How well do you know the Golden Spike story? Chinese Arch and the 1942 'undriving' of the Spike are lesser known gems

THE Golden Spike National Historic Site is in the middle of nowhere, at 32 miles west of Brigham City. 

                  The official countdown clock in the visitor's Center.

In 2019 (May 10), it will be the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike here -- and the countdown is already on.
How well do you know the Golden Spike story?

                    The famous engines that meet for the Golden Spike.

It is well documented, but instead of spending the usual 30 minutes at this site, as in past visits, I took an hour and even drove one of the dirt roads nearby.
Here's what I found ...

-I was surprised to realize that there was an "undriving" of the Golden Spike ceremony held on Sept. 9, 1942 there was a ceremonial undriving of the spike held. Since the Lucin Cutoff had opened in 1904 (a direct railroad route across the Great Salt Lake form Ogden, instead of heading northwest around the lake), the train tracks around Golden Spike were on minimal importance to transportation. Hence, the "undriving" and then all the steel rails were removed in the area and used for the American efforts in World War II.  

                  The Chinese Arch, as viewed from the west side.

-The oldest natural relic in the Golden Spike area is the Chinese Arch. Composed of 300 million year old rock, this formation is believed to have been formed thousands of years ago by the wave action of being under Lake Bonneville.

                           An eastern view of the Chinese Arch.

 This arch is but a few hundred yards away from the original railroad line leading to the Golden Spike. It is presumably named in honor of the many Chinese workers who made the national railroad connection possible.
It is accessible by a one-way, narrow dirt road ("East Grade Auto Tour"), that's fine for passenger cars and well worth the extra drive. 

This road is best accessed on the way FROM Golden Spike and then it merges with the main paved road a mile for so further east.

-I also took the 20 minutes to watch the historic movie on the Golden Spike's history at the visitor center and it is excellent, putting the railroad's biggest-ever event in context with American history. 

The tale of the second “Golden Spike”

                        -From the book, History of Ogden, Utah in Old Post Cards," by D. Boyd Crawford.

EVER hear the story about the second “Golden Spike”?

Well, it is just one of those intriguing things that was proposed and “might have been,” but didn’t actually happen. It is also one of those fascinating historical footnotes, most of which are usually absent from the history books.

“Last spike will be a golden one” was a Nov. 21, 1903 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

For the landmark completion of the wooden trestle shortcut across the Great Salt Lake, the Lucin Cutoff, big plans were proposed early.

The draft plan was that after driving the Golden Spike, it would be withdrawn and given to Union Pacific railroad baron E.H. (Edward) Harriman as a souvenir.

In fact, it was speculated that Harriman himself might wield the sledge himself for the golden spike, on Thanksgiving Day, noon, on the “Midlake” point of the trestle itself.

Being Thanksgiving, it was also suggested that a traditional holiday feast be prepared at one of the railroad camps along the Lucin Cutoff.

However, six days later on Nov. 27, at the actual event: “There was no golden spike driven, or no ceremony of any kind , other than a few congratulations showered upon Mr. Harriman by many of the large number of railroad men from throughout the United States,” the Standard reported on that date.

Notwithstanding the lack of fanfare, the Lucin Cutoff was an engineering marvel for its day. It shaved 43.77 miles and 1,515 feet of climb off the original route out to Promontory.

Despite the completion observance on that Thanksgiving Day, the Lucin Cutoff didn’t actually open to passenger trains and general traffic until almost 10 months later, on Sept. 16, 1904.

-The construction of the Lucin Cutoff was said to feature a safety record superior to most other railroad projects, yet there were still some accidents.

“Engine overturns and kills a fireman” was a March 25, 1903 Standard headline. A portion of the trestle sinking was reported to have caused this accident at Lakeside, where Robert W. Watson was fatally crushed.

Some other Utah newspapers reported a “Quagmire without a bottom,” as portions of the lakebed seemed bottomless.

It was in that March of 1903 that railroad builders battled what was almost a quicksand in the Great Salt Lake. At one point in the building process, several hundred yards of earth were gulped down in the lake and caused a settling of some five feet.

-Years later after the Lucin Cutoff had been open, “Severe storm injures Cut-off” was an April 3, 1910 headline in the Standard. “Eighty-mile gale lashes waves to fury and damage done,” the subhead stated.

Fortunately, on that particular day, strangely no trains were scheduled to use the Lucin Cutoff . Still, the Southern Pacific reported that it had been strengthening the fill on the trestle for some time, anticipating possible damage such as this.
-EXTRA INFORMATION: Technically, if a golden spike had been driven on the Lucin Cutoff it would have been the second in Utah, but at least the THIRD golden spike used in the U.S.
The Northern Pacific Railway did use a golden spike on Sept. 8, 1883 to commemorate completion of railroad track in Montana that served many nearby states.
Former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant drove in that final golden spike to mark the completion of a railroad line from the Great Lakes to the Pacific. 

 (-Originally published on-line and in print on Feb. 19-20, 2015 by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.) 

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net