Friday’s observation of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad was a multifaceted celebration. In many ways, the celebration echoed the recorded sentiments of the first Golden Spike ceremony on May 10, 1869 — that the new span was the accomplishment of American ingenuity and hard work and helped further unite a Union that had rapidly expanded from coast to coast and was recovering from a bruising Civil War.

This week’s celebrations also highlighted accomplishments that were minimized or pushed aside 15 decades ago. After being kept out of the iconic photograph of the railroad crews celebrating the Golden Spike, Chinese workers and their back-breaking contributions to the railroad were in the foreground of Friday’s events. Likewise, organizers of this year’s celebration took care to honor the fact that the railroad’s route went through the ancestral lands of many Native American tribes.

The role of Utah and Utahns also played a prominent role in this year’s celebration, including appearances by local politicians and Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The railroad’s completion is often viewed as the end of Utah’s pioneer era. That may be the case, but it also marked the start of another exciting period — Utah’s increasing prominence as the Crossroads of the West.

Even before the railroad crews came together at Promontory Summit, Utah’s profile as a nexus of travel, communications and commerce had begun to rise. The Pony Express route raced through the state. When the telegraph superseded those brave horse riders, it was Salt Lake City where the telegraph wires came together.

However, the Transcontinental Railroad was a breakthrough, offering a reliable means to move people, mail and goods across the country in days instead of months. Before the train, all of the alternatives were daunting in their own way — an arduous trek overland by wagon or on foot; a perilous sea voyage all the way around South America; or, as a combination of the two, an ocean journey broken up with an expedition across Central America.

Although many Latter-day Saint pioneers initially came to Utah in part because it could be isolated from the rest of the United States, church and other local leaders saw the advantages of being a keystone of Western commerce. That’s not to say that there weren’t additional hurdles in Utah’s eventual path to statehood, but the Transcontinental Railroad helped build stronger connections between the United States and what eventually became known as the Beehive State.

While the railroad no longer goes through Promontory (and most of the original tracks were recycled to support the war effort in World War II), Utah and the United States built many of their accomplishments on what happened 150 years ago. Among other things, railroads offered a means for Utah to export its mineral wealth to the world. Today, trains figure to be a significant part of the Utah Inland Port, which aims to be a modern nexus of transcontinental trade.

While the railroad still moves a tremendous amount of products and some people, it has been superseded in many ways with the interstate highway system and air travel. However, many U.S. highways and interstates hew closely to the old rail routes — showing that today’s journeys are shaped by the past.

We live in an increasingly connected world. We can thank the Transcontinental Railroad for being a cornerstone for the modern connections between Utah, the nation and the greater world.