"CPRR Shovel Preserved"
Are you folks familiar with this piece of lore? Any idea where the shovel went? I did a google, no luck.
—Chuck Hatler, Kansas City, MO
1882 02 12 CPRR Shovel Preserved S-NL
1882, 12 Feb: C. P. Railroad Shovel Preserved
The Reno Gazette gives the following account of an interesting railroad relic:
The shovel, which broke ground for the Central Pacific Railroad is carefully preserved and may be seen in the private office of Huntington & Hopkins' store in Sacramento. It is polished brightly and the handle is varnished. It is one of the long handled, Mark Hopkins- brand. A silver plate on the handle bears these words:
Alpha. This shovel was used to cast the first earth in the construction of the Central Pacific railroad at the inauguration ceremonies, January 8, 1863.
(Butte Daily Miner, M.T.)
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 11:55 PM
2 Comments:
See. Historic San Francisco: A Concise History and Guide by Rand Richards, p. 123:
"The [Stanford University] museum also houses a couple of other artifacts associated with the rail line: the silver-plated maul used in the 'driving' of the spike, and the shovel used in the ground-breaking ceremony of January 8, 1863, when construction started."
From: "Chuck Hatler" gnhistory07@live.com
Thanks for the very fast response. Glad to see that something older than me has survived! Nice web site by the way.
—Chuck Hatler
Post a Comment
<< Recent Messages