To Shiny Rails

“‘Game of Thrones’ author George RR Martin just bought a historic American railroad he wants to restore for sightseeing, film shoots, and even escape rooms on rails”

Complete article.

With about one 24-hour period to spare, I found out that the Center for Railroad Photography and Art was going to do its annual conference online this year and offer it for free to anyone that wanted to join. So I registered and “attended.” It was all day (well, 9-4ish in our time zone) and we saw seven presentations, six photo related and one art related. The conference kept my attention, and I joined as a member at the end of the day (along with about a dozen other folks). Attendance was above 400 all day (you could track how many were “on” the Webex conference constantly). We were told all the sessions would be on CPR&A’s YouTube channel eventually.

We took a cruise around the northern Mediterranean Sea then on to the Champagne region of France. And along the way we managed to see and ride a couple trains. We rode the Roma Express from the coast into Rome, and we road the overnight train from Venice to Paris and then a short hop by subway to Bailly-Romainvilliers which would be our quarters for the Champagne excursions. All the train photos are here. The whole trip starts here.

Almost entirely by accident, we ended up at the right place and the right time to catch the #4014 and #844 leaving Ogden for the return to Cheyenne! Lynn became an official train chaser when she dashed across a busy road with crutches and her broken foot to catch a glimpse of the passing train.

I joined who knows how many thousand (Spike150 estimated 38,000 people visited May 10-12) of my railroading friends today at Promontory Summit, UT to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike that marked the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. (Unless you’re from Strasburg, CO which tends to argue the point; they’ll have their 150th at Comanche Crossing on August 15, 2020. That’s just up the road from us, so we’re going!)

As with yesterday’s fun at Union Station in Ogden, UT with the arrival of the Big Boy UP #4014 and her traveling companion, UP #844, there were so many people that I couldn’t get much in the way of great pictures of either the equipment or even what was happening on stage. So, the photos here give you a feel for what attending the event looked like. I’m sure there will be plenty of closeup shots on social media from those who were close up. All my pics from the day are here.

The ceremony turned out to have quite the list of dignitaries, including Utah Governor Herbert, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, U.S. Secretary of Transportation (whom we worked with back when she was at Labor and I was with the California Space Authority), Mitt Romney, Rep. Bishop, Lance Fritz of the UPRR, the Irish ambassador to the U.S. (who offered a champagne toast!), the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. (by video), and more.

Part of the reason for so many dignitaries is that the Golden Spike National Historical Site recently was upgraded to a full-fledged National Historical Park.

The keynote was given by author Jon Meacham, and without a doubt, gave the best speech of the day. If a recording gets posted anywhere, I’ll hook it in here. My favorite quote, roughly, “a country is unified by its passion for what we love in common.”

Did you know that on that very day in 1869, the real last spike (not the golden ceremonial spikes) and rail were wired to the telegraph system so that the world could actually “hear” the completion of the railroad. #DONE

Interesting map showing why Promontory Summit is no longer on the existing rail line.

Did you notice that 5/10 (May 10th) and Spike150 share the same digits?

The latest effort by the UP Steam Team is UP’s #4014, Big Boy. And I got to be in Ogden, UT today to welcome her to town and essentially open the Spike150 celebration. If you want to see great images of the Big Boy and sister UP #844, particularly as they make their way from Cheyenne, WY to Ogden, UT, check out the UP Steam Club Facebook page.

The rest of my pics from the day are here. They’re mostly about the event and the sites of Ogden, particularly near Ogden’s Union Station (which houses the Utah State Railroad Museum, by the way).

#DONE.