Q5803

Transcontinential Railroad

150th Anniversary

Golden Spike

Collins Anecdotal Note 

America was a young country. It was still less than a century from those heroic years when patriots had won their victory in our war for independence. In the late 1860's, the United States accomplished the greatest engineering feat of that century with the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Before his death on April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was the driving force to embark on this daunting challenge. In the years 1860 to 1864, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads came into existence. The route was decided, and financial backers led by Thomas Durant in the East and Leland Stanford in the West worked with private investors and the U.S. Government. Chief engineer Grenville Dodge directed construction across the plains from Omaha fighting off hostile Indian attacks. From the West, early railroad visionary and surveyor Theodore Judah determined the combination of mountain passes and blasted tunnels that would conquer the towering Rockies. The muscle and sweat was provided by individuals from everywhere but primarily Chinese on the Central Pacific and Irish on the Union Pacific. On May 10, 1869 with the Jupiter and No. 119 engines facing each other, Leland Stanford brought forth the last spike, a golden one, and placed it in the last rail. The telegraph operator immediately sent out the one-word wire. "Done."

Cover Announcement 

During my forty-plus years as a cachetmaker, I've always tried to produce truiy unique covers every so often. This is one of those times. Historians agree that the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860's was one of the greatest feats of that century. For this individually hand painted cachet, I decided to highlight some of the individuals who made it happen.

Each cover will be accompanied by an information blurb that will briefly describe the contributions of those shown in the cachet. This should be kept with or in the cover. Also shown at the lower right is the last spike, a goiden one, that connected the final rail to a wooden tie. When it was hammered into place on May 10. 1869, the country was connected by rail from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The fact that each of these Golden Spike cachets are individually hand painted will indeed transform this Collins first day cover into one of the treasures of the hobby. It will be, perhaps, the only Transcontinental Railroad cachet that explores the human element in getting this enormous national project completed. It is with great pleasure that I now offer the "Golden Spike" 150th Anniversary cover. Collins #Q5803 at $ 16.50.