Friday, November 30, 2018

Car Skip Will Shunt Box Cars Down 38 Degree Incline

Article I wrote for Them Dam Writers.




Construction of a $20,000 to $30,000 car skip on which fully loaded flatcars can be shunted from the regular government railroad at the west axis of Grand Coulee Dam, down a steep incline to the trestle deck spanning the dam was started on September 2, 1938.

The drop from the upper railroad to the trestle is about 130 feet. The length of the inclined rails is only 200 feet, showing how steep the drop actually is. It is a grade of 80 percent, or 38.50 degrees.

Cars would be rolled on a platform over the skid runway. The platform would  then roll downhill with the aid of a counterweight. A hoist brought  the cars back up.

The construction eliminated the building of an expensive railroad spur from the cement silos along the pump-plant base to the trestle. The USBR had previously prohibited building a trestle over the  old slide area.

The cars will run down the steel incline endways instead of sideways as usual. Thousands of tons of steel will be brought down the line.

Unknown is when the skip was removed and a regular track installed, likely due to the sheer number of railroad cars that needed access to the construction trestle.


Thursday, November 29, 2018

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Saturday, November 17, 2018

1930s Rock Island Dam Views

Courtesy of the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library.

 The dam was completed as we know it today in 1976. It's completion, as shown in the photos, happened in 1933.

 The first picture seems to show what is left of the construction roaroad diipping down along the line of trees, now protected by a dike of some sort.





Friday, November 16, 2018

1940s NP-GN Interchange At Adrian

Courtesy of the John W. Barriger III National LIbrary.

The GN mainline is on the far right, the GN sidingis to the left. New to me is the crossover track near the interchange with the NP CW branch. Note the boxcar on the interchange track. Crab Creek is flowing on the left.
The NP had an agreement with GN in the early days of the 20th century to use the GN siding to access the NP engine facility behind and to the left of the photographer.
Note the NP bridge over Crab Creek to the left of the boxcar.


In this 1926 view, courtesy of the NP Telltale, is bridge 126 over Crab Creek, the same bridge seen in the above view.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

1909 NP AFE Forrey Spur

Courtesy of the NPRHA.

Best I can figure this is the spur track at the long gone siding of Forrey, near the southern end of Dry Coulee.