Can't see the Railroad for the trees... or Narrowly forgotten (my apologies to Rocky and Bullwinkle)

I'm going to diverge here for a bit from my layout posts and postulate about the D&RG's narrow gauge alignment over Tennessee Pass.

In doing endless research about TennPass there is almost a black hole regarding information about the narrow gauge alignment over the pass and down the west side, and there is a decisive lack of evidence in the form of photo's... well almost.

This is a bit long winded and at the end I really stretch reasoning on the second part but I hope you enjoy the read.



Let's start with what is known:
(The following information is available from many books and online sources but I've found that http://www.drgw.net/info/TennesseePass puts it all together very well in one spot)

1. 1880 -  The narrow gauge Royal Gorge Route is extended to Malta
1. then extended to Cranes Park south of the Tennessee Pass
2. 1881 - The narrow gauge was extended over the Pass to Red Cliff
3. 1882 - The narrow gauge was extended to Rock Creek
4. 1882 to 1886 - Not much progress extending the line further west
5. 1886 to 1887 - The narrow gauge was extended to Glenwood Springs (then Aspen) in a race against the Colorado Midland
6. 1888 to 1890 - The first Tennessee Pass tunnel was constructed and utilized by the narrow gauge until dual gauge trackage made its way to Malta. TennPass tunnel was then standard gauged late in 1890

It is between the years of 1881 and 1890 in which history is devoid of information, at least as much as I have been able to research and read about.  It's during this time frame that the D&RG built the narrow gauge to Glenwood Springs, but also surveyed and built the standard gauge alignment, bored the tunnel, and left the original narrow gauge alignment to history.  Yet very little can be found about any of this. 

drgw.net makes a note about two authors (Robert LeMassena: Rio Grande to the Pacific, and Robert Ormes: Tracking Ghost Railroads in Colorado) with differeing statements about the new standard gauge alignment and where it varied from the narrow gauge alignment, and gives a nod to LeMassena having the correct information and I have to agree with this.


Present "history" is evident. We know where the current alignment is, and we know where the narrow gauge alignment went over the Pass down to where it intersects with the standard gauge alignment near Mitchell curves.  Then what? Where did the narrow gauge alignment go? Was the narrow gauge alignment on the present standard gauge alignment from Mitchell to Red Cliff?  Rt 24 parallels the current alignment dropping down into the valley, so is Rt 24 the original alignment until Pando?  Rt 24 is on the original alignment on the south side of the pass so this is a logical assumption.  Or is there another route?   This is where the cloud of history seems to fog up our historical camera lens.

But let's verify what is obvious through the eyes of Google Earth and re-assert some of the obvious.

At the East switch of the Tennessee Pass siding you can follow the NG alignment (orange) as it heads off to the west and in quick order becomes Hwy24. From here Hwy24 is on the NG alignment until the summit of the pass where the NG alignment becomes “Loop Trail” heading West and one would pass a couple coke oven foundations I believe. From there the alignment swoops back North loosely paralleling the present alignment. At the South end of Mitchell curves area the original NG alignment swings around the mountain and heads South West toward a 180* loop (Loop Trail diverts from the alignment here). 

Side Note: After rounding the 180* loop there is a bit of curiosity to be seen/found. A switch heads back South West towards the foot of the mountain and tree line, and there can be seen the foundations for approximately 14 coke ovens (presumably).  I have not been able to find any pictures or mentions of these coke ovens, only of the two at the summit of the pass.
(EDIT November 19, 2018:  looking over some division time tables from 1919 a comment on cars left at Mitchell states this.  "When cars are left at Mitchell they must be placed above switch leading to charcoal ovens and switch  must be set and locked for oven track.")

Staying along the original NG alignment after the 180* loop you head North East back towards the start (or West end) of Mitchell curves. At the point the original NG alignment meets the existing alignment, history, road work, and the standard gauge alignment work have obscured any evidence of the NG alignment at that specific spot. Also, at this spot because of the lack of NG alignment evidence it does give credence to Ormes claim that the realignment only existed between Mitchell and Crane Park. 

