Re: + Platte Canyon Construction Question...

Posted by chtrout on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/New-Alpine-Tunnel-Book-Platte-Canyon-Construction-Question-tp14818p14826.html

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your very well thought out and nicely detailed response.

First I want to stress that I am not saying for certain the photo is "misidentified," I am just wanting to raise that outside possibility as a potential explanation.

As background, I have both hiked and ridden the entire length of Platte Canyon many times on my bicycle while growing up in nearby Littleton, Colorado, and I feel very familiar with its entire length.  Additionally, I have a very large collection of original stereoviews of Platte Canyon for the 1870s and 1880s, and I just can't seem to match this exact stretch of track in the subject photo with any images in my collection.

I have an even larger collection of original stereoviews for the Royal Gorge, and again, I cannot quite match this exact stretch of track to any that I am familiar with.  

Regardless, I did find your comments on the nature of the equipment very interesting.

I will continue to search for images of the original stereoview, which hopefully will also include images of the photographer's imprint or any text on the reverse.  Also, a full image of the original stereoview would include both the right and left images, and in some cases, one of the images is numbered and titled, which might be useful when looking at a sequence of numbered stereo views.  I am disappointed that the truly remarkable images in the "Ted Kierscey collection" often do not include the name of the photographer, or images of any imprints on the back of the stereoview.  

Going back to the original, it is labeled as being "Near Dome Rock" in 1881, and that simply cannot be correct since the valley at Dome Rock has opened up into more of a broad U-shaped valley, rather than the steep-sided canyon depicted in the scene.  As for as the date being reported as 1881, this would make sense, considering how "settled-in" the track in the grade appears to be.

Research continues...