rock creek railway
beautiful green serpentine rock, the official state rock of california, is abundant .
walk through bush lined corridors, past foaming rapids, and over historic railway formations .
the rock creek railroad is a realistic version of a fictional railway running from georgetown, d. c. , to rockville, maryland, along the bed of rock creek about 1900. apart from the two towns at each end of the line, the scenery is rural, forested, and rocky .
no matter what its origin, alum rock park lost a rare treasure when the rock was mined .
photograph of the calvert street bridge over rock creek, about 1912. robert truax collection. cchs 2008. 143. 08 .
trying to capitalize on its enormous investment in the park, the peninsular railway hyped the big rock and erected a sign indicating that it was the “alum rock meteor” and that it weighed an estimated 2, 000 tons .
waiting room and office, rock creek railway, chevy chase lake, designed by lindley johnson. photo from a 1914 report, capital traction company. from a slide donated by robert truax. cchs 2008. 144. 05 .
the alum rock railway line into the park switched from steam engines to electric during the great push for electrification and expansion of the bay area railroad system in 1901 .
though there is no “alum rock” in alum rock, there is a richness of rocks and minerals in its dramatic formations .
according to the report of the b. c. department of mines for 1928, placer miners working the sands of rock creek had looked for the source of the creeks gold since the 1860s. in 1884, outcropping from the granite - gneiss walls of the creeks gulch, the
this ride goes over historic railway formations – there may be sharp or rusty metal remnants along the track .
the community languished on the fringes of the industrial world for only six more years, however. in 1910 the kettle valley railway began building up the valley for which it is named, pushing its steel past rock creek on february 8th, 1911 .
agents for the land company bought more than 1, 700 acres of land along the route that they planned for connecticut avenue and the rock creek railway. construction of the new road, railway, and the bridges crossing rock creek at calvert street and the klingle valley was an immense and expensive infrastructure project. on september 18, 1892, the first streetcars traveled from 7 th street to the end of the line at chevy chase lake, just south of the b & o railroad spur that ran towards georgetown .
by the time the alum rock railway company had a viable route into the park in 1896, several men were bankrupt or, at the very least, mighty disillusioned by their unsuccessful efforts .
the massive rock probably had been in the park for millions of years, possibly part of a much larger rock mass which had eroded away .
cedar creek is beside the creek for which it is named eleven miles west of bastrop in west central bastrop county. the area was settled as early as 1832, when addison litton was granted a league of blackland prairie on both sides of the creek .
five bridges with spans ranging from 170 to 260 feet were built over penitencia creek .
from watson' s mill follow the old railway tracks through old cutover and farm paddocks to the site of mumm' s mill. the track then leads onto the old charming creek mine entrance and car park .
in february 1882, both port douglas and cairns formed railway leagues and engaged in a long and bitter fight for the right to the railway. not long after, geraldton, later named innisfail, entered the competition boasting the sound virtues of mourilyan harbour .
the first public showing of the rock creek railroad was at the club' s june 2005 meeting. this layout has been under construction for the last 5 years .
june and july of 1860 saw hundreds of hopefuls arrive at the rock creek bonanza. supplies, wrote d. c. thorne in a letter published by the victoria
much later the sea receded and the hills were thrust up; volcanic action produced igneous rock such as the rhyolite which makes up the eagle rock formation .
in 1890, francis g. newlands founded the chevy chase land company and began to acquire land northwest of the newly created rock creek park for a new exclusive suburban development. this planned residential community, to be built in what was still a rural farm landscape, was not easily accessible from downtown washington, dc. to address this, newlands and the land company purchased controlling shares in the rock creek railway that would eventually run along newly extended connecticut avenue, past the recently opened national zoo. both the streetcar line and rock creek park added to the value of the property that the chevy chase land company would acquire for its new suburban development .
by 1912 steam shovels were at work bringing yet another railroad into alum rock park .
today’s park rangers say that small pieces of the big rock are still found in penitencia creek near the “1909 bridge” on the road between the central picnic area and the park’s back entrance .
the track then leads to the river flats of charming creek and the historic site of watson’s mill .
the georgetown branch can claim an important role in the development of one of washington’s - and the nation’s - most important landmarks. for most of its life, the branch terminated at the west bank of rock creek in georgetown. however, the line was temporarily extended east over rock creek in 1914 to carry limestone and other building materials for the construction of the lincoln memorial .
