The Western Pacific - Spanish Creek Bridge Overlook, CA
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 40° 01.595 W 120° 57.874
10T E 673682 N 4432692
History sign at the Spanish Creek Bridge Overlook.
Waymark Code: WMWVRT
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/18/2017
Views: 0
One of six history signs at the Spanish Creek Bridge Overlook on CA. Hwy. 89/70
Text of Sign:
The WESTERN PACIFIC
Last U.S. Transcontinental Railroad
“No man will ever be fool enough to build a railroad through the Feather River Canyon!” — Collis P. Huntington
If the “Big Four” of California’s Central Pacific Railroad fame had their way, the Western Pacific Railroad would have never been built. Already owners of a transcontinental line, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocer, Mark Hopkins, and Leland Stanford, wanted nothing to do with Arthur W. Keddis’s dream of a rail line through the canyon.
When George Gould, son of the founder of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, unexpectedly met up with Keddie, the dream became a reality and the Western Pacific Railroad Company was formed. Stretching nearly 700 miles across the deserts of Nevada and Utah, the Western Pacific Railroad would connect the west coast with Salt Lake City, Utah.
Construction in the Canyon
The rugged natural features that made the canyon so scenic also made construction of the line extremely difficult.
The surveyors for the new line often hung suspended by cables over cliffs in order to set their line stakes. Where it was not feasible or practical to bring in steam shovels and lay temporary tracks for “dinkies” or small engines and cars, excavation was done by hand. Earth was haulde away in two-cheeled, mule or horse-drawn dump wagons.
The Railroad Becomes Reality
The work force was diverse and included many different ethnic groups, including Hindus from India and Eastern Europeans. Even though the men were physically tough, the turnover rate was high.
Despite all the problems, the final spike was driven near the trestle that forms the east-west leg of the Keddie Wye in November 1909. Unlike the grand affair at Promontory Point, Utah, when the Central Pacific met the Union Pacific Railroad, the ceremony for the Wesern Pacific was a very small event.
The Feather River Route is an outstanding engineering achievement even by today’s standards.
Group that erected the marker: U.S. Forest Service & Caltrans
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
On Hwy 89/70 at Spanish Creek Bridge Overlook
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