05-13-2010, 11:42 AM
Funny/ironic - the bigger and more powerful the Class I railroads became, the less able they were to meet the physical challenges of the railroads that conquered the West and the mountains, those little narrow gauge railroads that everyone laughs at that hauled all the gold and silver that paid for it all.
It wasn't the grades and tight curves that hobbled the narrow gauge lines of the Rockies - it was Winter. The final grade to the Alpine Pass at over 11,000 feet was regularly closed for up to 8-9 months of the year by drifts of up to 40' or more and avalanches.
Those little railroads that everyone mocks went places and did things far beyond anything done by their bigger cousins.
It wasn't the grades and tight curves that hobbled the narrow gauge lines of the Rockies - it was Winter. The final grade to the Alpine Pass at over 11,000 feet was regularly closed for up to 8-9 months of the year by drifts of up to 40' or more and avalanches.
Those little railroads that everyone mocks went places and did things far beyond anything done by their bigger cousins.