there are three geographic areas that define the suburban development of the city. the suburbs in anacostia, southeast and northeast were created for lower income white and african american working classes. the northwest area east of rock creek park was largely settled by middle - income and government workers the northwest area west of rock creek park which was settled, in part, by upper - income whites .
the park’s main (alum rock ave .) entrance is temporarily closed to cars due to an el nino landslide, but drivers can enter the penitencia creek road entrance at the park’s northwest edge .
the rock creek gold camp whither dewdney built his trail in 1861 was not a compact community; rather it was strung out along the creek where a miner usually squatted on his own claim25 lineal feet of shore between the high and low water marks. when the rush played out and the boomers moved on, the creeks natural floods and the hydraulic mining endeavours that began in the late 1880s soon washed away all traces of the abandoned campsites. the present community was formerly known as york creek and is mostly on the right bank of the kettle, strung out along the highway which leaps the creek on a shoulderless, short, 1950 bridge in the centre of the settlement. it is the leftovers from the town created by the hydraulic mining companies and the kettle valley railway .
each train stopped at the site and the motorman would awe the riders with the rock’s extraterrestrial provenance. every park visitor walking into the park via penitencia creek road stopped to gander at it. a photograph of the rock shows a woman dwarfed by its great mass and two - story height .
rock creek railway' s
country terminus ,
at chevy chase lake, with the car barn and power plant on the right, and the b & o railroad car crossing in the background. from electrical world, vol. xxi, no. 2, 1 - 14 - 1893, p. 24. photograph from leroy o. king, jr .
today the site of that rail line is part of the creek trail, a narrow footpath enjoyed by hikers .
the purchaser soon discovered that the 2, 000 - ton rock actually weighed only 389 tons .
folks who had a horse and carriage at their disposal could set out for alum rock park via beauteous, state - of - the - art, tree - lined alum rock avenue by 1875 .
this report documents the results of a baseline inspection of the charming creek walkway to locate and describe visible historic fabric .
the railroad’s spokesmen said the railroad “has all the earmarks of a transcontinental railway” and promised pullman (sleeper) cars which would go right into the heart of the park .
the rock creek trestle was initially 1400 feet long, 67 feet high and reputed to be the largest of its type in the b & o system at that time. in 1904, much of the span was replaced by fill, reducing its length to 281 feet, and a single steel deck plate girder span inserted over rock creek. the trestle was rebuilt in 1928, and again in 1972 following extensive damage done by tropical storm agnes .
$ 36, 000 was spent that year damming the creek high up in the hills to the east of the park .
now the animal life of the park as well as human visitors have a guarantee of water in the creek year round .
this report describes the historic values of the charming creek walkway in the buller region of the south island' s west coast .
heavy flooding in the park would not have happened in 1911 if the suggestion of a dam above penitencia creek had been heeded .
today the park is suffering the effects of heavy rains which fell during the el nino winter storms of 1998. retaining walls along penitencia creek were washed out and a landslide developed across the park' s main alum rock avenue entrance cutting a gash all the way down to the bottom of the canyon at the creek' s edge. the city opened the long - closed penitencia creek entrance to traffic last fall and closed the damaged alum rock avenue entrance. many neighbors in the area are waging a campaign to have the necessary studies done to facilitate landslide repairs to restore the park' s integrity .
for a few months in 1864 and 1865, however, traffic along dewdneys languishing trail increased substantially due to the gold strikes in the east kootenays. many passers - by dipped hopeful pans into the sands of rock creek, but discouraged by the meagre showings, soon moved on. yet, for a while, anyway, gold enough could be dug from the creek that a frugal, industrious man could live free of the tyranny of railroad foremen and still send money home to china. in 1886, the laura hydraulic company of vancouver decided that mechanization was the key to rock creeks wealth and dragged its pumps to the creek to train high - pressure hoses on the gravel bars. four years of effort succeeded in finding only enough gold to go broke. the creek rewarded a similar assault mounted in 1900 by an outfit from greenwood with the same success .
