Mills of Fall River.

[Chris Walker]

I'd lean more to defective or flue-expired boiler and the Pile-driver "needed now" scenario.  The winding Hoist Engine wouldn't use that much steam, they just didn't have that big enough cylinders so the Locomotive could easily supply the requirements.  There isn't a great amount of effort used to hoist the Monkey and gravity does the rest.  In the late 70's I was once on a worktrain with the 12Ton steamcrane doing the honours driving several piles, I think I slept through most of the "action" as we were only there to tow the Crane to and from the Bridgesite.  I do remember though that they spliced two piles together before hitting solid ground.

[rdmstr]

 Jeff, I would guess the boiler is a vertical boiler. Could the boiler have been removed for repairs, or simply
ran out of "flue time"? Perhaps removed, with the accompaning expense. And now is suppied with steam from
the locomotive. I cannot tell from the photo if there is any smoke coming from the stack. I think the dark area
behind the driver may be from a cloud, rather than smoke. Having been in the cab of the pile driver on the C&TS
there is not lot of room in the cab. Add a boiler, would be very crowded.

[Jeff Young]

That might also explain the picture at Fall River: after some time they realised getting steam from the motive engine worked fine and was easier, and removed the unused boiler entirely.

On 12 Jul 2015, at 08:53, rdmstr [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

 Jeff, I would guess the boiler is a vertical boiler. Could the boiler have been removed for repairs, or simply
ran out of "flue time"? Perhaps removed, with the accompaning expense. And now is suppied with steam from
the locomotive. I cannot tell from the photo if there is any smoke coming from the stack. I think the dark area
behind the driver may be from a cloud, rather than smoke. Having been in the cab of the pile driver on the C&TS
there is not lot of room in the cab. Add a boiler, would be very crowded.

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[rdmstr]

 I believe the Fall River pile driver photo, shows the driver with a boiler installed. Note the trail of
steam coming from the top of the vertical boiler, also one can see the top of the boiler above the
roof line. I don't see a steam line coming from the locomotive. keith

[Chris Walker]

Keith Hayes wrote

Well, Chris, that is pretty doggone cool to see how they made that wood conduit. I trust the two large 'U' shape forms are simply that--forms. Eventually you slip a bunch of hoops with ties over the works and tighten up the bolts to hold the form in place? No doubt that is hard work, digging or just setting the conduit. Hard work!

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/80210/rv/singleitem/rec/412

Hard work for sure!
This view fits best alongside the C&S Mainline just West of the Trail Creek outlet opposite the future Hoosac Mill site, that is the only part where both conduit, curve and cliff come together on the Flume to the Stanley Con. Powerhouse.  Is that one of Roper's cousins ?

[Chris Walker]

If ever there was a Prototype for the standard mine and 2-car siding scene on model railroads everywhere, then this is it.

Lachlan McLean Photos

That was used in The Mining Investor1913



Edit: for more Hoosac Mill construction dates and information see clippings added(page 1).
 http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Mills-of-Fall-River-tp2576p2673.html

[Chris Walker]

Here you go Jeff, the Original



From the Idaho Springs Historical Society Collection.

[Chris Walker]

Before the CCRR
DPL Z-7091


This vintage Postcard view had me stumped for location for a few hours.  
I was leaning towards the area of the Clear Creek between Floyd Hill and Idaho Springs but that area has been really trashed by the I-70 Highway construction; and so that be the case for this view looking up Clear Creek upstream from Fall River House.



The gap in mountains(centre left) is Turkey Creek, those prominant rocks projecting out of the canyon walls here(centre-left bank) held the key to my next installment of the Clear Creek Chronicles.



Obvious rightside Rock strata comparision with that of today, reveals the height of fill for the I-70.

[Chris Walker]

One of the earliest Mills at the location of Fall River, the Phoenix Company, located opposite Hoosac Gulch.

