Finding the 10 miles of Track Laid in One Day Sign

On April 28 1869 track crews of the Central Pacific Railroad laid 10 miles of track in one "normal" work day setting a record that stands to this day.

At some point, the date is unknown, the CP erected a sign at this location that read "10 MILES OF TRACK LAID IN ONE DAY - APRIL 28 1869" When the rails were removed in 1941 the sign was removed and now resides in the museum at the Golden Spike

Historic Site - or does it?

The "normal" work day started at first light and broke at noon for a one hour lunch. Then back to work completing a 12 hour day. 11 hours plus lunch. This required laying almost one mile of track, totally by hand, each hour.

Central Pacific had a $10,000 bet with Union Pacific that they could do this, and in so doing beating the Union Pacific who until that point held the record. CP waited until UP was almost finished so that UP could not attempt to counter with 11 miles of track. Therefore the record breaking section was just west of Promontory Summit where the two railroads would join and the Golden Spike be driven.

No one seems to know when the sign was erected. No photos have been found taken in the 19th century. Moreover the history of the sign is mostly lost. There is a replacement sign at the location to this day. But how many times has the sign be replaced? No one knows....

PS The bet was never paid......
http://cprr.org/Museum/Southern_Pacific_Bulletin/Ten_Mile_Day.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Pacific_Railroad

https://utah.com/transcontinental-railroad

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