On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
It runs along about a half mile from where I'm sitting.
Since the builders were getting paid by the mile, and Big Business being what it is, the crews coming from both east and west actually built the lines right past each other for a few miles before they got reined in.
Also, since they got paid more for mountain miles than for flatland miles, and since nobody in Washington DC knows shit from shinola, the Sierra Nevada range got extended west to about Sacramento for billing purposes.
You can read about this major milestone in "Nothing Like It In The World" by Stephen Ambrose. A wonderful read.
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