, there is a photo taken of the last passenger train to visit the rock creek station. it was a snowy friday, january 17th, 1964, and, judging by the number of folks out to catch their last glimpse of a
the following (as per the chicago manual of style, 16th edition) is the preferred citation for articles: augustus j. veenendaal, jr. ,
chicago, rock island and pacific railway ,
the encyclopedia of oklahoma history and culture, urltoken (accessed july 09, 2018) .
but the line to chevy chase was not a total waste of time and effort for the b & o. in 1892, the rock creek railway had developed a suburban streetcar line from chevy chase circle out connecticut avenue to its intersection with the b & o line. the streetcar terminal was nearby and coal was needed to run the powerhouse that provided electricity to run the line. building materials were also in demand as houses and businesses sprung up along the trolley line. a separate single - track trolley line - called the kensington railway - also ran from this point to kensington along present - day kensington parkway .
before the train pulled into the terminal at the intersection of penitencia creek road and alum rock avenue (about where the rustic lands picnic area is today) kids had great sport while traveling through the olive groves on the bobbing, swaying cars .
on october 2nd, 1914, crews eastbound from penticton up 27 miles of 2. 2% gradethe longest, steepest unbroken railway grade in canadamet their westbound comrades to drive the sections last spike in the middle of the west fork canyon creek bridge. exactly two weeks later, the first revenue service train rolled into penticton .
creek played some small part in this revolution in transportation, having been designated, according to t. m. mcgrath in his aforementioned
this walk mostly follows an historic bush tramway through the lower ngakawau gorge and the charming creek valley to the abandoned charming creek coal mine, passing historic sawmilling and mining remains. the gorge nestles among steep bluffs while below, water foams past immense boulders in the riverbed .
this is the first in a series of articles tracing the history of alum rock park from prehistory to the present .
the creek’s channel was altered, hills were eroded, wagon bridges were gone, roads were impassable and the park’s water system was kaput .
built to rock creek. just that july he had contracted a young, welsh - trained engineer, edgar dewdney, to make a pack trail out of the old foot trail from fort hope across the hozameen mountains to the similkameen valley, a task that he and his partner, walter moberly, were still doing. because the trail to rock creek would be an extension of the similkameen job, it likely seemed only logical to douglas that he bestow it upon dewdney. how much competition there was for the work is therefore questionable, but in any event, in january of 1861 dewdney and moberly won the £300 / mile contract to extend their pack trail to rock creek. by the time dewdney and moberly drove their project into the creek in august of 1861, the boom was bust and most of the 23 buildings that cox had counted upon his arrival were abandoned, their inhabitants drawn to a new gold camp on mission creek in the okanagan. cox and haynes had set up an outpost on the similkameen by that time to tax the cattle herds that were being moved into the district, and haynes was usually there. on march 11th of 1862, cox was re - assigned to the cariboo district and haynes was left to close down the rock creek offices and centralize his operations in the okanagan .
a car barn for the trolleys and a power plant were located just to the east of the trolley “turn around” at the end of the line. next to these two large structures, a small reservoir that would become known as chevy chase lake had been created by damming coquelin run. on the west side of connecticut, a row of small two - family cottages provided housing for the rock creek railway motormen. civil engineer herbert claude had his office at the depot, located across from the car barn. a long - time employee of the chevy chase land company, he was superintendent of the railway, and later ran the chevy chase lake amusement park .
the longest of them, which includes the archway which still stands at the junction of alum rock avenue and penitencia creek road, carried the “big red cars” across the chasm to join up with the narrow serpentine rail bed running along the edge of the cliffs .
( bastrop county). red rock, twelve miles southwest of bastrop in southwestern bastrop county, is said to have derived its name from a red rock used in building the chimney of first settler james brewer' s house in the early 1850s .
. paige is on u. s. highway 290 forty - four miles east of austin in northeast bastrop county. the old san antonio road, now state highway 21, borders the north side. paige was established at the site of a railroad water tower on the newly built houston and texas central railway in 1872 and named for norman paige, a civil engineer, who had laid out the route of the railway .
to order a survey and to “set apart, for all time to come, as a public park” the lands in the vicinity of penitencia creek .
the development of the west side of rock creek park was driven by the formation of powerful real - estate syndicates which were in place by the 1880s. prestigious and moneyed families were living in the massachusetts avenue and dupont circle districts. the joel barlow kalorama estate just west of dupont circle was developed in the 1880s. development beyond rock creek gorge was possible only after the gorge was bridged in 1886 at klingle road and at calvert street in 1891. woodley park developed rapidly in the 1880s after the construction of the bridges as well as the streetcar lines
by april 1890, stoney creek bridge was almost complete and the project was paid a vice - regal visit by the governor of queensland, general sir henry wiley norman. to his excellency' s astonishment, john robb prepared a full banquet atop stoney creek bridge with tables, food and wine dizzily suspended may metres over the gorge. history records that there were no speeches that day due to the roar from the waterfalls. by may 13th 1891, rail was laid to the end of the second section at myola. on june 15th 1891, mr johnstone, one of three railway commissioners at that time opened the line for goods traffic only. just ten days later, the cairns - kuranda railway line was opened to passenger travel .
