Existing comment:
Replicas of the Last Tie and Last Spikes:
On May 10, 1869 the transcontinental railroad was symbolically completed with four spikes of gold and silver. They were carefully set into holes predrilled in a polished tie of California laurelwood. After a brief ceremony, these were removed and replaced by iron spikes driven into a standard tie of white pine.
The laurel tie was displayed in San Francisco until destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. |