The other day I went fishing. I went to a lake that was on the old Denver and Salt Lake railroad bed over Rollins Pass. While driving on the road (which turned out to be a 4WD road), I was greatly impressed by the accomplishments of the D&SL. I could not believe that the railroad used Mallets on this road! Even given that the Forest Service probably widened the roadbed sometime in the past, There were still curves that were VERY sharp. And I am sure that the gradient was greater than the normal 2%. There were places where I am positive that the gradient was closer to 5-6%. I would have said 7%, but that would have required special boilers in the engines. Imagine 2-6-6-0s riding on that narrow, winding, steep, roadbed!! WOW! BTW I used the DRGW tag above because the D&SL was incorporated into the DRGW and there was not a D&SL tag.
We include the D&SL in our D&GRW FF as it was a family company. So this topic is perfect fit. So did you make it to that lake? Or did railfanning take over your trip?
Once you got past the Giant's Ladder, the grade doubled from 2% to 4% all the way to Corona, and all the way down to irvings (Winter Park). Which lake? Jenny Lake? Yankee Doodle Lake? How was the fishing? How did the vehicle do (what vehicle)? A 5-engine train with about 25-30 cars was all that could be handled on that grade. Beyond that, they be came too much to handle. Braking on a 4% grade was brutally difficult, speeds were restricted to under 10 MPH IIRC. Once you got above that, you generally could not recover control to your train.
Hi guys, I went to Yankee Doodle lake. Wanted to go to jenny lake but there was too much snow on the road. My wife and I caught our limit of Brookies. They took to the powerbait. When they started to slow up on the powerbait, we switched to worms. Those Brookies were snapping at the worms almost before the hook hit the water. We took my wife's van. It is NOT a 4wd! But it made it ok. Just had to go VERY slow!. I had never been to Yankee Doodle lake. I mapquested the route. Mapquest did not tell me that it was an 4wd road. I thought, that being an old railroad bed, it would be an easy drive. Boy, was I wrong!!! We now nicknamed her van "The Tank". It is very pretty up there. I want to go back at some point.
Last run I made up the hill, the drive darn near beat the snot outta me!! Took almost an hour, to make about a 7 1/2 mile drive. Wanted to make a run up today, to see if I could at least make Yankee Doodle Lake this time. Stopped short by maybe 3 miles last time. Not sure when I'm gonna try the run up again.
Nice postcards! My apologies everyone. I thought the railroad bed was from the Denver and Salt Lake. I did not know it was the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific. Still a heck of a drive though. On the middle postcard, at the lower left, where the roadbed curves behined the lake, is where we were fishing. In the middle postcard, near the center, where you can see the cut, That area was still covered with snow. We could not get beyond that. There was some people driving a Hummer. Even they decided not to try bucking the snow at the cut.
I made the run up again today! This time, I made it as far up as I could. To a trailhead, where you have to turn around. Since Needle's Eye tunnel is caving in. It's 2-3 miles from trail to tunnel. Only way up is to hike. And I'm in no physical condition to be walking that far on that bad a surface!! Have photos from that point, Jenny Lake and Yankee Doodle Lakes. Wasn't sure if I could get up to Jenny Lake, but managed, barely! That run, you almost have to have 4WD. 2WD car, you'd probably not make it. Tear the underside of a car to scrap! A few photos from the day, if anyone wants to see a few.
As long as I took it slow and easy, I didn't have any problems. I'm greatful thank my truck, though 2WD, has the clearance of a 4WD. Unless you have 4WD, or a vehicle with high clearance, I'd strongly suggest you do not attempt diving the hill. It may be possible, but I wouldn't want anyone to try, and end up stuck, or worse, doing unrepairable damage to their vehicle. I had a few places that had me slightly worried even. I'll check my photos, from the upper end adjust and post a few a bit later this afternoon, before I gotta crawl back in bed for work tonight.
Some photos from run up the hill. Made it to Yankee Doodle Lake! Jenny Lake. Needle's Eye Tunnel upper right. End of the line. Road closed from this point to the tunnel. It's a 2 mile hike maybe. I'm in no physical shape right now to make the hike.
The trail UP to Jenny Lake. 4WD preferred. Although, I made it up, barely, with 2WD. Rock cut on the uphill side of Yankee Doodle Lake. Rock cut on downhill side of Yankee Doodle Lake. Lake is behind me, to the left. A few more photos here: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=2453
Yikes. That road looks like a real tire killer. But the scenery is gorgeous. Very inspirational for some modeling.
The name Corona (summit on Rollins Pass) means "Crown of the Continent". I agree. It is gorgeous. As for tire killer, man, that looks like a brutal "road"!! Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful photos. I, for one, would love to see a photo tour of the accessible portions of the line from Mammoth (Tolland) all the way to Irvings (Winter Park). I never made past half way up the first rung of the 'Ladder'. It would be neat to see photos of the valley from the route.
Tire killer, perhaps. Person killer, yes!! That road beat the tar outta me! Especially the rough sections. Photos just don't do it justice!! I'm on vacation July 24-28. Gave me another trip idea! I may have to make the run up the West side of Rollins. Last time, I made it half way maybe. Snow depth was getting worse, the higher I went. Was not gonna chance getting stuck! Although, I do have photos from that trip as well. Not a trip to make in winter!! And I thought I was old enough to know better!!! hboy:
