What did Central Pacific crews achieve on April 28, 1869?

Laying 10 miles of track in one day

Transcontinental Railroad Quiz: The Golden Spike of 1869

Two companies raced toward each other for six years, one from Sacramento and one from Omaha, and this Transcontinental Railroad quiz tells how they met at Promontory Summit. Play 10 interactive questions on the Pacific Railway Act, Chinese and Irish workers, the Sierra Nevada, ten miles in a day, Leland Stanford, the locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 and a one-word telegraph.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Date
On which date was the Golden Spike ceremony held?
Place
Where did the two railroads meet?
Act
Which president signed the Pacific Railway Act of 1862?
West
Which company built east from Sacramento?
East
Which company built west from the Omaha area?
Workers
Which immigrant group made up most of the Central Pacific's workforce?
Record
What did Central Pacific crews achieve on April 28, 1869?
Spike
Who tapped the ceremonial golden spike?
Engines
Which two locomotives met nose to nose at Promontory?
Telegraph
Which one-word telegraph message announced the completion?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: On which date was the Golden Spike ceremony held?
Answer: May 10, 1869
It marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.
Q2: Where did the two railroads meet?
Answer: Promontory Summit, Utah
The site is now a national historical park.
Q3: Which president signed the Pacific Railway Act of 1862?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln
It funded the railroad with land grants and bonds.
Q4: Which company built east from Sacramento?
Answer: Central Pacific
It faced the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Q5: Which company built west from the Omaha area?
Answer: Union Pacific
It crossed the Great Plains.
Q6: Which immigrant group made up most of the Central Pacific's workforce?
Answer: Chinese laborers
Thousands of Chinese workers blasted tunnels through the Sierra.
Q7: What did Central Pacific crews achieve on April 28, 1869?
Answer: Laying 10 miles of track in one day
The record still stands.
Q8: Who tapped the ceremonial golden spike?
Answer: Leland Stanford
Stanford was Central Pacific's president and a former governor.
Q9: Which two locomotives met nose to nose at Promontory?
Answer: Jupiter and No. 119
Replicas reenact the meeting today.
Q10: Which one-word telegraph message announced the completion?
Answer: Done
Telegraph lines spread the news across the nation.

Transcontinental Railroad Quiz – Linking a Nation by Rail

The Pacific Railway Act, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, launched the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. The Central Pacific built east from Sacramento, and the Union Pacific built west from the Omaha area.

Central Pacific crews, mostly Chinese laborers, blasted through the Sierra Nevada, while Union Pacific crews, many of them Irish, crossed the plains. On April 28, 1869, Central Pacific workers laid 10 miles of track in one day.

On May 10, 1869, the lines met at Promontory Summit, Utah. Leland Stanford tapped the golden spike, the locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 met nose to nose and a telegraph sent the message Done. Coast-to-coast travel shrank from months to about a week.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans and students will enjoy these questions.

When and where the lines met
Who built each section
Who did the work
Which records were set
How the news spread

Did You Know?

The golden spike is kept at Stanford University.
Central Pacific's leaders were called the Big Four.
Thousands of buffalo were hunted near the line.
Time zones were later adopted partly because of railroads.
The 150th anniversary was celebrated in 2019.