DPL X-19188


DPL Map CG4314 .C2.H2 1866a .L6  Map of Clear Creek County, Colorado 1866.
Pay no attention to the Railroad Track alignment.


Yes, I've been looking at rocks again....
DPL X-19188



DPL X-60747

[Chris Walker]

The old Stone Mill that saw the Colorado Central laid down.





USGS Central City 1910 Topo.


DPL Map CG4314 .C2.H2 1866a .L6  Map of Clear Creek County, Colorado 1866.
Reveals the location by Company name.














Enlargement of a Lachlan McLean photo looking up Clear Creek post-1895 opposite the Stanley Mills switch.  


And then it was gone, destroyed for being in the way of the new US6&40.
R.H.Kindig photo.  from Pictorial Supt. to D.S.P.&P.


10th of June 1952

[Chris Walker]

Turkey Run: The search for the elusive Syracuse Mill.




All views presented are looking up Clear Creek above Fall River.

DPL X-19278

This view appears to date at the time of grading the Colorado Central above Fall River, revealing a large structure at this location.







I'm not certain if this is a mis-reference to the Clear Creek Company's Mill below Fall River? see: previous installment.




Colorado Map collection UCB.
corroborating location of the Wooden Building(Orehouse).

DPL X-8369

The second Mill structure, this maybe the Orehouse, the appearance is of wooden construction, not stone.  


Waiting for a Train.


They say One picture is worth a Thousand words....

The iconic (Alex Martin, according to Abbott; Chas. Weitfle, according to Mac Poor) photo of Eastbound Colorado Central #6 stopped below Turkey Run.  The Mill building is present in the haze from the stack(which dates this photo to pre1884 rebuilding of said #6 to a 2-6-0).
DPL Z-6928  see also: DPL 5368


This very same picture has been presented in the following books; the description and location varies and never actually correctly located by any of the authors.

Denver South Park & Pacific, (Mem.Ed.) pg62 "Colorado Central 6 headed downgrade beside Clear Creek, a short distance below Idaho Springs."

Pict. Sup to D. S. P. & P. (Abr. Ed) pg294 "Colorado Central 6 beside Clear Creek, near Idaho Springs, around 1880; it was renumbered C.C. 32 in 1885, and scrapped in 1889."

The Switzerland Trail of America, pg23 "Colorado Central No. 6, an 0-6-0, helped build the Greely, Salt Lake & Pacific and was its first locomotive. She is shown here about 1880 running along Clear Creek toward Idaho Springs."

Narrow Gauge to Central And Silver: Colorado Rail Annual Number Ten, pg56 "A Colorado Central mixed train on the Idaho extension above Fall River is pulled by Porter No. 6."

Rio Grande Secret Places: Volume One pg15 "A Colorado Central train pauses for a photographer while westbound over the narrow gauge mainline through Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden."

Mineral Belt V-III pg325 "A COLORADO CENTRAL mixed train had stopped below the town of Masonville, east of Idaho Springs, for this photo in 1879. Locomotive Number 6 was an 0-6-0 wheel arrangement built by Porter Bell."
*My Note: the location of Masonville was East of Idaho Springs at Sawmill Gulch.

Colorado Central Rail Road pg337 "A mixed train of five cars posed for Alex Martin below Empire near Milepost 16.4. Colorado Central Boxcar No.62 plus two others, a baggage car and a coach, travelled upgrade from Stevens. Empire will be the next station ahead. The tall hills down Clear Creek, east of Idaho Springs, form a barrier for the Colorado Central to penetrate in reaching lower Clear Creek Canyon. Saddleback Mountain rises 9,568 feet on the distant skyline.  Porter-built No. 6 no doubt working hard climbing the grade with this amount of tonnage in 1879."


