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[22] SPIKBF_160714_061.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[23] SPIKBF_160714_065.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[24] SPIKBF_160714_070.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[25] SPIKBF_160714_071.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[26] SPIKBF_160714_076.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[27] SPIKBF_160714_080.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[28] SPIKBF_160714_083.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[29] SPIKBF_160714_085.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[30] SPIKBF_160714_086.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[31] SPIKBF_160714_091.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[32] SPIKBF_160714_094.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[33] SPIKBF_160714_097.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[34] SPIKBF_160714_100.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[35] SPIKBF_160714_102.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[36] SPIKBF_160714_107.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[37] SPIKBF_160714_110.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[38] SPIKBF_160714_113.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[39] SPIKBF_160714_115.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[40] SPIKBF_160714_118.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[41] SPIKBF_160714_123.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[42] SPIKBF_160714_126.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[43] SPIKBF_160714_130.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[44] SPIKBF_160714_135.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[45] SPIKBF_160714_140.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[46] SPIKBF_160714_144.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[47] SPIKBF_160714_153.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[48] SPIKBF_160714_159.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[49] SPIKBF_160714_161.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[50] SPIKBF_160714_164.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SPIKBF_160714_007.JPG: Welcome to the Big Fill Trail
2. SPIKBF_160714_010.JPG: Big Fill Trail Look down this path toward the sharp V-shaped notch in the shoulder of the mountainside ahead. Walking the Big Fill Trail, you can still see some of the violent fury of the final days of the race to Promontory, carved into unyielding limestone. Although the Promontory Mountains don't look as formidable as the Wasatch Front or the Sierra Nevada to modern eyes, your hike here will show you the toughest grade for a train to pull along the entire transcontinental route from Donner Pass to the Missouri River. This 1.5-mile round trip leads to the Big Fill and the Big Trestle site. The grade is easy to walk-just 1.6 percent-thanks to the limits set in the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862.
3. SPIKBF_160714_019.JPG: The "Orange Special" Wreck You are now standing on the historic railbed and to your right at the gate that separates the old railbed from the highway, the Southern Pacific covered an old trestle with fill on the steepest grade on the Promontory Mountains. For years helper engines called "hogs" stationed at Promontory Station were used to assist in getting heavily-loaded trains up the hill and to hold back freight cars coming down. Spring 1888: "During the heavy orange season whole fruit trains were put on ‘passenger schedule' and rushed east at speeds averaging almost 30 miles an hour Even while going down treacherous East Promontory Hill there was a sense of urgency; so desire for speed sometimes got the better of caution, and at one such time and probably for that reason, four or five box-cars in the middle of an ‘orange special' jumped the track on the ‘hill fill' and rolled down the south embankment for some short distance causing the box cars to split open and scattering of the orange crates over the hillside with many of the crates themselves splitting open… A large quantity of these oranges were subsequently retrieved in a more or less bruised condition to the point where all the close ranchers on East Promontory mountain and local railroad employees in the area were eating more oranges in the ensuing two weeks than they would ordinarily consume in an entire year." (W.A. Clay)
4. SPIKBF_160714_027.JPG: Stop 1: Orange Special: Directly across from where you step onto the railroad grade is a plaque commemorating the "Orange Special" wreck. This wreck was caused in part by the steep 1.6 percent grade that continues to your right across the paved road. On the transcontinental route, only a short section of track near the summit of the Sierra Nevada was steeper than the grade here. All freight trains and many long passenger trains required at least one helper, or hog, locomotive to assist them up and down Promontory's east slope. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 mandated that the transcontinental railroad grade's steepness could not exceed 2 percent. This was so that locomotives could ascend the grade while pulling heavy loads and also to keep trains from derailing while descending the grade. It is for these reasons that the grade does not follow what would appear to be the most direct route, but incorporates many curves and turn along its path to Promontory.
