The Greenies would stop construction of the cutoff today. On balance, I wonder if S.P./U.P. wouldn't have been better off sticking with the original route, with refinements.
The background music fairly shouts 50's - without even looking at the film or narration. Every 50's era documentary film all have the same sound and look.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Wanswheel,
Thank you for the film!
Mac McCulloch
Fabulous film. What an undertaking. That Ed Reimers fellow sure narrated a lot of these documentaries. Thankfully I can tune out the annoying music, which they do even today in an even more annoying form.
It would seem that the difficulties in the battle with the lake are ongoing.
M636CAren't those just the approaches to the original trestle?
Could be. I definitely am not a historian on that line...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 I recall reading why the lake shows as two different colors - something to do with drainage, etc. When I took a look at the causeway on Acme Mapper, I noted that near the west end it appears that SP ran into issues - it looks like the fill was started to go straight across the lake, but instead curved north a bit. The original fill is still there and just "fades out..." On further "investigation," it looks like the same thing happened on the east end as well...
I recall reading why the lake shows as two different colors - something to do with drainage, etc.
When I took a look at the causeway on Acme Mapper, I noted that near the west end it appears that SP ran into issues - it looks like the fill was started to go straight across the lake, but instead curved north a bit. The original fill is still there and just "fades out..."
On further "investigation," it looks like the same thing happened on the east end as well...
Aren't those just the approaches to the original trestle?
The replacement fill would have to be built while the trestle was still in use and would have to join the original alignment at each end.
M636C
Not exactly germane, but it has been decided to build a new penitentiary between the airport and the lake (replacing the one south of Salt Lake City because the land there is wanted for development). I wonder how far down piles will have to be driven to make sure that the walls do not sink to where they can be stepped over and how much farther they will have to be driven so nobody will have to climb stairs to get from the top floor to the ground level. There are other considerations that are causing head scratching.
Johnny
(DUPLICATE POST)
It has never stopped sinking, inspite of the late 1980's reconstruction by SP and MKCo. (all they managed to do was get rid of the soldier piling and old boxcars)....Still blows out at the base of the fill and the crappy lake bottom soils can't hold bearing, so the slump and rotational fail at the base of the embankment fill continues, albeit slowly.
What's old is new once more.
Going back to the spring with heavy early runoff of the snow, in the December before this, it snowed every day for three weeks--I built quite a wall beside my driveway, using an Armstrong snow thrower.
Has there ever been a derailment on the cutoff severe enough to have some or all of the train go into the water?
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
Yes, there was early runoff of the snow in the Wasatch Mountains one spring--to the point that it was possible to catch fish in State Street. The rise in the lake was so alarming that huge pumps were bought to move the water over a ridge west of the lake--and they have not been needed since that year. Now, the lake is so low that many boats had to be taken from a marina--there is not enough water to float them there.
erikem Interesting article, although I think the causeway was known to be sinking well before the UP took control of the SP.
Interesting article, although I think the causeway was known to be sinking well before the UP took control of the SP.
I worked for the SP in the early 1980's and the issue then was that the lake level, after decades of slow decline, was rising due to increased rainfall. For a time they had a 12 hour curfew and were running 3-4 rock hauling work trains at a time the other 12 hours. They also planted many boxcars filled with rock more or less at water level at that time.
Separately, the causeway is the third SP main line in the area. The first was the original line of 1868 which was both crooked and had some grades to get over the ridges north of the lake. It was replaced by the trestle completed about 1906-1910. By the end of WW II it was too lightly built to support heavy trains at speed. The causeway was completed about 1950 and the side slopes of the fill were made relatively flat to spread the weight widely as the lake bed was known to be soft.
The SP had no choice but to pour millions of dollars into the causeway since it was their only connection with the UP. That the UP, which has the former WP line around the south end of the lake, continues to maintain the causeway tells much about the value of a direct line as opposed to a circuitous one.
Mac
The 'First Spike'In 1942, when Hyman-Micheals was removing the Promontory Line made redundant by the Lucin Cut Off, there was a photo taken @ the 1869 'Last Spike' location with two locomotives head-to-head in a reverse 'First Spike' location as steel was lifted.This photo appeared in 'Trains' many years ago.Is that photo available to view On Line?? PleaseOn a trip to California I visited that area and the Last Spike Location on a snowy day, and was very moved by the isolation and remoteness.Thank You.
That is a UP article - I wonder what the Eco-terrorists point of view is?
http://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/causeway-6-14-2016
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