In this later L.C. McClure view, the Mill has disappeared, yet two Houses, one in dilapidated condition remain.
DPL MCC-366


The very same scene "today".  39°45'16.5"N 105°33'35.6"W



This particular section of the Colorado Central appears to have been lost in the mists of time.  And after 7 years of digging, I figure I won't find anything more.  
However, Mills of Fall River ain't done yet, stay Thirsty.  

[Chris Walker]

Further research has lead to identifying this Mill at the outlet of Trail Cr. a little better.
From the initial post of this Thread....



To recap: Mal Ferrell in his South Park Line, referred to this Mill as the Hoosac, which was incorrect; the Hoosac was not built until 1912 and upstream, on the opposite side of Clear Creek.  The DPL still has Unidentified Mill on their copy X-61638, that was noted as being the Freeland Mill.  Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show it as the Plutus Concentrator.  A Reporter called it the Osbiston Mill.


















Lachlan McLean Photo

Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement showing the temporary track used to remove debris. This photo could be showing removal of the old Plutus Flume, the Mill or the construction of the Salisbury Mill/Stanley Powerhouse Pipeline, or quite possibly, one of the numerous Trail Creek flood debris events.
This method illustrated here was discussed awhile ago: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Pictorial-Supplement-to-Train-Time-in-Morrison-tp4094p4164.html

Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement showing the Orehouses that remained after the Concentrator was torn down.


Stay Thirsty!

[Chris Walker]

Again, another Mill that was known by several names and operated under several entities over the years.  Which made it just a little harder to be in the know here at Fall River.

The Pittsburg Consolidated M. M. & Tunnel Co. Brighton Mill and Dover Mine Shafthouse.
Lachlan McLean Photo.  




Lachlan McLean Photo


Lachlan McLean Photo




*This could expain the variance in the Siding list at Fall River(in Title post).


Lachlan McLean Photo Enlargement.  This building was housed the Hoist for the Shaft as well as opened into the Adit(tunnel).  Check out the Door in the Logcribbing and inset Chutes, used before the Brighton Mill was built.







Lachlan McLean Photo Enlargement.  This building was housed the Hoist for the Shaft as well as opened into the Adit(tunnel).





This episode is still incomplete, there could be more unearthed, but for now,
Stay Thirsty.

[Chris Walker]

We all know of the rock outcropping called Mother Grundy; featured in many Images of the Clear Creek, and presented in just about every book on the Colorado Central.  

But what of her Old Man, far away up at Fall River?  

He saw the Prospectors arrive on Spanish Bar, the building of the Georgetown Wagonroad, then the Colorado Central tracklayers, the Miners burrowing into every crevice, the pounding of Stampmills, and much later, overseeing the new-fangled Autos, an improved US 6&40 and the final destruction for the Interstate 70.
 
Denver Public Library Special Collections. Z-3409


Having been brought up on Andy Capp, I was taken by the likeness in this Harry Lake photo.
It took me several visits to Fall River to actually find him, since the Interstate sure obliterated the original feel of the place and the Sun helped hide him from me.

Denver Public Library Special Collections. L-164




Also on one of my Clear Creek Pilgrimages right at the I-70-Fall R. exit, I videotaped a vignette of the Past; the unobtrusive trace of a hand-fitted stone foundation, one unobserved by the traffic wizzing by at breakneck speed. This really caught my fancy as to what had once been there, and I got to wondering, was this a tangible link to Lachlan McLean's "Mill At Fall River" photo, found on pg71, in Duane Smith/Wieler's Secure The Shadow Colorado School Mines book?

GoogleMaps Streetviews



And so began my journey to discover the untold story of this little corner of Clear Creek, one story up until now that hasn't seen the light of day.




.... Stay Thirsty.  

[Chris Walker]

Denver Public Library Special Collections Z-7672


In various Newspaper reports of this time period of the Colorado Central building West of Idaho Springs, there were mentions of the grading taking portions of the Central and Georgetown Toll Road.  No specific mention of this Trail Cr. to Fall River section though; however it is apparent from the image above that the road was encroached upon, necessitating a new section built on the North bank and the Bridge moved downstream.  Note mention of a Depot.




