Promontory Point

Thank your brother for sharing his pictures. This is a place I will probably never get to see in person.

Wow.. didn't know they had these locos displayed there!

New Haven Joe posted:

My brother was at Promontory Point a couple of weeks ago and sent me these photos:

Actually he visited the National Parks Service Historic site at "Promontory Summit", which is where the famous gold spike event really took place on May 10, 1869.

colorado hirailer posted:

Wow.. didn't know they had these locos displayed there!

They run them out for display during the day (when they are open, weather permitting), and run them back to an engine shed during off hours.  Yes, they really run on steam! 

Hot Water posted:

New Haven Joe posted:

My brother was at Promontory Point a couple of weeks ago and sent me these photos:

Actually he visited the National Parks Service Historic site at "Promontory Summit", which is where the famous gold spike event really took place on May 10, 1869.

Actually, "Promontory Summit" is the more-modern geographical designation. In 1869, the place (actually, the region, including the modern Promontory mountain range and the entire Promontory peninsula) was called "Promontory Point."

In fact, "Promontory Point" was used two-thirds of the time in period 1869 sources (the others being "Promontory Summit" and just "Promontory").

Many of the principal player, such as Grenville Dodge, C.P. Huntington, and UP VP Sydney Dillon all refer to the meeting of the railroads at "Promontory Point."

As Trains Magazine asks, "Did the people in 1869 not know what they were talking about?"

There is a Youtube video about the construction of these two locomotives.

We were there in '08. Only  UP 119 ran that day. The crew let me in the cab as a courtesy to a fellow 4-4-0 engineer