The Big Fill & The Big Trestle

Two railroads, two answers to the same ravine. The Central Pacific had time to move earth, so it filled the gorge with a massive earthwork — the Big Fill, still carrying the grade up the canyon. The Union Pacific, racing behind, had no time to dig, so it threw a wooden trestle across instead: four hundred feet long, eighty-five feet high, built in thirty-eight days and finished May 5, 1869. One reporter called it too flimsy to describe. It carried trains for about six months before the Big Fill took over. The abutments still stand.

What the plaque says

Lacking time to fill the ravine before you, Union Pacific crews built the bridge shown in the photo. One reporter said that nothing he could write “would convey an idea of the flimsy character of that structure.” You can still see the abutments, and across the canyon, the bedrock shelves where the log uprights were placed. The trestle, about 400 feet long and 85 feet high, took 38 days to build. It was completed May 5, 1869, and used for about 6 months. Afterwards the Big Fill just up the canyon, was used for the permanent route.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Golden Spike National Historical Park — 3.9 mi
  Where East met West — the spot that connected America by rail
• Spiral Jetty — 17 mi
  Robert Smithsons iconic land art masterpiece on the Great Salt Lake

More markers nearby

• Promontory Monument (4) Markers — 4.0 mi
• Competition, 1869 — 4.0 mi
• Stephan Mather Marker — 4.0 mi
• Golden Spike - Joining of the Rails — 4.0 mi