Snowsheds at Donner Summit
Does anyone know when the Central Pacific Railroad snowsheds were constructed on the east side of Summit Tunnel? Before or after tracks were laid? Timothy O'Sullivan photographed the sheds, but its not clear whether he did it in 1867 or 1868, nor when within whatever year. I'd appreciate any documentation on when the sheds were actually built.
I note I have three O'Sullivan photos of the CPRR at Summit – two which show sheds, and one which might show graded right-of-way without tracks. It's possible that O'Sullivan made a couple of trips to Summit – perhaps one in 1867 before track was laid, and another in later 1868. That is all speculation on my part.
Many thanks.
—Kyle
52 Donner Lake Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California - 40th Parallel - USGS
53 Donner Lake Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California - 40th Parallel - USGS
O'Sullivan - Central Pacific Railroad near Summit Station
Summit Tunnel Completed – Sacramento Daily Union,
Volume 34, Number 5203, 30 November 1867.
Summit Tunnel Dates – Sacramento Daily Union,
Volume 34, Number 5230, 1 January 1868.
See comment below:
O'Sullivan 52 Donner Lake Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California - 40th Parallel - USGS
O'Sullivan 53 Donner Lake Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California - 40th Parallel - USGS
Russell I-228 or 229 Summit of Sierra Nevada - Library of Congress
Russell S-545 or 549 - CPRR Museum
Reilly 233 Donner Lake and Snow Sheds, CPRR, California
Watkins 4240 Donner Lake, CPRR, Cal
E&HT Anthony 7109 CP Snow Sheds 10
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 12:34 PM
8 Comments:
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
The sheds were first built in 1868 – after the track was constructed.
1) Mark Hopkins speaks of the snow covering east of the summit in the future tense in his letters to CPH of 20 April and 14 May 1868.
2) The construction of the track between Coldstream and Tunnel 12 in June 1868 had to wait until the roadbed was cleared of ice and snow (see Charles Crocker letter of 15 June 1868).
3) There are Hart photos of track east of the Summit either without snow covering (nos. 255, 259), or in place as the sheds were being built (nos. 252, 256). There is another long shot of the track between tunnels 8 and 9 (specifically between curves 352 and 353) that is uncovered in a unnumbered Hart image not included in Mead Kibbey's book. That whole series of images dates from August 1868.
—Wendell
From: "Glenn G. Willumson" gwillumson@arts.ufl.edu"
As with so much of 19th century photography, this is a complicated (and unanswerable?) question. I'm sure Wendell is right that the snow sheds were built in 1868, but ...
The only time we know that O'Sullivan was at the summit was in July 1867 when the King Survey was heading east from Sacramento. The survey botanist notes in his journal, "O'Sullivan's photographic eye was tickled at this really splendid view [of Donner Lake], and he and I were leaving our horses, climbed a little eminence in order to enjoy it fully." This quotation is made all the more strange by the fact that of the three photographs the only one that seems to show a graded bed does not show the lake. Although there are gaps in what we know about O'Sullivan's movements in 1868 and 1869, there is no record of his having returned to California. Will Stapp compiled the latest chronology of O'Sullivan's movements and published it in Framing the West (Yale: 2010). ...
—Glenn Willumson
From: kylewyatt@aol.com
... I'd say that, based on the evidence of the snowsheds in at least two of the photos, it appears that O'Sullivan visited Donner Summit in 1868 or 1869. Since we know that Hart photographed the CP line at Summit after the rails were laid, but before the snowsheds were built, we know that the snowsheds were clearly built after the rails were laid.
Per newspaper articles [above], it appears that track from Cisco reached the Summit Tunnel Nov 30, 1867, and was presumably laid through the tunnel the following day or so.
—Kyle
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
The "diagonal" running along the bottom of the second image is the railroad – but I can't tell if it shows just grade, rails, or even roof boards of the completed snowshed. The photo by itself is a bit confusing as it does not convey the distance between the railroad and the wagon road grade winding down the ravine below. Fortunately this image and the first together clarify that issue. The long conifer tree is obvious in both.