a distinct company unrelated to the b & o’s efforts - the georgetown barge, dock, elevator & railway co. - had already built approximately one mile of track in 1889 to shuttle cargoes along the georgetown waterfront on water street (present - day k street) from rock creek to the alexandria aqueduct bridge. b & o acquired this company in 1891 and took over its operation of line, but this section would have no outside rail connection until the georgetown branch was finally completed in 1910 .
at first, of course, that toe - dipping was done in the cooling trickle of penitencia creek - provided it hadn’t dried up for the season .
the canyon was also referred to as “the city reservation” and “penitencia reservation” before the alum rock name was minted by a local farmer .
as if alum rock park’s physical beauty weren’t enough, mother nature provided an extra special lure - twenty - one natural mineral springs .
the park’s most mystical and alluring attraction, the alum rock meteor, was a wonderful asset to the publicists of the early days .
alum rock park covers about 720 acres, but much of the land is taken up by steep wooded or chaparral - covered hillsides .
construction of the georgetown branch line started in 1892 and within the year the metropolitan southern had laid two miles of track from its junction with the metropolitan branch to chevy chase, maryland at present - day connecticut avenue. development of this section included the construction of a large wooden trestle over rock creek .
sea - shell bearing sandstone and limestone are plentiful giving evidence that alum rock park was a beach environment 15, 000, 000 years ago .
around 1904, the alum rock lodge was built near the park’s entrance; it’s the fascinating stone house on canon vista drive overlooking the park .
the area that would become alum rock park was part of the outermost holdings of the spanish pueblo of san jose de guadalupe as designated in 1777 .
the largest gasoline - fueled electric powerhouse on the entire west coast was constructed at the mouth of alum rock canyon close to the park’s lower entrance .
the rock would still be in the park today if its composition hadn’t been identified as manganese in 1918 during the early part of world war i .
over the years from its formal beginnings as a bona fide park in 1872 to the present, alum rock park has had several very different characters .
the catastrophic washout of its railroad during the floods of 1911 didn’t diminish alum rock park’s magnetic allure. the owner of the doomed narrow - gauge line was driven out of the railroad business by his loss, but the mighty broad - gauge peninsular railway, a holding of the southern pacific, was ready to fill the breach and tap what was seen as a potentially lucrative market of resort - goers .
there are many different ways of showing your support to boulder creek railroad. one of those ways is by checking out the merch that is available on my t - spring page
a different kind of fatality hit the park when the rains of march 1911 produced a humdinger of a flood on penitencia creek and all the waterways of the santa clara valley .
besides the hotel that the madge family had opened in 1898, there was not a lot at rock creek when hill spiked his vancouver, victoria & eastern through the region during the summer of 1905. what few residents there were, however, must have suffered some disappointment when, anticipating the arrival of a railroad since 1900, they realized that the vv & e; would build up myers creek, missing them completely and leaving them with but a shed for a station a couple of miles distant .
in 1892, coquelin run, the small tributary which flows to rock creek, was dammed to create a source of water for the electric generating plant that powered the new streetcars on connecticut avenue. this man - made lake was on the east side of connecticut, just south of chevy chase lake drive. its primary use long gone, the dam was removed and the lake was drained. today the steep terrain, dense vegetation, and a condominium development hide any traces of the former lake. yet at the turn of the 20th century, chevy chase lake was well known across the metropolitan region. it was the “end of the line” for the rock creek railway streetcars (later part of capital traction) which ran along connecticut avenue and ended just below a spur from the b & o railway that ran towards georgetown. a trolley turnaround, car barn and electric generating plant were located adjacent to the lake. just as subway and bus riders know the names of the terminus of each line of the transportation systems today, residents of the district of columbia and the surrounding areas of virginia and maryland knew of chevy chase lake by the name on the front of the streetcar .
the car was demolished and the passengers were sent flying into the air when the car crashed at the tight bend near the tunnel at the alum rock .
it was a rustic canyon with few improvements other than the alum rock saloon and the alum rock house hotel in the early 1870’s. the hotel burned down in 1890; the saloon was dispossessed soon after when developers decided to make the park a more suitable place for women and children by outlawing liquor sales .
