Western Railroad Discussion > That great view of Rainbow Canyon Tunnel 7

I thought it might be worthwile to share a couple of pictures taken from the hill across from Tunnels 7 and 8 near Caliente, Nevada, a couple of weeks ago. It is quite a scramble getting my old frame and a camera bag up on top of the rocks, but the view angle combined with great summer morning light makes the effort very worthwhile.

The first photo is of a vehicle train with an interesting mixed power consist. Here it is . . .

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About an hour or so later, after a brief work window while a crew down the canyon got another pole in the ground for the slide fence in the narrows above Elgin, here comes an empty coal train out of Tunnel 7. This was the end of the good light for the day, though, since a wild fire started by lightening the evening before is starting to fill the sky with smoke. Time to slide back down the hill to the car and head for home.

Be safe out there -

- Kit

http://members.trainorders.com/cimascrambler/new_work_gallery/index.htm

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Looks good to me.....thanks for making me realize how much I really want to get out there one of these days....its been in the back of my head for a few years now! Are there a lot of little mountains out there to climb to get better shots?? Raylewis

Hi Ray -

That spot across from Tunnels 7 and 8 is about the bes spot in the canyon for morning light, at least that I have found so far. Both times I've been in the canyon, I inspected the canyon walls in the Narrows above Elgin for routes up to good vantage points that put your view over the tops of the trees toward the rails on the far wall of the canyon. There are a couple places there that may be useful, though I haven't had the time to try them yet. I once saw a great Dick Dorn shot taken from a rock above the tracks in the Narrows, and I'd love to find that rock! You probably have to walk in from Elgin to access that area at the mouth of the canyon. I've also been looking for a high vantage point in the most colorful part of the canyon, but haven't found a route up the canyon walls yet.

A lot of the great black and white canyon wall shots published back in the 1970s aren't possible any more since the trees have grown up so much. The floods from last winter have opened up a few posibilities, though. There is an interesting possibility looking along the tracks from the southern bridge abutment of the bridge just above Boyd, looking along the bridge and up into the nearby tunnel. I noticed the trees that blocked the view last year are now somewhat reduced after this past winter's flood, but there was a lot of construction equipment around the area when I was there last month. That one may be worth trying after they finish rebuilding the road below Boyd and the construction equipment goes on to somewhere else.

If you haven't been there lately, the road down the canyon is still not fully repaired after last winter's flloods. The part between Caliente and Boyd has been repaired more-or-less with good gravel patches that are not yet oiled or paved. The road below Boyd is just a mess, single lane in many areas, and pretty rough. The railroad reshaped the river bed in the narrows by building a two-tier terrace alongside the tracks that pretty much shoves the stream right up against the road. It isn't particularly photogenic - lots of smooth gravel filling the canyon bottom - I'm looking forward to the brush growing up there in the coming years. The road below Elgin toward Kyle has a couple of sections that have been washed away, and the road has been re-routed onto the signal maintainer's road right beside the rails. I didn't get below Kyle. I suspect it will be a while until the roads in the area are completely repaired.

- Kit