By early 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad Company had finally built across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and was now building on easier terrain. The rate at which tracks were laid increased from half a mile in 1866 to a mile in 1868. The 1864 amendment to the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 gave the Central Pacific permission to build past the California border into Nevada and Utah Territory, and it did so beginning in the first months of 1868.
Meanwhile, the Union Pacific Railroad Company began to slow down as they reached the Rocky Mountains. Both the Union Pacific and Central Pacific were competing to see which company could get to Utah Territory first, and although the Union Pacific had an early lead, the Central Pacific was picking up steam as the Union Pacific was slowing down. Grenville Dodge pushed the Union Pacific crews to work hard through the mountains. Having heard that the Central Pacific used nitroglycerine to drill their tunnels, the Union Pacific did the same.
In late 1867, Brigham Young prepared for the arrival of the railroad. Originally, both companies had told Young that they would build through Salt Lake City and on to a meeting point south of the Great Salt Lake. This excited Young, as it meant thousands of people and many goods traveling from the East coast to the West coast would pass through Salt Lake City. As they drew nearer to Utah, the companies sent out surveyors to find a good meeting point south of the Great Salt Lake.
In the spring of 1868, the Union Pacific Railroad Company neared Utah Territory, having already built through much of Wyomin. Brigham Young immediately offered the Union Pacific Railroad Company a $2,125,000 contract and 4,000 Mormon workers to help build the railroad through the Wasatch Range and down to Salt Lake City. The company immediately accepted this contract and allowed the young Mormons to work for them.
By the end of 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad Company was nearing Carlin, Nevada, and the Union Pacific had built through Evanston, Wyoming and was moving fast toward Utah Territory. At this time, the Central Pacific had laid 446 miles of track and the Union Pacific had 995 miles. On Christmas day, 1868, the Union Pacific Railroad Company passed the border of Wyoming and Utah Territory and established a camp called Wahsatch, probably named after the Wasatch Mountains.
At this time, the Union Pacific Railroad Company told Brigham Young that surveyors had found that a route north of the Great Salt Lake would be better than a route south of the lake. Although it is highly debated, some historians say that the Union Pacific had already decided to build north of the lake when Brigham Young offered a contract. Despite the disappointment, Young’s contract stood and the company continued to use the Mormon workers.
By the beginning of 1869, both companies were building through Utah Territory. The Central Pacific established many railroad towns at this time, among them Lucin, Terrace, Watercress, and Kelton. The Union Pacific established Echo and Castle Rock, and helped to build a terminus town in Box Elder County called Corinne, which is a small farming town today. Also during this time, the grading crews of both companies were grading right past each other, sometimes coming as close as one hundred feet from each other. Nobody could decide where the railroad would be completed. Union Pacific built into Ogden on March 8, 1869 and through Corinne in April 1869.
On April 10, 1869, Congress declared that the railroads would meet at Promontory Summit, and the crews immediately stopped grading past each other and started grading to Promontory Summit. By the end of April, the grading was completed but the track laying wasn’t. At this time, the small Hell-on-Wheels camp known as Promontory experienced a large boom in activity.
The “Wedding of the Rails” was planned for May 7, 1869, but rain storms had damaged Union Pacific tracks near Wahsatch, so the ceremony was delayed until May 10. From May 8-9, rain fell at Promontory Summit as construction crews for the two companies kept the trestles and tracks in repair.
On May 10, 1869, the rain had subsided and the sky was a bright blue with a few small clouds. The residents of the town of Promontory, plus a few hundred railroad employees, prepared the ceremony, which started at 12:00 PM. Two trains, Union Pacific’s #119 and Central Pacific’s Jupiter, arrived and came to a stop just a few feet apart. At 12:47, the ceremony was over and the two trains steamed over the rail until they almost touched. The engineers of both locomotives broke a champagne bottle on the other’s locomotive in celebration. The great cities of America celebrated the completion of the railroad. The telegrapher present at the ceremony tapped one symbolic four-letter word: D-O-N-E.
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