the flooding caused an eight foot wall of water to inundate the tunnels - erasing the narrow - gauge railway. all but one of the railroad bridges were washed away, one tunnel was completely destroyed, the ties and tracks were totally washed out of both tunnels .
the alum rock mineral springs were said to have “world - wide fame and patronage, ” but perhaps this was a wee bit of chamber of commerce hype .
during construction, navvies' camps mushroomed at every tunnel and cutting. even comparatively narrow ledges supported stores - some even catering for the men' s need for groceries and clothes! small townships were thriving at number 3 tunnel, stoney creek, glacier rock, camp oven creek and rainbow creek. kamerunga, at the foot of the range, boasted no fewer than five hotels. at one stage, 1500 men, mainly irish and italian, were involved in the project. faced with poor working conditions, on april 20th 1888 a meeting of predominantly irish workers at kamerunga resulted in the formation of the victorian labour league. even so, relationships between workers and contractors remained harmonious as all realised the magnitude of the task before them. in august 1890, the great maritime strike spread to the railway workers and they formed the united sons of toil. they made a demand for 90c per day. by september differences had been resolved and the navvies' wages were increased from 80c per day to 85c per day .
a few kilometres eastward on the highway from the bridge and the yard and mill of hilmoe forest products at its eastern approach, a re - alignment of the no. 3 has cut off the old section through johnstone creek ravine. nestled in this nook now is a sixteen - site provincial campground populated by a mob of chipmunks bent on extorting picnics from visitors. under the pines, a protesting hand - pump squeals out gushes of cool, clean water, providing a sweaty biker camping here with the only means of showering. beyond johnstone creek, past ranchsteads and pastures of black anguses and holsteins, the highway tips over the edge of the kettle river valleys scarp and whoops down into the unincorporated settlement of rock creek (612m) .
ranch lands on the north side of the park are being dedicated as open space which will assure that the views from the park will always be green even though the acreage will not become part of the park. recommendations have been made that the city buy the alum rock stables property at the alum rock avenue entrance and several small properties near the penitencia creek road entrance to add to the park' s acreage. these additions would provide opportunities to optimize usage of the park' s scarce level land and to improve traffic flow .
his assumption that the powder was alum was wrong, unfortunately, and the alum rock designation is particularly incongruous because there isn’t even a speck of alum in the park .
riders paid 25 cents for an excursion through the lightly settled ranchlands along alum rock avenue to what today is kirk avenue where the tracks took a left - hand jog .
at the charming creek mine entrance and car park, you can see the fan that extracted air from the underground mine and the bathhouse shell. old coal bins are near the sealed entrance to the mine .
claim in 1886 and the rock creek quartz camp soon developed around it. finds looked promising so gold commissioner tunstall at granite creek near princeton recommended that the ministry of lands and works reserve some land at the camp and survey a townsite. seventy - four acres were subsequently set aside and the provinces surveyor - general, w. s. gore, sent in a crew to lay out a main street for what he named mckinneyville in the fall of 1887. already settling into what they called camp mckinney nearer to the mines, the miners ignored the townsite and the government never sold a lot .
two tunnels had to be constructed through the steep hills, bridges had to be built, and rock had to be blasted away in order to make a near - level roadbed .
even with this ballast, sometimes a car would slip off the tracks and dangle over the chasm. fortunately, none ever dropped all the way to the creek bed and there were no serious injuries – yet .
this once - extensive network had its roots in the chicago and rock island of 1851. this company was merged with others into the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad in 1866 and was reorganized in 1880 under the same name but with the word railway in the title. as such, the cri & p line soon stretched into nebraska and kansas, even as far as colorado, north into minnesota, and east into tennessee. a fairly solid and prosperous company, it fell into the hands of the infamous reid - moore syndicate in 1901 and was soon in trouble through reckless overexpansion. in receivership by 1914, it was reorganized but was again in receivership in 1933 .
william edward hayes, iron road to empire: the history of 100 years of the progress and achievements of the rock island lines (new york: simmons - boardman, 1953) .
budd rdc rolling through their settlement, it was recognized as a momentous occasion. never again would travellers step off a train at rock creek. when the cpr ceased running all trains over the highlands to penticton in 1973, rock creek, at the tail end of what had essentially become a long spur reaching out from castlegar, seemed to loose heart. it never did incorporate and in 2007 it is just beginning to perk up with overflow from the okanagan valley. across the river near the site of the kvrs long - gone station, the mighty white dolomite limited crushing plant boisterously blows boulders of magnesium carbonate out of the valleys wall and reduces them to sparkling white gravel for decorative construction in the okanagan. along the highway there are a few houses, a gas station and a couple of souvenir shops, the
the train was so lightweight that on its arrival at the entrance of the park, men would load rocks on the flat car to help hold the passenger car on the tracks when it crossed the bridge over penitencia creek .
