May 1969: The Golden Spike Centennial Limited

What a really nice production, honoring that special train!  Thanx so much for posting it.  I'm going to save that production and look at it again, soon.

Our paths certainly must have crossed, that long time ago.  Three friends of mine from Milwaukee and I chased the train from Danville, IL all the way to Denver and then met up with it again in Salt Lake City.  We, of course, also went out to Promontory for the centennial celebration of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.  We all took 35 mm slides of both the Golden Spike special, all of the other events on the way to the ceremony as well as the re-enactment itself.

When the Golden Spike Special pulled into Salt Lake City, pulled by the #8444 (now, of course, the #844) one of my buddies had wondered into a restricted area of the station platform.  All of a sudden, the train came into the station and all kinds of important people formed a receiving line to greet the people who were on the train.  At the end of the line stood my buddy, and when John Wayne stepped off the train, we came by by friend, shook his hand and said: "Hiya Kid, How are you?"  My buddy didn't wash his hand for a week!

What a great experience!  My wife and I finally returned to Promontory, UT during a trip to Yellowstone, some 5 years ago.  I was treated like a celebrity by the park rangers and personnel at the National Historical Monument when I casually mentioned that I last visited the place on May 10, 1969.  Great memories.

Paul Fischer