5. SPIKBF_160714_040.JPG: Stop 2: Parallel Construction: By 1864, changes to the Pacific Railroad Act allowed grading crews to work up to 300 miles ahead of track laying crews. These changes also allowed both railroad companies to receive a portion of their government subsidies for completion of grade, rather than waiting to receive all of their subsidies after track was laid and inspected. Because a meeting point had not been mandated to the companies, they had no incentive to cease construction as their work crews drew closer to one another. Consequently, they built grade past each other for 250 miles. When a meeting point was finally agreed upon, both companies discontinued grading beyond Promontory Summit. Consequently, you will see both complete grade and partially constructed grade throughout the park. You are now walking on what was the Central Pacific's grade. Below you is the Union Pacific's grade. Much like laying the bed of an asphalt road, building the grade took the most time in constructing the transcontinental railroad.
6. SPIKBF_160714_048.JPG: Stop 3: Cuts and Fills: Rock cuts and fills had to be constructed along the route to bring it within the required grade of 2 percent or less. When possible, material from the cuts was used to create fill. To make the cuts a two man team called "double jackers" drilled holes in solid rock using a long narrow drill bit, which was repeatedly struck with a heavy sledge hammer or double jack. After the hole was drilled a worker called a "powder monkey" would fill it with black powder, carefully tamp and fuse the powder, and set off the charge. A successful blast would reduce the rock to a size that could be shoveled into mule-drawn dump carts and taken to an area that needed to be filled.
7. SPIKBF_160714_052.JPG: Stop 4: Spoils Pile: Below you is a spoils pile. When debris from construction of rock cuts wasn't needed, the rock was dumped into mounds called spoils piles. Most of these piles were size-graded. That is, each spoils pile featured a different size of rock. Notice too, the top of this spoils pile is perfectly flat. In this case, flattening of the top surface may have been done to create a work area along the grade.
8. SPIKBF_160714_053.JPG: Stop 5: Towns and Camps: The harsh terrain surrounding you was also home to thousands of railroad workers during the final days of the railroad's construction. Central Pacific's camps were located to the west, and several Union Pacific camps were scattered in the valley below you. Although many Union Pacific camps maintained reputations as "hell-on-wheels" towns, only Deadfall held this distinction in the Promontory area. Because most of the Union Pacific camps near Promontory were comprised of Mormon workers, they were relatively peaceful places.
9. SPIKBF_160714_061.JPG: The Big Fill Competing for fame and money, the two railroads constructed over 250 miles of parallel grade. Here the Central Pacific built the Big Fill before Congress gave final construction rights to the Union Pacific. Afterward, the U.P. sold the tracks through here to the C.P., which moved the road from the trestle to the fill. 250 teams of horses and 500 men worked nearly two months to complete the Big Fill. 500 feet long and 170 feet deep, it required almost 10,000 yards of material. Aerial photo taken in 1969.
10. SPIKBF_160714_071.JPG: The Big Trestle Lacking time to fill the ravine before you, Union Pacific crews built the bridge shown in the photo. One reporter said that nothing he could write "would convey an idea of the flimsy character of that structure." You can still see the abutments, and across the canyon, the bedrock shelves where the log uprights were placed. The trestle, about 400 feet long and 85 feet high, took 38 days to build. It was completed May 5, 1869, and used for about 6 months. Afterwards the Big Fill just up the canyon, was used for the permanent route.
11. SPIKBF_160714_076.JPG: Stop 6. Big Fill and Big Trestle: As late as December 1868, Central Pacific surveyors planned a route that would require blasting an 800-foot tunnel through the east face of the Promontory Mountains. During an inspection of the site, Central Pacific President Leland Stanford overruled the idea as too costly and time consuming. Surveyors picked a new route that avoided tunneling but posed a new problem: how to cross Spring Creek Ravine. In February 1869, The Mormon construction firm of Benson, Farr, and West, began work on the Central Pacific's Big Fill to span the ravine. Imagine placing the first small mule-drawn dump cart load of fill at the bottom of the ravine below you. The work that followed took over two months of intense effort by 250 dumpcart teams and more than 500 workers. Load after load of fill, totaling more than 101,000 cubic yards, was required to conquer the 500 foot chasm. The Big Fill remains one of the more impressive construction efforts in the history of American railroading. To span Spring Creek Ravine, the Union Pacific constructed the Big Trestle, which was located 150 feet east of the Big Fill. Because it was meant to be a temporary structure, construction of the Big Trestle took only 36 days, as compared to the Central Pacific's Big Fill, which took more than two months. The trestle was 85 feet high and 400 feet long, and as one reporter put it, there are no words that "…would convey an idea of the flimsy character of that structure." Another reporter suggested that it "…will shake the nerves of the stoutest hearts of railroad travelers when they see that a few feet of round timbers and seven-inch spikes are expected to uphold -- a train in motion." About eight months after completion of the transcontinental railroad, however, the Central Pacific gained control of the route from Promontory Summit to Ogden, Utah and trains began using the Big Fill rather than the Big Trestle. Ogden then replaced Promontory Station as the terminus for both railroads, and track was removed from the trestle. Today, only photographs, abutments, and footings remain to remind us of the Big Trestle. Stop 9: Big Trestle Abutments: The area on which you are standing is one of the abutments of the Big Trestle. Take a moment to imagine what the Big Trestle looked like spanning the ravine in front of you, as compared to the Big Fill on your left. If you were traveling by rail to Promontory, which would you prefer?