by 1889 miners were hacking holes into the highly altered argillaceous and quartzose igneous rock on more than 25 claims and were generally encouraged by what they found. especially pleased were the owners of the
boulder creek railroad is supported by you the fans, ways the you can show your support is by becoming a patron, depending on the level of support i have a number of perks that you might like to check out .
at mckee road, the tracks turned right and ran for a short distance to the pala rosa olive groves where they took a northerly course to penitencia creek and then turned right for the final leg through the park’s lower entrance .
the rock’s otherworldly persona was hastily discarded when the san jose city council realized that the city coffers could be enriched by $ 22, 000 when a “mining man” offered such a sum for it .
the native american people of the ohlone tribelet, the taunens, had lived in the area of the alum rock canyon for as long as several thousand years before the arrival of the first white explorers .
alum rock park already had a history before it was designated as a public park by the california state legislature in 1872. it had been home to native american people who called it “aguague” or watering place .
some sections aren' t suitable for biking. it' s necessary to get off your bike as you cross the swing bridge at mangatini falls and when going up the rock steps by irishman' s tunnel .
this renewed invasion of british territory by american freebooters came quickly to the notice of governor douglas, and so alarming were the reports of mayhem that douglas decided that he had better see rock creek for himself. he arrived on september 24th, 1860. it was as he suspected; few of the miners were licensed under the provisions of the gold fields act for british columbiaor even cared, reallyand the majority had not paid any import duties on their animals, tools ,
the setting was the prolonged north queensland wet season of 1882. desperate tin miners on the wild river near herberton were unable to obtain supplies and were on the verge of famine. the boggy road leading inland from port douglas was proving impossible. as a result, the settlers at herberton raised loud and angry voices and began agitation for a railway to the coast .
in the steepest, most confined section of the gorge, the hardy ngakawau gorge (celmisia morganii) flowers abundantly on steep rock faces from december to january. this is the only known habitat for this rare and protected species .
the very earliest history of the area we know as alum rock park must be pieced together from bits of historical writings, which dance all around the area without referring specifically to the long, narrow canyon which defines the park .
the ohlones’ diet was based on ground acorns which, of course, did not necessitate cultivation. the alum rock canyon was home to many oak trees and especially valley oaks, which produced the ohlones’ favorite large, sweet acorns .
coming general elections and increasing cold weather in the south saw visits to the north by leading politicians. all promising a railway. in march, 1882, the minister for works and mines, mr macrossan announced the search for a route from the atherton tablelands to the coast. he commissioned christie palmerston, an expert bushman and a most colourful pioneering character, to find a suitable route .
a few miles beyond the camp mckinney turn - off, the no. 3 comes upon rock creek cutting its way southward out of the okanagan highlands, heading toward the kettle river. the bridge leaping the creeks canyon was built in 1951 and is still the most dramatic span on the crowsnest highway. just at the western approach to the bridge, a ranch - yard café invites travellers to pause for an iced cappuccino and cool their toes on a shady balcony overlooking the three arches of silver painted iron truss - work which hang into the canyon, carrying the roadway on their backs. those daring can scramble down by the abutment and crawl out on the catwalk which is suspended on the bridges cross - beams and treat themselves to a thrilling, precarious, view. if not, the bridges deck has been made thoughtfully wide enough to permit pedestrians to peer in safety over the parapet 300 feet down into the creeks magnificent trench. it was down in those red depths, at a place called soldiers bar, that a canadian called adam beame
at watson’s mill, steam boilers and other rusty relics are amongst the regenerating bush. look out for the sulphur ‘stink hole’, seepage from a hole drilled during government coal prospecting operations in 1910–12. it' s about 400 m past a small suspension bridge spanning the main creek .
with jim hills third mainline running past its door - step, bridesville made a decent living sending cattle and hay to market. in 1921 local entrepreneurs built a sawmill on the northeast corner of town and made their best money supplying the railway with ties and timber. however, the section of the wgn from molson to oroville proved discouragingly expensive to maintain and the revenue disappointingly low. in 1927, mentions hal reigger in his
the back of the indian culture was broken; the people were demoralized and couldn’t fend off the white man’s diseases. the alum rock canyon was no longer walked by its taunen triblet; only occasionally did small bands of disenfranchised indians find their way there .
