Absolutely incredible. The Holy Grail of Colorado Narrow Gauge explorations. Thank you for posting this. I've heard of this video but haven't been able to find a copy.
As an old geologist and hard rock miner I can say that the rock there is really "bad ground." I'm not at all surprised tht they had to timber almost the entire length. Nowadays, if you were to do something like this you would do explratory drilling and have an idea of what to expect and how you would deal with it. Also, as an old caver I was surprised to see that none of the "tunneleers" had headlamps or wore hard hats.
The rail size in the Alpine Tunnel is 45 lb/yd. There should still be a hook or hole for a hook that held a red lantern in the timber at the apex of the grade. The timbers were either 12 x 12 or 14 x 14 redwood. The group probably got within about 150 to 200 feet of the east portal.
Absolutely incredible. The Holy Grail of Colorado Narrow Gauge explorations.
Thank you for posting this. I've heard of this video but haven't been able to find a copy.
Thank you for this! I'd been looking for a copy of this video for years for just this purpose.
I have the VHS tape I don't have a player. So great full for this video. Thank you.
As an old geologist and hard rock miner I can say that the rock there is really "bad ground." I'm not at all surprised tht they had to timber almost the entire length. Nowadays, if you were to do something like this you would do explratory drilling and have an idea of what to expect and how you would deal with it.
Also, as an old caver I was surprised to see that none of the "tunneleers" had headlamps or wore hard hats.
People were tougher then
The rail size in the Alpine Tunnel is 45 lb/yd. There should still be a hook or hole for a hook that held a red lantern in the timber at the apex of the grade. The timbers were either 12 x 12 or 14 x 14 redwood. The group probably got within about 150 to 200 feet of the east portal.
Wow nice job