Audio

The Last Climb

Golden Spike National Historical Park

Transcript

In April 1869 Chinese laborers employed by the Central Pacific Railroad toiled on this stretch of railroad grade. Their hardest labors already lay as monuments behind them - in the crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the deserts of Nevada. These men welcomed the gentle, easy approaches to Promontory, from here only seven track miles away.  Travel with them as they work to a final meeting at Promontory. But don't go fast. Trains a century ago averaged speeds of only twenty miles per hour.

Descriptive Transcript

Gravel Road through a sagebrush on eitherside of road.  The vast landscape is low lying grazing, hints of water from the salt lake with shapes of mountians on the horizon.  

Description

In April 1869 Chinese laborers employed by the Central Pacific Railroad toiled on this stretch of railroad grade. Their hardest labors already lay as monuments behind them - in the crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the deserts of Nevada. These men welcomed the gentle, easy approaches to Promontory, from here only seven track miles away.

Date Created

04/11/2025

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