I’ve been wondering about something. When it comes to our model railroads, what is the true “Golden Spike”. Here are the 3 options:
Last spike to get the main line operational.
Last spike to get all spurs and sidings operational
Absolute last spike (I initially spike every 5th tie, test, and then fill in the rest so my absolute last spike won’t happen for several years.
Just wanna get everyones oppinion.
#1
At our club, I did a 'Golden Spike. I used a large M-E spike that I painted ‘gold’. In the area where the last piece of flex track was laid to complete the main line, the ceremony was done. We scraped off a plastic spike, drilled a small hole and drove home the ‘Golden Spike’.
I would think that it should be near the completion point of your main line. Sidings/spurs may be added later. Another idea is to place it when it can be viewed by visitors. At our club, there will be a second ‘Gold Spike’ as we have completed the 2nd level of the layout. I plan on doing the same thing and maybe put up a small sign noting the ‘completion’ of the layout…
Jim
The golden spike of the Union Pacific/Central Pacific at Promentory Utah (not Promentory Point!) was by far not the last spike!! It commerated the joining of east & west. Even that could be considered as not the completion, as the two RR’s were in such a rush to “get there first”, much of the track & roadbed was in barely passable condition!! In addition, very few spurs or branch lines were built, and service facilities were barely what they would become.The actual joining was delayed as the 2 RR’s raced past each other in a rush to “grab” land that was part of the government’s incentive to build the roads. I won’t get into the political end of this, as the true story of the back room deals will probably never be known - just as the number of workers that died building the transcontinental road will never be known.
Back to your question, if you take the UP/CP as an example, it’s as soon as you can run a complete loop, or from point A to point B is a point to point layout. My [2c]
To me the Golden Spike is the symbol of completion of a mainline.
In my case I currently have a short section that needs to have track laid to complete a mainline. Therefore, once I lay this section I will consider my layout as having the Golden Spike.
Bill
In my case (because I used latex caulk to secure the track), it would be the ‘golden rail-joiner’ that got the mainline operational.
My “golden spike” moment was when I completed the mainline and could run trains over the entire layout for the first time. I still have a couple sidings and spurs to build.
I think it would be the point at which the railroad is ready to perform its original purpose. In the case of the Transcontinental RR it was to run a train from (I think) to .
I made a real gold spike for the layout I completed 30 years ago. I went to a jeweler who did repairs on site; I told the repairman what I needed and he sold me a little piece of 14k gold wire (cost about $5). I fashioned it into a spike and drove it as the last spike in my layout (N-scale C55 hand laid track). After a while, I forgot where it was and I could never find it again.
My [2c] on the Promontory Golden Spike: The tie was made of walnut and the holes were predrilled to make driving the spikes easier. There were at least 2 silver spikes in addition to the golden spike. I don’t know about the 4th spike. After the ceremony, the tie, spikes and all were removed and the real last tie and spikes were driven. The executive had trouble hitting the spike with the hammer, so a professional gandy dancer was chosen to “Pinch hit.”
The
[(-D][(-D][(-D]
Actually, I resemble that!
My own golden whatever will most likely be located alongside the island platform at the thriving metropolis of Haruyama - the most probable construction point at which the loop will be closed. When will that happen? Well, there’s about forty linear feet of benchwork to be built first…[:-^]
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
It should probably be the completion of the mainline, like on a real railroad - although real railroads have also done golden spikes when completing a new line or branch line etc. BN did an informal golden spike ceremony when it completed the Gillette - Orin cutoff back in the eighties for example.
That being said, in model railroading the “golden spike” is usually a euphemism for actually completing the entire layout, not just the track.
Lay that last peice of track with gold-colored caulk instead of clear, white, or brown? [:D]
–Randy
For my layout I think that the gold spike goes in last. When building the transcontinental railroad, the builders drove in the spike at the end when they met. The only differance between them and us is they didnt have to cal mountain movers inc. I think that the silver spike can be driven when the main line/ all trackwork is done. Even though people say a model railroad is never complete, you can still drive in the golden spike when 95% of every thing is done.