Today I have been thinking about the story of the Golden Spike. The last spike of the Transcontinental Railroad was driven on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit in Utah. This joined the railheads of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads.

But, was this the final link in the Transcontinental Railroad?

When the two railheads joined, it was then possible to take a train from Omaha to Sacramento. Two links still had to be made to make it a true Transcontinental Railroad.

I scanned a couple stamps about railroad history from my Stamp Collection.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the 1944 stamp that commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad. It is actually on the way to me. I originally wrote this post back in 2013 and have since returned to working with my Stamp Collection. See: Return to Stamp Collecting

So, where were the two missing links? The missing links were two bridges. One of them crossed the Missouri River between Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska and the other was in California and was needed to connect Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay.

Today at work one of my colleagues gave me an old postcard of the Union Pacific Railway Bridge crossing the Missouri River. It is of the second bridge that was built to replace the first one that was weakened by a tornado. However, it made me think of the Intercontinental Railway throughout the day. The postcard shows the bridge from the early 1900’s.

The Union Pacific Bridge across the Missouri was not completed until a couple years later in 1872, but by that time there was an alternate route on the Kansas Pacific that allowed a train to go from coast to coast on the same rails.

The missing link in California was the Mossdale Bridge that crossed the San Joaquin River. The bridge had been delayed and was not completed until September 1869 about four months after the final spike was driven at Promontory Summit.

In Omaha the railheads were only separated by the Missouri River, but in California the railhead was in Sacramento until the completion of the Mossdale Bridge.

The Mossdale Bridge is vertical lift drawbridge and is a beautiful structure. I have stopped to take pictures there several times as it is not far from where I live.

Whether it is a clear day or a foggy day, the bridge is still beautiful. Someday I hope to catch a picture with a nice sunset. However, the bridge is not on the way home from work. It is in the opposite direction and the route to it has heavy traffic. Perhaps someday.

Steven