Place

#8 Gravel for Ballast

Gravel Road along a landscape of sagebrush of yellow and green. Vast views of hills and Blue sky
#8 Marker Gravel for Ballast

NPS/ncastoro

You are driving on a roadbed built of gravel "borrowed" from the larger excavation on your left. Routine railroad maintenance regularly required new ballast or loose rocks that held ties in place and provided for drainage. Sources like this were of considerable importance to the railroads.
 

Golden Spike National Historical Park

Last updated: May 6, 2025