UTAH TRIP
September - October, 1999
Part 2: South to Utah, then back to Wisconsin

And then we proceeded on south toward Utah!


Bear Lake, on the Idaho/Utah boundary.

Heading south toward Murray, Utah.

Harry and Laura

Tour of Beehive House, original home of Brigham Young, in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

Detail of carving in newel post, reflecting Brigham Young's recognition of the
importance of the railroad to the economic growth of the area.

Back at the Laura's apartment, Lucy discovers Basil Bunny.

Ducks in the yard outside the apartment.

Ann and Laura

Cascade Springs, in the Unita National Forest, administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

Heading back to the apartment, through aspen forests in fall color.

Golden Spike National Historic Site

GSNHS website

Replica locomotives.
The original locomotives that actually met here have long since been sold for scrap.
These locomotives are replicas based on the original designs.
They make several daily runs for the benefit of tourists.

A portion of the original right-of-way inside the GSNHS.
In this shot, the track was on a fill, which has been cut by a creek.

A portion of the original right-of-way inside the GSNHS.
Same location as the previous shot, different angle.

A portion of the original right-of-way inside the GSNHS.
In this shot, the track was in a cut, undoubtedly dug by a crew
using picks and shovels. Note the piles of spoil on the side.


A portion of the original right-of-way inside the GSNHS.

"The Big Fill"

The popular image of two railroad companies furiously building track, then meeting in the middle at Promontory, isn't really the way it happened. There were indeed two companies, but they didn't intend to meet ... each was determined to beat the other all the way to the far end. They encountered each other at Promontory, but each kept building along its own right-of-way. At times, parallel rights-of-way were within sight of each other; there are many stories about gunfights, shouting matches, and equipment thefts.

Eventually, Congress intervened, and forced the two companies to join their tracks together and abandon the duplicate track.

In this shot, both tracks cross the same ravine along rights-of-way less that 100 feet apart. One company used a fill, visible in this picture. The other company built a wood trestle with earthen abutments; only the abutments remain today.

A portion of the original right-of-way outside the GSNHS.
The next two shots were taken several miles east of the Historical Site (approximately
at 7600 West), at the point where the existing track ends.
Looking east, the right-of-way with track.

Looking west, the right-of-way without track.

Salt marshes, north of Great Salt Lake.

Back home again!

Wasatch National Forest.

This is the Place Monument.

Heading south along various state and local roads.

Scenic rest area along Interstate 70 (no vendors permitted).

Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado

CNM website

We spent the night in a weird motel in Grand Junction. They claim to allow dogs,
but have "no pet" signs guarding all available grass.

Heading on west toward Denver, through the yuppified Rockies.

The Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
Named in honor of Bill Daniels, one of the early pioneers in the cable television industry.
Besides building and operating cable systems, he founded Daniels and Associates, a cable television brokerage firm.
Over the years, he donated substantial sums to the University of Denver.

Bill Daniels' home in Denver, now owned by the University.

Back to Wisconsin!