Western Railroad Discussion > A hike on the old ATSF grade on Ash Hill (Pt. 3)

OK, continuing off from yesterday.

Picture 1: Where I am. Starting at where bridge three is at.

Picture 2: The carved stone making up the abutments. This was built to last. The craftsmanship has survived nearly 135 years of the elements.

Picture 3: More.

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Picture 4: More.

Picture 5: Some detrius and a sawed off post.

Picture 6: Another sawed off pole.

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I continued my hike.

Picture 7: THIS IS WHY I HATE MYLAR BALLOONS!!!!!! This was one of three I saw. Way out in the middle of nowhere, effectively 50 or more miles from the nearest populated area. And people let those balloons go and travel the winds without a d**n thought on where they will land. Those people are P-I-G-S!!!!!

Picture 8: Some insulator debris on the ROW.

Picture 9: Coming up to a shallow cut.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/15 18:56 by syscom3.

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Picture 10: Looking back on bridge #3

Picture 11: Coming up on a shallower gully. With a a concrete pier in the middle.

Picture 12: I saw these support poles all neatly sawed off.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/15 18:58 by syscom3.

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Picture 13: A closer view of the concrete pier.

Picture 14: Looking back to bridge #3 and the poles that were cut.

Picture 15:Cables that were stashed.

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Picture 16: An eastbound intermodal came down the track.

Picture 17: Another view of it from the last bit of the old ROW.

Picture 18: Effectively, the old grade doesnt exist after this point. Its now part of the current mains and service road. The proverbial end of the line.

Thats it for tonight. I want to work on a few video's I took and get them posted. Come back tomorrow!

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Very interesting.  

I wonder what other desert rail beds would yield similar results?  

Here in Western Oregon railroad grades would get completely covered in blackberries within a year or wto.  

I looked at aerial photos of the DRGW line from Cisco, UT to Mack CO, and found two possible brdige abutments.  So there would probably also be the old trestle footings and trackside detritus you report.  A lot of the western end of the right-of-way doesn't have any sign of use since the railroad was abandoned, not even ORV tracks.  The eastern portion is maintained as a gravel road, so not so much to see there.  

This one, just a short walk off I-70
https://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=38.97009283951183&lon=-109.37304854393005&q=cicso%20ut&t=h&bb=38.97111882%2C-109.37464848%2C38.96906893%2C-109.37144861&addr=cicso%20ut

& this one, just off Cisco Springs Rd.  
https://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=39.053584716953836&lon=-109.31012392044067&q=cicso%20ut&t=h&bb=39.05563008%2C-109.3133238%2C39.05153929%2C-109.30692405&addr=cicso%20ut

FWIW, 
Ted in OR

Interesting indeed....!!

gobbl3gook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very interesting.  
>
> I wonder what other desert rail beds would yield
> similar results?  
>
> Here in Western Oregon railroad grades would get
> completely covered in blackberries within a year
> or wto.  
>
> I looked at aerial photos of the DRGW line from
> Cisco, UT to Mack CO, and found two possible
> brdige abutments.  So there would probably also
> be the old trestle footings and trackside detritus
> you report.  A lot of the western end of the
> right-of-way doesn't have any sign of use since
> the railroad was abandoned, not even ORV tracks.
>  The eastern portion is maintained as a gravel
> road, so not so much to see there.  
>
> This one, just a short walk off I-70
> https://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=38.9700928395118
> 3&lon=-109.37304854393005&q=cicso%20ut&t=h&bb=38.9
> 7111882%2C-109.37464848%2C38.96906893%2C-109.37144
> 861&addr=cicso%20ut
>
> & this one, just off Cisco Springs Rd.  
> https://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=39.0535847169538
> 36&lon=-109.31012392044067&q=cicso%20ut&t=h&bb=39.
> 05563008%2C-109.3133238%2C39.05153929%2C-109.30692
> 405&addr=cicso%20ut
>
> FWIW, 
> Ted in OR

You can follow the old SP "South Line" from Douglas AZ to near Lordsburg NM.

RickL
 

Your whole series has been excellent and makes me want to explore this bit of Santa Fe history.

For the sake of identification, I expect the pier in photo 14 is a signal foundation and that the poles in photo 15 are bridge pilings.

syscom3 Wrote:

> Picture 2: The carved stone making up the
> abutments. This was built to last. The
> craftsmanship has survived nearly 135 years of the
> elements.

Not to quibble about a few years, but I don't think this bridge is 135 years old. First, the line was built in 1882, and second, I doubt the SP would have initially installed a flag stone abutment. My guess is that the original bridge was a simple wood trestle.

PS...Wonderful expose.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/15 00:53 by BCHellman.

RickL Wrote:
>
> You can follow the old SP "South Line" from
> Douglas AZ to near Lordsburg NM.
>
> RickL
>  

Douglas, AZ to El Paso, TX (the abandon portion to Anapra, NM).