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Colleagues,Some have wondered at the ruggedness of the terrain in the BitterRoots, particularly along the line of the Milwaukee Road. Many books have been written about this line, and I highly recommend the Pentrex tape set which I believe is now out on DVD as well.Just to give you the perspective of the loop, I am attaching a single image tonight - in wireframe mode. Imagine that you are in a rented helicopter hovering over the valley of Loop Creek, approximately even with the east end (geographically northwest) of Kelly Creek Trestle. Looking southeast, on a heading of approx. 120 degrees, and if you had XRAY vision, this is the view you would get.The line in the far distance is actually the 10degree curve inside tunnel 25, which changes the direction nearly 90 degrees. Tunnel 26 is out of sight to the right, but it, and the rest of the curve through tunnel 25, completes a nearly continous horseshoe.J. H. Sullivan
So they chose much the same solution the Pennsy did to get through the Alleghenies. I would guess the remoteness accounts for Horseshoe in Altoona gaining wider fame. You can't appreciate what you can't get to.I've always wondered at the technique used for creating curved (and spiral) tunnels in a time with no lasers, GPS, or boring machines. How did they do it?Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century! www.kelticsylk.com
Frank,Yes, the same idea as the Pennsy. Engineers call these kinds of curves "envelopement curves". The term horseshoe is a public term. Perhaps the most notable of these curves is the Big Ten curve about 15 miles west of Denver. It is actually two 10 degree curves that lift the UP (long live the D&RGW far as I am concerned) out of the plains area, onto the first ridge that can be followed toward the Moffat Tunnel. It forms a large letter "S" if viewed from above.Another similar one on the D&RG is further on, and if you get off the highway that leads from Denver to Rollinsville at a "scenic overlook" you are looking right down on this nearly 180 degree curve. It is famous because dozens of images have been made at this spot, and for years I thought you had to hike a ways, but when the wife and I were honeymooning out there in 7/94, I realized that the passenger barely needs to get out of the vehicle.The Milwaukee Road follows the North Fork of the St.Joe River from AVery up to it's confluence with loop creek. This is 12 miles or so of back and forth curves, but nothing spectactular. Then the track turns from a northwesterly, to a southeasterly heading through two short tunnels, and enters the area of the image. AFter exiting toward the left, it continues through some back and forth curves and then turns from northwest to northeast to reach St.Paul Pass.JerryJerry
That's the one alright. I must have seen this view at least 20 times in various publications - usually with a train on it, but I was not that lucky, and the wife didn't cotton too well to railfanning on the honeymoon - but when we got to the Moffat Tunnel, there must have been 75 people there waiting for a westbound empty coal train, which did put in an appearance. On my video tape, there is the distinct sound of shutters clicking, motorized advances working etc.The wife wanted to know what those people were there for - I told her that as Mecca is to Islam, Moffat Tunnel (and a few other spots) are to railfans.J. H. Sullivan