I presume the following refers to the footbridge seen in the background of the Placer mining structures; see Title picture, Z-3409 previous installment.



And of course those Log Cribbed-abutments were left for some years, to be repurposed as a Dam for the Stanley Powerhouse/Salisbury Mill pipeline(flume).  Note: this is a slightly different viewpoint from the very similar Cyanotype DPL Z-14199 shown in the first post.


Lachlan McLean Photo



This 1892 mention is of the replacement Span, following that Cloudburst of August 1891.



And can be seen in this Lachlan McLean photo enlargement...


Jeff Ramsey posted his colourised Postcard view see: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Mills-of-Fall-River-tp2576p2721.html
in which a single-span crossing of Clear Creek(mouth of Trail Cr.) is visible. Oddly, the Plutus Concentrator image with the string of D.S.P.&P. Boxcars on the side-track, appears to show one-half of a twin-span.  That photo has the Flume intact so there appears to be a piece missing in the chronological jig-saw, unless the Postcard view is post-removal of the Plutus and the Lachlan McLeanenlargement shows both the replacement and the damaged spans together.  
 
 
From the Idaho Springs Historical Society Collection.

And in turn that Bridge was replaced with an Iron Truss structure in 1905.


 from The Mining Investor Dec 1910
The Iron Truss itself was bypassed around 1938 with a new concrete bridge US6&40 realignment, seen here in this 1946 Aerial view of Trail Creek-Fall River.



Stay Thirsty (or drink from the Clear Creek)   

[Chris Walker]

At last I present the following story: anyone familiar with the Mining saga of the American West can relate to the oft-repeated failings and dishonesty associated with unscrupulous characters over the years.  This story has that, all the hallmarks of greed, gullible investors, swindlers and miscreants, misguided, inept and no expense spared company officials, and a few rogues.

This Mill has been referred to in various publications and newspapers as the Kohinoor-Donaldson, the Donaldson, the Donnelson, the Champion, the Specie-Payment, and the Fall River Mill.  There were times that I'd disappear down a rabbit-hole chasing some Reporters mention, only to find a dead end.

Chapter One: Buy a Mine, Build a Mill.








Chapter Two: Litigation.










A little sidebar on the Hallidie Patent Aerial Ropeway and the improved Huson Automatic version. These were single Rope, not the better, more common Double-Rope trams we usually associate.









 Denver Public LibrarySpecial Collections: Jessie Randall Papers: Kohinoor-Donaldson Mill Drawings.


Chapter Three: Concentrating.



Lachlan McLean Photo

from Duane Smith/Wieler Secure The Shadow Colorado School Mines. pg71
Takeaways from that fine image: A complete South Ropeway with Buckets swinging to the Donaldson Mine, and the original discharge of the waterpower flume back into Clear Creek avoiding the Plutus Concentrator intake.  The middle section of the Mill shows an extension on the Eastside evidenced by the freshly Shingled roof.



Lachlan McLean Photo


Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement: detailing the discharge compromise across Clear Creek and into the Plutus Concentrator intake canal.





Chapter Four: Gone to the Dogs.








Lachlan McLean Photo


Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement: detailing the condition of Mill buildings and Aerial tramways in 1894 during construction of Stanley Consolidated Pipeline/Flume.





Lachlan McLean Photo

Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement: detailing the condition of the Mill and Tramways. Circa 1895-96 after Dam completion of Stanley Consolidated Pipeline/Flume.




Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement: detailing the condition of the Mill and missing South Tramway tower. Circa 1900.




CSM Repository: Champion Mines Report 1903: excerpt.



Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement: detailing the Mill remains around 1905.


Lachlan McLean Photo enlargement: detailing the Flume remains around 1906.






And that there be the Story, the whole Story, and the Rest of the Story...I be quenched at last.