Western Railroad Discussion > Causeway Mirage at Spiral Jetty

Today was a beautiful spring day in northern Utah so I decided to take my oldest daughter on her first trip to see the Robert Smithson earthwork Spiral Jetty near Rozel Point on the Great Salt Lake. The Spiral Jetty is on the northeastern shore and is about 15 miles due north of the former Southern Pacific causeway across the lake that is part of the Lucin Cutoff. We climbed the hill along the shore to get a better view of the Jetty and as we began to descend I noticed a thick line along the horizon of the lake slowly moving east that could be nothing else but a train. I pulled out my cheap 70-300mm zoom and took a few shots. I continued to watch the train as we descended and about half way down the curvature of the earth was such that the train dropped below the horizon and disappeared from view. On previous visits I had wondered if a train would be visible from the Jetty and now I know that the distance is too far to view trains on the causeway from the shoreline. It was a great day to be out. All photos April 22, 2017.

1 & 2) View of the eastbound train over 15 miles to the south as seen from the hilltop. The snow capped Stansbury Mountains are in the background.

3) Spiral Jetty at Rozel Point, Utah. The pink water is actually a side effect of the causeway as the northern arm has a higher concentration of salt and minerals due to lower inflow and the color results from red algae in the water.

Thanks for looking,

Spencer Evans
SLC, UT



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/17 22:37 by Searchlight.

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Stunning photos!! Beautiful and mysterious at the same time. I love the desert west. That "cheap" 70-300mm lens and you did a nice job capturing that train 15 miles away!

SantaFeRuss

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/17 00:14 by SantaFeRuss.

Wow!! Simply incredible photos!! That "cheap" lens did a
GREAT job in youir hands! 15 miles away -- and an only 300-mm
lens could still capture 3 really, really GOOD images? Wow!!

I absolutely LOVE the first two photos, and the second is really
fantastic! I have never seen anything like it. Wow.....just wow.
I absolutely LOVE the composition in the first twp photos -- both
beautiful and otherworldly at the same time, and very artistic.
They almost look like paintings -- of another world.....

IOTD -- definitely.

Thank you very, very much for posting these great photos here
for all of us to enjoy and marvel at.

Re: the Spiral Jetty --
Here is what I learned when O googled the name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_Jetty



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/17 02:38 by Margaret_SP_fan.

Very nice train photos, plus thanks for including the Spiral Jetty - I had never heard of it before.

A recent Antiques Roadshow featured drawings that were used by the engineer who worked with the Spiral Jetty artist. That was the first time I have heard of it.

Thank you for the comments. Spiral Jetty is worth the visit if you have the time and will to go a little off the beaten path. It's only 15 miles beyond the NPS Golden Spike National Historic Site and the gravel road is in great condition. The lake level is getting closer to the 4195' elevation of the Jetty and will likely get there this year creating optimal viewing conditions.
Spencer Evans

Thanks for this. I visited Spiral Jetty ten years or so ago, and could hear the trains but not see them. I didn't think to climb the hill to get a view over the horizon. Your view of the jetty from on top of the hill does it justice.

Kit Courter
Menefee, CA
LunarLight Photography

Cool pics!!

What a fantastic set of photos! Very interesting information as well, and thanks for the great posting.