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You
can drive along seven miles
of the original 1868-69 railroad bed on the
Promontory Trail Auto Tour. The Auto Tour consists
of two portions; a five mile section to the west of
the visitor center and a two mile section to the
east of the visitor center.
Driving the Auto Tour provides modern day
travelers a glimpse of what it might have been like
to travel across the West by train in the
nineteenth century. As you drive, you can imagine
yourself riding on the newly completed
transcontinental railroad in an emigrant car, half
filled with people speaking different languages,
soldiers in uniform, gamblers sleeping with one eye
open, and the air filled with the smoke and ash
spewing from the locomotive at the front of the
train. As you look out the window you see deep cuts
in the rock, high fills across ravines, parallel
roadbeds that tell the story of the great race to
Promontory, Chinamen's Arch, and the last cut made
on the transcontinental line.
Be careful not to lose yourself in the past for
the road is narrow and steep drop-offs exist. By
following the speed limit of fifteen miles per
hour, most vehicles can safely travel the Auto
Tour, even long RV's with trailers.
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