Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Community Forums > Campgrounds & Destinations
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-18-2013, 07:18 PM   #1
DennisT
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: E WA state wheatlands
Posts: 93
Golden Spike National Historic Site, near Brigham City, UT: anyone been there?

Anyone been to the Golden Spike site west of Ogden/Brigham City, Utah? I can't resist railroad places and wondered if this was just fluff or a real railroad oriented operation??

Road there good for trailers? RV or camping?

Just wondering,
Dennis
DennisT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2013, 08:49 PM   #2
hankaye
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Arrey,
Posts: 2,368
DennisT, Howdy;

Haven't been there, but I like to use Google Earth to 'look
into' an area before I travel there for a first time. Gives me
a look at roads and reference points to look for etc..

hankaye
__________________
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949 ...

Home: 2008 Cougar 278 RKS
T.V.: 2004 F-250 4X4, Level III BulletProofed , Detroit Tru-Track Differential (915A550)
Dog: 2006 Border Collie (Rascal) aka Maximum fur dispersal unit. (08/04/2006 - 12/16/2017) RIP.
hankaye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2013, 06:37 AM   #3
geo
Senior Member
 
geo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: North Texas
Posts: 1,000
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennisT View Post
Anyone been to the Golden Spike site west of Ogden/Brigham City, Utah? I can't resist railroad places and wondered if this was just fluff or a real railroad oriented operation??

Road there good for trailers? RV or camping?

Just wondering,
Dennis
Dennis -

I'm not sure what you mean by "a real railroad operation". There hasn't been an actual train through Promontory Point since the causeway was finished across the lake before WWII. The rails were removed in WWII to salvage the steel for the war effort. In 1944, locals built a white concrete monument on the location to commemorate the historic location. My first visit to Promontory Point was in 1959 - a desolate salt prairie with a lone white monument sitting on an abandoned rail bed.

In the 1960s, the National Park Service "reclaimed" the area and built a very nice visitor's center, railway, and commissioned two working locomotives which are replicas of the Jupiter and No. 119. These were all working by 1969 to hold a commemorative celebration. When I visited this area last (2007), it was VERY nice and quite impressive as compared to my first visit! There are reenactments of the "driving of the last spike" (Golden Spike) every Saturday at 11am and 1pm. Every day, the locomotives are fired up and are run up and down the rails. And, on May 10, 2019, there will be a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the event! Oh, the white monument is still there! The "last spike", however, is at Stanford University in California.

Also, one can drive down the old railbed to the east and west for a certain distance. Otherwise, with a keen eye, one can see and follow the old railbed for miles - all along the road from Corrine to the site.

There are no camping facilities - which you will be glad of when you arrive. There are campgrounds in Ogden, Brigham City, etc., to the east. Let me say, a MUCH better place to camp!

Ogden has a very nice rail museum in the old Union Station. Highly recommend!

While in the area, I would also highly recommend a visit to:

Bingham Mine - one of the larger open pit mines on the world. Rio Tinto has an excellent visitors center and story of the mine. (In 1959, where the visitor's center now stands was the town of Bingham where we ate lunch.)

Antelope Island - largest island on the Great Salt Lake. Has a wonderful historic farm facility to visit and there are some rock formations on the island that are 2.6 billion years old!

Mormon Square - one cannot visit the Salt Lake area without visiting Mormon Square. They have a really nice visitor center that depicts the history of the settling of Utah and the transcontinental rail.

Saltair - The lone last building left on the south edge of the Great Salt Lake from the era of the 1920s - mid-1950s when the south edge of the Great Salt Lake was lined with amusement parks and entertainment venues.

On the way to Promontory Point, you will see the exhibit area for Morton Thiokol. This is where the solid fuel rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle were produced. The exhibit area has many of the rockets that MT have made and produced for the military and space program. Very much worth the visit!

Hope this helps.

Ron
__________________
2011 Alpine 3640RL (Beauty)
(Gone! Now replaced by Beauty3)
2016 Ford F-450 (The Beast)
Diesel 4x4, DRW, LB, CC
Comfort Ride Hitch
geo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:55 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.