ledge rock hill winery & vineyard – 518 - 654 - 5467 – hadley / luzerne & corinth the north country’s premium winery, ledge rock hill “the winery in the woods” is a family run venture specializing in limited vintage production of artisan crafted award winning wines. we are located in the lake region of northern saratoga county, conveniently situated between lake george & saratoga springs and within miles of the great sacandaga lake. come visit where your wine is made and experience the quality and care that goes into every bottle .
there are two access points. the southern end is clearly signposted from sh 67 at ngakawau, 35 km northeast of westport. from the north, access is through seddonville, 50 km north - east of westport on sh 67, then 10 km along a gravel road to the abandoned charming creek mine site .
old - timers vouched for the meteorite’s authenticity – they had personally seen it streak through the night sky to come to rest in the east foothills and found it (still smouldering perhaps, with its shiny black hulk glistening and glowing ?), in alum rock park .
the sulfur in the water is the source of the rotten - egg odor which permeates the air, and the water in the creek, in the area of the springs. a midwesterner visiting the springs in the 1890’s sent a post card home with the message that he was sure he’d experienced a taste of purgatory !
important: you will almost certainly encounter motorized vehicles along the route, particularly atvs and dirt bikes, which could be travelling at high speeds. over the years, unregulated motorized use has degraded the trail surface along the kettle valley railway, making many areas quite challenging for hikers and cyclists. users should come prepared for sandy conditions. please see our equipment recommendations on the boundary main page or even more detail on our
equipment tips
page of our travel tips .
redone in the early 2000s with showers for a loonie (the canadian dollar coin { note also, two - nie or doubloon, the two - dollar coin }) in the new mens and womens washrooms. laid out under the cottonwoods along the kettle, there are no designated sites, just a general camping grounds. its also called jim blaine park. and there is a discount for cyclists because the good folks of rock creek recognise that bikies are low impact guests, environmentally speaking. ! nb: to return to this end - notes origin in the main text, left - click your browsers back arrow
curiously, the histories of this era of alum rock park are free of references to swimming accidents except for a brief mention of a little girl who lost the sight of one eye when some unidentified particles flew into her eye while she was negotiating the so - called death defying slide .
, primarily, they said, because there was no official to whom to give the dues. not one to ignore a revenue stream, douglas immediately sent a letter to wm. geo. cox, an officer of the colonys newly raised constabulary, appointing him gold commissioner and collector of customs, posting him to rock creek and instructing him to proceed thither post - haste. douglas didnt await the capable coxs arrival, trusting that he would immediately impose british law and order upon the 500 or so rather fractious miners then in residence on the creek, regulate the size of claims, collect taxes on imports and royalties on exported gold. returning to the coast through hope, the governor did, however, appoint john carmichael haynes as coxs deputy, duties which haynes assumed upon his arrival at the camp that october 15th. the office that he and cox set up there was the first customs service post established in b. c. outside the colonial capital of new westminster .
the city did well by the
alum rock road ,
however. while most streets in san jose were constructed of
asphaltum
at the time, the road to the park was surfaced with brick to give horses good footing going up the inclines. great lines of trees were planted on each side of the road with eucalyptus from what today would be king road to jackson avenue, elms from jackson to white road, and pines the rest of the way to the park entrance. some historians claim that the original road was 100 feet wide, but this figure was probably exaggerated. a photo from the period shows a horse and carriage on a rather narrow brick alum rock avenue with fences and eucalyptus on either side. tourist
literature
never was known for its strict adherence to veracity, was it? very little of alum rock avenue is 100 feet wide even today !
in 1888 the province had spent nearly $ 2, 000 building a trail through the camp to rock creek from the okanagan bands community at nkmip near todays oliver. in the wintertime waggons on skis could be dragged over the route; in summer it could be managed only by packhorses. neither season allowed for the export of much ore. the new regional gold commissioner, walter dewdney, maintained that the camp needed a good all - weather road, but the american ethnicity of most of the miners mitigated against the investment. with no way to economically move its ore, camp mckinney slipped into a lethargy so deep that its post office closed in 1892 .
