Stops Along An American Dream - Part 3

(Historical train-ride on the first Transcontinental Railroad in 1870 from Omaha to Ogden aboard the Union Pacific Railroad) © 2009 (Jim Sularz) Morning breaks again, we chug out to Bryan and Carter, at Fort Bridger, lives Chief Wash-a-kie. Another steep grade, snow-capped mountains to see, down below, there’s Bear Valley Lake. Near journey’s end, some eighty miles to go, at Evanston’s rail shops, and hotel. Leaving Wahsatch behind, where there’s the grandest divide, with fortressed bluffs, and canyon walls. A chasm’s ahead, Hanging Rock’s slightly bent, a thrilling ride, rushing past Witches’ Cave. A lot more to see, from Pulpit Rock to Echo City, to a tall and majestic tree. It’s a picnic stop, and a place to celebrate, marching Legions, that crossed a distant trail. Proud immigrants, Mormons and Civil War veterans, it’s here, they spiked a thousand miles of rail! We’re now barreling down Weber Canyon, shooting past Devil’s Slide, there’s a paradise, just beyond Devil’s Gate. Cold frothy torrents from Weber River, splash up in our faces, and spill west, to the Great Salt Lake. It’s a long ways off, from the hills and bluffs of Omaha, to a place called – “God’s promised land.” And it took dreaming, scheming, guts and sinew, to carve this road with calloused hands. From Ogden, we’re heading west to Sacramento, we’ll forge ahead on CP steam. And when we get there, we’ll always remember – Stops Along an American Dream. “Nothing like it in the World,” east and west a nation hailed. All aboard at every stop, along the first Transcontinental Rail! (The End)