 

Here’s where I make a statement based on grading, fills, and curvature from looking on Google Earth that Ormes is not correct. If we state that the NG alignment continued on we can “trace” it along Hwy24 again to State Road 726, or Jones Gulch Rd. At this point, St Rd 726 is the NG alignment again. As it approaches the valley where Camp Hale existed the NG alignment hugged the mountain and turned East towards an almost 180* curve.
 At what I believe was the eastern end of Camp Hale the original NG alignment curved back West and becomes E Fork Eagle Rd, which I presume during the period of Camp Hale was probably used as a road. The NG alignment continues to stay on the opposite side of the valley from the new alignment as both alignments skirt the location of Camp Hale. 

 



Camp Hale appears to, and likely did, erase some of the NG alignment.  At the point of the West End of Pando siding appears to be about the area of the alignment diversions, which would coincide with LeMassena’s claim that the realignment was rather substantial and extended from Pando to Crane Park.  

Initially I thought if the narrow gauge alignment went through the site of Camp Hale and onto Red Cliff as just a branch line then Rt 24 might just be on the original alignment to Red Cliff, but let's back up before I get ahead of myself and revisit my proposed alignment through Camp Hale. 

Until recently I could not find any single newspaper article, photo, blurb, or even a careless historical thought about the original alignment west of TennPass.  That was until I stumbled upon a fairly recent (circa 2015 I think) article about a group(s) of people (Eagle County Watershed) wanting to return the area of Camp Hale to its former natural state, particularly concerning the Eagle River alignment (when the government built Camp Hale in 1942 they dug a straight ditch to contain the headwaters of the Eagle River and allow development of the army base.)  In this article they referenced the valley as Eagle Park, of which I hadn't heard before, and not being a Colorado resident if this is "local naming" I was not privy to it.  Googling "Eagle Park Colorado" doesn't produce much either. 

And then, somewhere in the back of my brain I recognized the term Eagle Park and dug into my deep digital collection of D&RG(W) photos.  What I thought was a complete void in history was graciously filmed by one William Henry Jackson in 1885 in what appears to be one single photo. 

Disembarked his photographers-special train, Mr Jackson pointed his lens towards the summit of Mount of the Holy Cross from a vantage in Eagle Park.  It's the peak in the top-center of the photo.

Until now this was an unrecognizable location for me.  I knew where Mt Holy Cross was, but from where was this photo taken?  Not until the mention of Eagle Park and Camp Hale did I put it all together that Jackson not only photographed the Mount of the Holy Cross, but also the original narrow gauge alignment of the D&RG through what is known as Camp Hale now. 

So how do I prove this?  By returning to Google Earth of course.  I already showed my interpretation of the narrow gauge alignment from Mitchell to the west end of present day Pando above, and this is how I confirm it. 

From this picture you can see the two alignments through the Eagle Park (Camp Hale) area and the location of Mount of the Holy Cross.  Also note that I am marking the location I believe Mr Jackson stood to photograph Holy Cross. 

From Mr Jackson's vantage point we know what his photo looked like, and this is what the view from Google Earth looks like. 

If you're still skeptical, please watch this overlay gif and study some identifiers. 

1. The narrow gauge alignment is what I previously called out as being E Fork Eagle Rd.
2. The absence and presence of the current D&RGW standard gauge alignment in the background.
3. The location of Dean (Pando/Camp Hale) Tunnel

Thus putting a pin in my research of the original narrow gauge alignment.

The following pictures from 1885 of Red Cliff help to show the alignment change from NG to SG.  Nothing between Pando and Red Cliff can be found, but Google Earth suggests alignment changes through the river valley between both places. This photo by C W Erdlen (watermarked images borrowed from Colorado Artifactual website) looking southeast from the apex of Red Cliff.  Dead center of the photo we can see a wooden bridge.  This crosses the narrow gauge tracks which is the present alignment.   The main road shown at left is present day Eagle St.   Water Street, which is not identified, would be where the rows of houses stretch to the right from Eagle St just below center of the photo.

Image looking North.

Curiously, if you look at Google Earth and follow Eagle St south out of Red Cliff it becomes a dirt road that has all the evidence of old road bed, and in fact ends in the present day alignment.