Nostalgia & History > Railroad Guard Rails

In a reply to my posting on Railroad Light Mr. lwilton pointed out that the rails in Picture 1 appear to be guard rails rather than broad and narrow gauge tracks as stated in the Denver Public Library text to the photo.

I did a Keyword search on the Denver Public Library Digital Collections Quick Photo Search, http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm , for Railroad Guard Rails and got only the picture shown below.

Picture 1, “Call Number: MCC-1037. Title: Egeria Cañon, Moffat Road. Title-Alternative: Other title: Egeria Canyon, Moffat Road, L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935, album IV, 186. Creator(s): McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957. Summary: View of Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway (later called Denver & Salt Lake Railroad) standard gauge track rounding bend with guard rails on wooden trestle on Moffat Road in Egeria Canyon, Colorado. Telegraph poles parallel track, light snow. Date: between 1907 and 1925. Title and signature hand-lettered on glass plate. Vintage photographic print. Physical Description: 1 photonegative: glass; 21 x 26 cm. (8 x 10 in.); 1 photoprint; 19 x 24 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.). Is Part Of L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935. L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935, album IV.”

---

Picture 2 is MCC-1037 enlarged 50%. The two center rails are guard rails rather than broad and narrow gauge tracks because at the end of the trestle the two inner rails come together.

---

I did a Keyword search for Railroad Guard and got 45 photos. One of these photos is below.

Picture 3, “Call Number: X-60275. Title: Camp Goldfield, N.G.C. Cripple Creek Dist. Creator(s): Wisda, photographer. Summary: Camp Goldfield, near Stratton's Independence Mine, Cripple Creek, Teller County, Colorado, headquarters of the Colorado National Guard during the Western Federation of Miners labor strike. Shows: tents, mining structures, railroad cars and trestle, smokestacks, and the Portland and Ajax mines. Date: 1903 September 6. Title and ‘Ajax’ and ‘Portland’ hand-written on front of print. Physical Description: 1 copy negative; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.); 1 photoprint; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.). Source: Cripple Creek Campaign (Report, Colorado National Guard).”

---

Picture 4 is X-60275 enlarged 80%.

---

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day has a picture of Paris by Night.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120331.html

I did a Keyword search on the Denver Public Library for Railroad Paris. I got 28 pictures. Most of the pictures were by Otto Perry on his trip to France. But there was a picture of the Hotel de Paris in Georgetown.

In my Dad’s Diary I remember he makes a reference to a Hotel de Parie. Perhaps my Dad got the idea from the Hotel de Paris in Georgetown. My Dad was never in Georgetown that I know of. Perhaps he had heard of the hotel. When I typed up my Dad’s Diary on the computer I typed up the entire document as one file. Then I divided it into chapters and then deleted the file with the entire diary. This was a mistake because when I want to do a Find search now I have to do it chapter by chapter. If I would have kept the file with the entire document I would have had to do only one Find search.

Picture 5, “Call Number: X-1400. Title: Hotel de Paris, Georgetown, Colorado. Summary: West side of the Hotel de Paris, located on Sixth (6th, Alpine) Street, Georgetown, Colorado. The hotel was built by the Frenchman Louis Dupuy, the proprietor, from three separate buildings, and was completed in 1890. The west side of the building is stuccoed to look like masonry. Iron filigree runs along the roof level, and a sculpture of Justice, with her arm raised, and three metal chimneys are visible. There is a balcony with a wire balustrade at the second floor level, with a door with a triangular pediment that opens onto it from the building. The balcony serves as the roof of a porch at the ground level, with rod and sphere decoration between the thin columns. A screen door and a metal bench are on the porch. A large banner reading ‘Hotel de Paris’ with crossed American and French flags, is painted onto the wall; the first floor door cuts into the mural, and the balcony cuts across the painted flags. Date: between 1940 and 1960? Penciled on back of photoprint: ‘86n/ 5/7c strip 32 1644 28796 5 319 1879-15-15 110. Stamped on back of photoprint: this photograph is not known to be copyrighted or restricted in any other way. However, it is not accompanied by any release (in the commercial sense) or guarantee, and the Library of Congress limits its responsibility to its own right to furnish photoduplicates as a reference service in lieu of the original. The Library can assume no responsibility for the subsequent use of pictures so obtained.’ Title supplied by cataloger. Two slips of paper with typewriting are attached to the back of the photoprint with tape; one is a carbon copy of the other. They read: ‘Louis Dupuy, eccentric Frenchman whose real name was Adolphus Francis Gerard, built the Hotel de Paris at Georgetown, Colorado, before the coming of the railroad. The frontier hostelry became one of the most famous in the Rocky Mountain region - Photo from Library of Congress. (Note: Illustrates Book Four, chapter four, The Gold Diggers.)’ Penciled on one slip: ‘9 picas.’ Physical Description: 1 copy photonegative; 10 x 13 cm. (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint; 19 x 25 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.).

---

In the results of the Keyword search for Railroad Paris there was also a picture of Georgetown.

Picture 6, “Call Number: X-1004. Title: Georgetown, Colo. Summary: A view of Georgetown, Colorado, north toward the lake. Third (3rd) Street runs horizontally in the foreground. Sixth (6th) Street landmarks include: the Masonic Lodge, the Fish Block, the Cushman Block, and the back of the Hotel de Paris. Also visible are the old school, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, mine entrances, and railroad tracks. Date: between 1891 and 1899. Indication of photographer on front of photoprint (in original negative) illegible. Title printed on front of photoprint on original negative. Physical Description: 1 copy photonegative; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.); 1 photoprint; 12 x 17 cm. (4 3/4 x 6 3/4 in.).”

---

Picture 7 is X-1004 enlarged 60%. If I had the talent and patience to be a railroad modeler I would model the railroad in Georgetown in the 1890’s. I have a picture showing the railroad going in front of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. The church is in the upper middle left in this picture. The railroad is in the lower right in this picture. It is not obvious in this picture how the railroad gets from the lower right to in front of the church.

---

Picture 8, “Call Number: CHS.X9551. Title: Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf railroad train, Georgetown, Colo. Summary: Boys stand near the tracks as a Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf railroad train travels past Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic church in Georgetown (Clear Creek County), Colorado. The consist includes a baggage car, passenger cars and an observation car, letters on the steam locomotive read: "116." Shows log, and brick buildings. A house is in the distance. Date: between 1890 and 1898? CHS accession number: 2003.2.210; History Colorado.; Penciled on negative envelope: C-Georgetown. Denver, Leadville & Gunnison RR [sic]. Ronzio Coll. 1D. 2003.2.210. Title supplied. Physical Description: 1 negative: glass; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.). Is Part Of History Colorado, Ronzio Collection.”

---

Narrow gauge = short run on a bridge. No fun.

Amazing how little has changed in Georgetown over the years. Of course, I haven't been there since 1987 but I recognized the photo as soon as I saw it.