Choo Choo Boo Boo

May 3, 2008 10:48 AM

The first National Train Day is this coming Saturday. There will be events all over, and concerts, special guests and lots of train related attractions in four main cities, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. The day is May 10th to commemorate May 10th, 1869 when the “golden spike” was driven into the final tie in Promontory Summit, Utah. It joined two major railways, ceremonially creating the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. Except that it really didn't. That did not actually happen until August 15th, 1870, near Strasburg, CO. Colorado State officials list it (pdf) as Comanche Crossing, saying "An unpretentious white monument marks the spot". The "drab concrete pylon" was moved from the actual site and now sits in Lions Park. Next to the monkey bars.
posted by cashman (4 comments total)

Huh... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the propaganda event was not entirely truthful, but yet I am.

I find it amusing that I'll be flying into the US on May 10th.

Oh, and the "it really didn't" link is broken.
posted by Kattullus at 1:27 PM on May 3

Weird, it works for me.
posted by cashman at 2:16 PM on May 3

Hmm... I swear either that or the "unpretentious white monument" links didn't work, but now both work fine. Jetlag must be hitting harder than I thought :)
posted by Kattullus at 2:20 PM on May 3

I'd heard before that the Promontory Summit "joining" (and accompanying famous photo op) were staged, but I didn't realize that the real site had been memorialized. Too bad they moved the pylon, "drab" or "unpretentious" as it may have been.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:39 PM on May 4