When the "Golden Spike" was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, it only marked the completion of a railroad line from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California. Reaching the Atlantic by rail from Omaha involved a boat ride across the Missouri River and buying a ticket on another train. Reaching the Pacific Ocean also required a trip from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay by horse, carriage or boat. The so-called "Transcontinental Railroad" fell short of spanning the continent by more than a thousand miles.

The first true transcontinental railroad line across the U.S. wasn't completed until August 15, 1870, when the Kansas Pacific Railroad line was finished near the bridge over Comanche Creek at Strasburg, Colorado. It was only then that a person could make the trip from Atlantic to Pacific entirely by rail. A small monument in Strasburg's Lyons Park commemorates the event. The exact location of the actual "Last Spike" is unknown.

The May 2012 photo at left shows the Comanche Crossing of the Kansas Pacific Railroad in Strasburg, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Beall.

"Comanche Crossing" refers to the railroad's crossing of Comanche Creek, which goes under the railroad bridge in the foreground. This is the site where the final spike was driven in the first continuous transcontinental railroad.