At the end of July, Jonathan and I went out to Promontory Summit (also known as the middle of nowhere) where the first Transcontinental Railroad was completed in May of 1869. I have been reading a lot about my Machen family history and my great-great grandparents took the train out to Utah when they emigrated just months after the railroad was completed.
They still have a little bit of railroad track for the replicas of the Central Pacific's Jupiter and the Union Pacific's No. 119. It was interesting to learn that the Jupiter is a wood burning engine while No. 119 is coal burning. Though it makes sense because the Jupiter was coming east from the forests of California while those coming west were struggling enough to find enough wood for the railroad ties.
I've grown up seeing the black and white photo of the two trains meeting, so I was very surprised to see how colorful they are in real life.
As we were leaving, we stumbled upon ATK Aerospace Systems. Jonathan and I both decided we should become rocket scientists so we can work there when we grow up.
It was amazing to see just how large the rocket booster that was used for the space shuttle is! I love all of the different adventures we are able to go on.
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