I've been working for awhile to gently prune one of the miniature pines on my Seashore, Horry, And Georgetown (SHAG RR) to appear similar to the famous "Jukes Tree" on the D&RG (currently Cumbres & Toltec) in New Mexico. Photographer Fred Jukes took so many photos of trains at this location near Chama that the tree ended up getting "named" for him. Here's what it looks like so far:
Does anyone else have a Jukes Tree?
Bill
I have a trimmed forest (about 120 trees) of trees similar to yours.
We just got back from a ride on the Cumbres & Toltec last month but don't recall the Jukes tree. Do you have a picture?
Rex
Rex,
If you go to Google Images and search for Jukes Tree, it will offer a number of images, both modern and historical. The famed tree is on the east side of the tracks, and a large number of branches on the track side appear "trimmed" until the tree flairs out toward the top. The tree is "wild", so it hasn't been trimmed, but it is possible that the coal smoke on that side has had something to do with the shape of the tree.
The tree is featured in photography of the line, including most recently the work of Sam Furukawa in his Cumbres & Toltec all color book (2007, Narrow Gauge Preservation Foundation). See page 29 of that volume.
Here's the link to a You-Tube video showing the Jukes tree. It's near the Chama River crossing.
Movies shot by Otto Perry in the 1940s that show the Jukes tree seem to indicate that it was the only one near this site back then. Today, there are many smaller trees in the area.
The lower limbs were probably cut off when the tree was young to prevent injuries to passengers who might have their arm or head out a window as they went by, when regular daily passenger trains ran on the line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raZToZpb7fo
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