—Wendell
From: "Glenn G. Willumson" gwillumson@arts.ufl.edu
...I want to be sure I understand the implications of [Kyle's] note. So the documentary evidence says that #53 must have been made in the summer of 1867 but that #52 and the [third] image had to have been exposed after 1868? I'm asking, in part, because I'm very interested in evidence of these early photographers selling or exchanging negatives. Related to this, I asked about the location of the images because the mounts, and what's written on them, play such an important role in determining the photographer and date of the image. Also, we would need an original print ... to see what, if anything, we could tell about the size of the negative. O'Sullivan used different cameras during different years working on the survey.
Glenn Willumson, PhD.
Director of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies
Associate Professor of Art History
University of Florida
From: kylewyatt@aol.com
On further consideration, I want to revise my opinion about the three Donner Pass O'Sullivan images – I now believe all three show snowsheds. Presumably that means all post date mid 1868 – although since I do not have anything that specifically dates the snowshed construction at Donner, I can't totally discount the possibility that they built the sheds while the tunnel was still under construction. But the evidence of Hart photos would seem to argue against that. (Hart has no photos of snowsheds on the eastern face of Summit Tunnel.)
In any case, what I note is that the shed adjacent to the Summit Tunnel face is particularly wide. And I think we are seeing the edge of that roof in the curious one with the diagonal lines at the bottom (O'Sullivan 53, to use the USGS numbering). Take a look at the [additional] images [above], with notes.
I also note that the wide shed is still under construction in one of the O'Sullivan views. In the Russell views the shed is completed – not surprising since Russell came through in the fall of 1869, well after construction at Donner was completed.
—Kyle
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
I particularly like the Anthony view as it shows the wagon road approach to the grade crossing on the south side from a unique perspective, showing it enter the end of the wider shed parallel to the track and putting the righthand turn to the crossing inside the shed. Taken together, the views show the great size of what would have been termed a "snow gallery" at the east portal to tunnel no. 6.
Concerning the question of whether all of the O'Sullivan images presented show snow coverings, I agree with you that they do. The "sharp" top edge of the diagonal construction running along the bottom margin of the view in question is more consistent with the top edge (or far edge) of a wooden roof than of a grade. I was initially dubious of this as no clerestories (vents) were evident (as we see on the snowsheds). However, the galleries apparently did not have this feature, as is born out by the other images, and the gallery at the east portal apparently extended quite a ways.
All of this makes even more important the question of whether snowsheds were built immediately east of tunnel no. 6 in 1867. Montague's report of July 1869 states that the only sheds built in 1867 were between Lost Camp Spur (just above Blue Canon) and Cisco, that they covered only deep cuts, and consisted of roofs only. That seems pretty definitive. All Brown says on the matter is that the sheds built in 1867 were experimental. Also, Hart view no. 197 shows the interior of the east end of tunnel no. 6 and was made by reflecting sunlight into the tunnel with a mirror (The Illustrated Photographer, May 29, 1868, p. 202; we know it is the east end of the tunnel because there are no railroad tracks for the waste cars, as were used in the center sections and at the west end.). The availability of sunlight precludes a snowshed. However, this is a difficult image to date. It may be as late as October 1867, when bottoms still remained in the east end of the tunnel – and when Hart is known to have made photographs of construction along the Truckee (unremoved bottom material is evident in the distance of the view). Regardless, I acknowledge that it proves nothing but is merely a clue consistent with there being no shed/gallery at the east end of tunnel no. 6 in 1867.
—Wendell
From: "Glenn G. Willumson" gwillumson@arts.ufl.edu
Very interesting, Kyle. The "road" in the USGS 53 as the edge of the snowshed roof seems right to me. It certainly reads right. Thanks very much for this insight, Kyle.
Glenn Willumson, PhD.
Director of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies
Associate Professor of Art History
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