Just Got My Birthday Present

[MountainMan]

Royal Gorge trip con't:

Old aqueduct bridge.


Remains of old sluice gate and pumping stations.




On into the Gorge - note the Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge 1100 feet overhead.

[MountainMan]

I posted the pictures everybody wanted....

[doctorwayne]

I think that perhaps you've left most of us speechless. Great photos, MM, not only for their subject matter but for the quality of the photos themselves, too. Nice job!
This gives me added impetus to get to work on a DRG&W single sheathed boxcar, which I plan to letter in the older "Royal Gorge Route" lettering scheme. I have everything needed for the job except the time in which to do it.

Wayne

[Gary S]

Beautiful photos, MM. Takes me back to a climbing trip I did in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

[MountainMan]

We went there last summer - love that place!

[Steamtrains]

Terrific pictures..!! What a "gorge"ous place to see.....It seems kind'a eery being walled-in like that....Let's see so' more....

[ngauger]

Fantastic pics!! I never heard of the Hanging Bridge till now. Always nice to learn about new things - especially if they have to do with railroading

[Sumpter250]

I'm very happy to see that you're posting pictures----and they are some really spectacular shots! But then, that's what mountains are for. I like that shay !!!!!, and I hadn't even heard of the hanging bridge before, that would make an interesting model project........yes, it would, hmmmmm.
Pete

[MountainMan]

I think that perhaps you've left most of us speechless. Great photos, MM, not only for their subject matter but for the quality of the photos themselves, too. Nice job!
This gives me added impetus to get to work on a DRG&W single sheathed boxcar, which I plan to letter in the older "Royal Gorge Route" lettering scheme. I have everything needed for the job except the time in which to do it.

Wayne

Thanks for the kind words. Just a hand-held digital camera aimed out of the cab window.

If you need photos, I think some of the old cars are still down by the old station, awaiting whatever use the RGRR puts them too.

[nachoman]

Excellent photos, especially the one of the hanging brigde. I've never seen a photo of that bridge from that angle before.

[Steamtrains]

So how is it you got to ride in the cab..?? Did you get any "hands-on" time..??

[RobertInOntario]

Congrats -- and those are awesome pics & scenery! Looks like a fantastic trip.

My big treat will be this summer in England, where I've booked a footplate (cab) ride on a steam engine on the Watercressline! (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.watercressline.co.uk/Home">http://www.watercressline.co.uk/Home</a><!-- m -->). This was supposed to be for my 50th birthday in 2009 but they were sold out, so we've booked it for this year!

Rob

[iis612]

Outstanding!!!

Matt

[MountainMan]

Fantastic pics!! I never heard of the Hanging Bridge till now. Always nice to learn about new things - especially if they have to do with railroading

When the railroad was put through, they planned at first to blast that cliff face on the right of the picture to make a shelf for the tracks, but the gorge is so narrow there that the rubble would have blocked the river, causing a backup and a flood that would have ripped out miles of work. (Back then, there was no dam upstream to regulate the flow of water, which is fierce during spring run-offs.) Therefore, the decision was made to try hanging the bridge over the river on the framework you see. This is the original framework, and it's sill in use carry far heavier trains than anything the original builders envisioned.

If you hike the Gorge, you can still find remnants of the old stone forts erected by the warring railroads - the Sante Fe and the Union Pacific - in their battle over who would win the track rights to the canyon route.

[MountainMan]

Excellent photos, especially the one of the hanging brigde. I've never seen a photo of that bridge from that angle before.

That's why I so enjoyed the cab ride, which provides a unique perspective not otherwise obtainable.