How Many Golden Spikes Were There?
Most people thingk that there was one single golden spike that was drivin into the last tie when the trans-continental railroad was completed. This is not the case. There were actually five spikes used in the original ceremony: • Golden spike number 1 from California • Golden spike number 2 from California • One solid silver spike from Nevada • One iron spike with silver placed on the shaft and gold plating on the head (with elaborate engraving) from Arizona (pictured to the right) • A regular iron spike which was the only spike driven into the tie Three of the gold/silver spikes exist today. Also, the gold/silver spikes were never “driven” into a tie. Instead, they were temporarily placed in holes in a laurelwood tie specially made for the original ceremony. The last rail laid was also pulled up after the original ceremony and sliced into several sections. At least one of those sections survives today (in private posession). After the original ceremony, one of the two golden spikes fr
