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A ceremony marking the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad was held at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory on May 10, 1869. The route, formed by the joining of the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad, enabled passenger and freight trains to travel between the east and west coasts of North America and was immensely beneficial to the development of the western United States. To commemorate the occasion, a 17.6-karat gold final spike was driven in by Leland Stanford to connect the rails of both lines.
This picture, titled East and West Shaking Hands at Laying Last Rail, was taken by American photographer Andrew J. Russell. It shows the teams from both railroads after the ceremony, with Samuel S. Montague (center left) of the Central Pacific Railroad shaking hands with Grenville M. Dodge (center right) of the Union Pacific Railroad, both chief engineers of their respective railroads. The photograph is in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.Photograph credit: Andrew J. Russell; restored by Adam Cuerden