After 8 years, Alpine Tunnel Palisade Wall nearly complete!

[Kurt Maechner]

Below is a video detailing the work to repair the 2016 avalanche damage to the South Park right-of-way and rock wall by the Palisades near the west portal of Alpine Tunnel. For those who are fans of the tunnel and this stretch of grade, it is a must-see.

For those interested in some reflections and summary of the content in the video, check out my post here.
You can also see a video from a year ago with more footage of rock scaling above the grade in this post.
Thanks to Justin Kerns for letting me know about this video.
Enjoy,
Kurt

[Paul R.]

Looked at those earlier in the week . Excellent progress, looks better than new.

[Kurt Maechner]

 In an exciting announcement CPR News published the article "After years of repairs and careful restoration, historic Alpine Tunnel Road reopens near Pitkin." The article lauds the multi-year work done to repair the rock wall damaged in 2016 by an avalanche. The damage closed the road for vehicles to the Alpine Tunnel station complex and the west portal for roughly eight years.  During that time, vehicles needed to be parked just a little upgrade of Sherrod Loop. Finally, as the article states, "After years of repairs, a historic road deep in the Rocky Mountains has finally reopened — just in time for fall."

But the news is a bit tempered. If you read to the end, you come across this sentence: "There still is one hiccup when visiting the historic district: a large boulder that’s a little less than a mile from the historic tunnel. Visitors can park at the intersection of the Alpine Tunnel Road and Williams Road, and walk the rest of the way."

What???

There is no other info on the boulder and the circumstance surrounding it. But, essentially, you can at least drive over the old South Park grade eastbound past the former parking spot above Sherrod and, presumably, past the rock wall, but not much farther.

...sigh

[Chris Walker]

There is something on the Aerial view that resembles a large rock at 38.63403902823644, -106.40450360056141 which coincides with about a Mile.

 Harbor Freight have sledgehammers on Sale, now on...

[Norm Acker]

It's not a bad walk, even at that altitude. And I dare say that anything that keeps (most) folks from being able to drive right up to the townsite isn't necessarily a bad thing for the preservation of the existing structures. After seeing side-by-side UTV people two years ago driving recklessly in the Williams Pass road area cutting switchbacks and bombing through brush and over anything, trail or not - just sayin'...
(puts on flame resistant suit)

[Kurt Maechner]

Hi Chris,
How can I search that same spot with those coordinates? Is that from Google Earth or another application?
Thanks for your help. I've always wondered how to do that.
Kurt

[Chris Walker]

Kurt Maechner wrote

Hi Chris,
How can I search that same spot with those coordinates? Is that from Google Earth or another application?
Thanks for your help. I've always wondered how to do that.
Kurt

Here's where we want to go....



This is how we get there....

highlight the co-ord's in the offending text



paste co-ord's into new window



click on "Maps"



 There will be a Test on Monday.

[Todd Hackett]

It can be even easier than that, at least if you're using Chrome on a PC. Highlight the coordinates, right-click and pick "Search Google for..." then click on the map that comes up.

[Chris Walker]

Todd Hackett wrote

It can be even easier than that, at least if you're using Chrome on a PC. Highlight the coordinates, right-click and pick "Search Google for..." then click on the map that comes up.

Todd,
yes, it used to be "that simple" but then some google simpleton had to go and change things, for proving to "its" boss, that "it" is doing something worthwhile while remaining on the payroll..... so now one has to "click" yet again to open in GoogleMaps, even though the page is already showing you a map, for the searched location.....


And just to prove how stupid that bloated site has become, because the road is closed, " if " you use the Get Directions feature, this is the foolishness that one gets...no wonder Truckers drive off cliffs following the Navman.



I was checking where the large Rock was, in relation to my nearest photo taken last time up there.

[Kurt Maechner]

Thank you all for the explanation! I look forward to trying it out.
Kurt

[Chris Walker]

I forgot to preface the instruction.... that I could do it directly, as Todd suggests, but habitually open everything now by right-clicking "copy without site-tracking". Then open in a new private window so Google doesn't leave trackers and cookies on my main pages, and by doing that, I don't get targeted adverts and recommendations for garbage in Youtube, for what I searched for.  
If the preceding doesn't bother you, then go for it.  

ps Kurt,  it's been 51 yrs since I left Skool.... (not counting Enginedriver classes).

[Kurt Maechner]

I finally got around to trying all this out and those directions worked perfectly. Thanks! I can't quite make out a rock there, but if that's the spot it's at least a lot closer than I thought to the west portal station complex.

Below is a photo showing what I think was around the spot that rockfall stopped the 1923 scrapper from pulling the mile of track from here to through the tunnel. I wonder if it's about the same spot of the boulder of today.

[Chris Walker]

Kurt Maechner wrote

Thanks! I can't quite make out a rock there,

try this Kurt, imagery dated Oct2015 so there is plausability that is a large rock on the grade visible between the wheel tracks.

Kurt Maechner wrote

Below is a photo showing what I think was around the spot that rockfall stopped the 1923 scrapper from pulling the mile of track from here to through the tunnel. I wonder if it's about the same spot of the boulder of today.

It indeed appears to be in the same area, much as my very similar Sanborn Postcard view of the boulder field.

As to the scrapper and the rocks....in 1923 leaving rails behind....scrap price per long ton was $23.50 in March, dropping to $16.31 in September and down to $14.00 in November. Price rose to $17.28 in Febuary '24, fell to $13.25 by May '24.  

30Lb rail = 47 long tons to the mile;  35Lb. 55 long tons to the mile; 40Lb. 62 long tons to the mile.

When did the Scrapper get paid for all of his efforts and his expenditure; most likely when the price had dropped at the end of the year.  He probably took the job on high price and watched his profits decreasing by the month.  He wasn't just pulling spikes and cutting joints here but having to haul out rails for miles, and moving just how much rock to obtain the rest probably tipped the mission towards quitting.