Re: Phase "Zero" / St Charles Coal Cars

Posted by Keith Hayes on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Phase-I-1902-C-S-Coals-tp5260p5809.html

She who must be obeyed insisted we go on a hike today. Needing to comply, I suggested a destination a bit beyond Black Hawk. On the return trip, I suggested driving through Central City, seeking to visit the wood coal on display there to check out the brake rigging.

My question is, where is the coal?

71 and the combine continue to be stuffed and mounted a ways up the hill on the south side. 71 could use a new coat of paint. About this point, I realized that I had last seen the coal next to the Coeur d' Alene mine on the hill above Central. There was an event today in Central, and parking was non-existent. I was not sure the family would tolerate me following my nose to find the coal, so I aborted the mission.

Driving through Black Hawk and Central makes me sad. Growing up, they were one step away from being ghost towns, but were funky, and pretty much in tact. Gaming has pretty much ruined Black Hawk: the depot grounds and context are all but gone. The historic structures seem to have been mostly moved to a building zoo, ironically up the hill in Central. Central has survived better, but not much. The depot grounds have been capped with a new pile to contain whatever nasty lay below. If part of the mission of gaming was to preserve, it has failed miserably.

Also, SWMBO drove, so I got to admire the rock in Clear Creek Canyon. I was surprised by both the variety of rock, and the variety of color. There is quite a bit of basalt(?) with dikes running every which way, much like in Black Canon.