though the kvr ran up the opposite side of the river, a bridge soon connected the community to its new station. with ready access to markets, logging operations sprung up and the lode miners hiked the countryside, poking at the dolomites and limestones that constitute the escarpment. finding little of interest in the neighbourhood, the miners soon disappeared up the kettle past beaverdell to wallace mountain where the ores looked promising, and once the easy trees had been harvested,  the loggers, too, moved on. only the upland ranchers and the few farming families who were lucky enough to pre - empt fertile acres on the valley bottom kept rock creek on the map .
the kettle valley railway continues from beaverdell to midway along a combination of paved roads, gravel roads, gravel trail and dirt tracks - plus multiple cattle guards and gates - that will keep you on your toes! like the kvr between mcculloch and beaverdell, the use of motorized vehicles along the trail - and conversion of trail into actual road - in this area means that some sections of the trail have become challenging - with some serious washboard conditions. the ride can be tiring, but the quiet pastureland provides beautiful views and possible close encounters with farm animals .
as with all natural places, alum rock park is always in a state of change. it began as a beautiful rugged canyon; then, over time, it took on various characters: first as the rustic
reservation ,
then as a european - style health spa and finally as a rather tawdry amusement park. today it is a natural history mecca beckoning san joseans to come have a stroll or a picnic and to drink in nature' s glory. in a charming poem, a judge of the early 1900' s described alum rock park as san jose' s
matchless canyon .
throughout all its incarnations, the park has surely lived up to that portrayal .
world war ii meant a temporary reprieve, but after the war ended, closures of branches came faster, and service deteriorated. a proposed merger (1960) with the union pacific was vetoed by the interstate commerce commission, and the rock island entered its last receivership in 1975. this time reorganization was impossible, and the company shut down in 1980 .
the line has been a labor of love. it began in 1999, when i started to put up a privacy fence along the rear property lines, following that with the raised bed and rock wall. i did 50 feet per year all by hand. i confess i made many errors, some not correctable. the 3% grade is more than i aimed at because i did not properly allow for the slope of the yard. similarly, the 6 - foot curve at rockville exists because although i planned for an 8 - foot curve, i did not allow for the thickness of the rock wall i would eventually build. if you haven’t seen me at any meetings yet, it’s because working on the railroad absorbed whatever free time i had .
development of the trail on the remainder of the corridor east of bethesda has been hampered by a proposal to build a transitway / trail project on the right - of - way. despite this, development of an interim trail on the bethesda - silver spring section of the corridor was approved by the montgomery county in august, 1995 and dedicated in january, 1997. in august, 1998 the segment of trail passing through the tunnel underneath the air rights building, wisconsin avenue, and the apex building entered into service to connect the two trail sections. in may, 2003 repairs were completed to the historic rock creek trestle and it was dedicated for trail use, closing the last major gap in the interim trail along the georgetown branch rail line corridor. the coalition made significant contributions of both time and money in getting these two links completed .
with all these lines, the rock island covered oklahoma pretty well, but the financial position of the company never really recovered from the machinations of the reid - moore syndicate. in receivership again in 1933 and forced to slim down, the company sold the ardmore branch to the frisco, closed the kingfisher - guthrie branch in 1937, and also closed bridgeport - anadarko the next year and chickasha - lindsay in 1942 .
the canyon may have seen taunen village life with round tule reed houses or it may have been just a shady resting spot for footsore travelers migrating between summer meadowland life and winter bayshore life. historically, the canyon floor was subject to extensive flooding in the winters and the creek dried up in the summer so it probably wasn’t prime real estate for these nomadic people. even so, it’s easy to believe that the taunens appreciated the beauty and abundance of the canyon and respected its animal denizens.
the rock creek railway was one of the first electric streetcar companies in washington , d.c . it was incorporated in 1888 and started operations in 1890 . after expansion , the line ran from the cardoza/shaw neighborhood of d.c. to chevy chase lake , maryland . on september 21 , 1895 , rock creek railway purchased the washington and georgetown railroad company and the two formed the capital traction company . 
the rock creek railway was one of the first electric streetcar companies in washington, d.c. it was incorporated in 1888 and started operations in 1890. after expansion, the line ran from the cardoza/shaw neighborhood of d.c. to chevy chase lake, maryland. on september 21, 1895, rock creek railway purchased the washington and georgetown railroad company and the two formed the capital traction company.
the rock creek railway was one of the first electric streetcar companies in washington, d.c. it was incorporated in 1888 and started operations in 1890. after expansion, the line ran from the cardoza/shaw neighborhood of d.c. to chevy chase lake, maryland. on september 21, 1895, rock creek railway purchased the washington and georgetown railroad company and the two formed the capital traction company.