LANG, Calif. — On Sept. 5, 2026, exactly 150 years to the day, the first rail line joining San Francisco and Los Angeles was completed. More than 300 people gathered for a commemorative event and cheered as a ceremonial golden spike was driven.
Located 43 rail miles northeast of Los Angeles and 440 rail miles from San Francisco, Lang was designated as the official meeting point of the Southern Pacific Railroad work forces connecting two of California’s largest cities in 1876. The line was completed after more than two years of feverish rail laying that included crossing the famed Tehachapi Pass and Soledad Canyon. On Sept. 5, 1876, Charles Crocker, Southern Pacific’s president, traveled via a special train from Oakland down to Lang, where he personally drove a golden spike signifying the line’s completion.
Now 150 years later, as part of this year’s celebration hosted by the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, local dignitaries were invited to speak, with artifacts from the 100th anniversary celebration in 1976 brought to Lang, including a scratch-built model of the station that once stood in town. While the golden spike driven by Crocker was not in attendance this year, it is preserved at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
“This is a story of engineering achievement, immigrant labor, ambition, competition, and historical memory,” said Dr. Alan Pollack, Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society president, who kicked off this year’s ceremony. “And, at its center is Lang, a small place in Soledad Canyon where on Sept. 5, 1876, two railroad crews met, two California cities were joined, and the future of Los Angeles changed forever.”…