What were the benefits and drawbacks of the railroad?

What were the benefits and drawbacks of the railroad?

Who did the CPRR get to be their main group of workers?

Who did the CPRR get to be their main group of workers?

Exact location where the Golden Spike was driven - Original Junction CPRR/UPRR

From: "Jim Reisdorff" railroads@windstream.net

Can anyone explain to me where the exact site of the Golden Spike was located in relation to the obelisk-shaped monument at Promontory Summit?

Explanation: Prior to abandonment in 1942 of the Promontory Branch between Corinne and Lucin, Utah, there appears to have been a main track and a side track that ran past the concrete obelisk marker at Promontory Summit which designated the site of the driving of the Golden Spike.

The two tracks through Promontory were on a roughly north-south alignment, with the obelisk situated on the east side of the two tracks. Was the side track the one closest to the monument? Or was it the main track? And which of these two tracks was actually the one where the Golden Spike had been "driven" on May 10, 1869?

On September 8, 1942, when Utah residents held a ceremony at Promontory to "un-drive" the last spike before the tracks were torn up, the ceremony was held on the second track over from the obelisk. Yet, starting in 1952, when local volunteers began holding annual re-enactments of the driving of the Golden Spike, the re-enactments were always held on the site of what had been the track immediately next to the obelisk.

So again, was the actual site of the Golden Spike located on the main track or a side track at Promontory? ...

—Jim Reisdorff, David City, Nebraska