12. SPIKBF_160714_083.JPG: Stop 7: Borrow Pits: The depression in the hillside before you is called a borrow pit. When a fill required more material than was available from the cuts, borrow pits, like this one, were dug from adjacent hillsides. Return to stop 6 and follow the trail to stop 8. If you could like, you may continue to walk across the Big Fill before turning back to stop 6.
13. SPIKBF_160714_100.JPG: Stop 10: Drillmarks and Carmichael's Cut: You are now walking through Carmichael's Cut, which was part of the Union Pacific's grade and has a multitude of drill marks through it. As you continue on through the cut, see how many drill marks you can find. The entire cut procedure was done in a stair-step fashion, meaning that several crews worked at different levels and on both sides of the cut at the same time. This type of construction allowed cuts to be created faster and more efficiently. Now step to the end of Carmichael's Cut and take a look at the opposite side of the False Cut.
14. SPIKBF_160714_107.JPG: Stop 11: False Cut Stairstep: This side of the False Cut is a good example of stair-step construction and how railroad workers blasted their way through the rock to create a finished cut such as Carmichael's Cut.
15. SPIKBF_160714_123.JPG: Stop 12: Telegraph: During construction of the transcontinental railroad, a telegraph line was also built alongside the railroad grade. The telegraph made communication between various points along the railroad immediate, which greatly facilitated obtaining supplies and materials and enabled station masters to effectively manage traffic on their parts of the transcontinental route. Most important, the telegraph enabled instant communication across the nation, further linking east and west.
16. SPIKBF_160714_126.JPG: Stop 13: Rock Shelter: Small rock shelters are scattered throughout the Promontory Mountains. This particular rock shelter may have been used as a cache for construction materials or as a shelter during blasting.
17. SPIKBF_160714_140.JPG: Wildlife!
18. SPIKBF_160714_161.JPG: Stop 14: Deterioration and the New Era: In late 1869, the Central Pacific assumed responsibility for the segment of railroad between Promontory and Ogden. The Union Pacific abandoned its grade, including the Big Trestle, and the grade built through this area by the Central Pacific became the main line for the next 36 years. Because it was no longer used, the Union Pacific grade deteriorated and is now much smaller than its counterpart. Deterioration of the grade is difficult to see in the photo below. During your walk, however, take time to notice the difference between the two grades.
19. SPIKBF_160714_164.JPG: Stop 15: An Epic Story: Construction features along the Big Fill Trail demonstrate the engineering skill and sheer determination of railroad workers who labored here. Not since tunneling through the Sierra Nevada did the Central Pacific confront such a rugged landscape. This portion of the railroad also represents the most grueling construction the Union Pacific undertook from Omaha to Promontory. As you walk the trail, remember that all construction was completed entirely by hand. What will take you 1 to 1-1/2 hours to walk, took the railroad companies about three months to build -- just for this small section of the railroad. Also remember that the construction features you will see along the way are only part of the epic story of the transcontinental railroad. At 1776 miles long, the railroad stretched from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California. It remains one of the most remarkable engineering feats in American history.
Multi Column: Number of columns of thumbnails to appear per page (normally defaults to 3): [1 col] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
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.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
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_Auto: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Auto Tour (42 photos from 2016)
- 2016_UT_SpikeVC_Lucin: UT -- Golden Spike NHS -- Visitor Center: Lucin Cutoff (29 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: Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. 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. Number of photos taken this year: just over 610,000.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].