Town of Cape Horn
From: "Andy Payne" atpayne2000@sbcglobal.net
Going through the route foot by foot and can't help but notice the focus on Cape Horn, but barely anything on a so called "town" of Cape Horn, at around MP 146.3 (next to the Cape Horn Road Crossing). Formerly: C.H. Mills, Cape HornMills, Cape Horn Mill ...
—Andy Payne
Going through the route foot by foot and can't help but notice the focus on Cape Horn, but barely anything on a so called "town" of Cape Horn, at around MP 146.3 (next to the Cape Horn Road Crossing). Formerly: C.H. Mills, Cape HornMills, Cape Horn Mill ...
—Andy Payne
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 11:19 AM
2 Comments:
The focus on Cape Horn was mostly a public relations thing. With 40 miles of snowsheds, most of the scenic vistas were not visible to railroad passengers. So, they stopped the trains at Cape Horn to let the passengers look at the fabulous Sierra mountain view. Accompanying stories were embellished to exaggerate the importance of Cape Horn, and the difficulty in construction.
Cape Horn is mostly a geographic element. The tracks there looped around a cliff high above the American River. Chinese craftsman hacked out a roadbed midway up the cliff. It is still in use. According to "Rails, Tails and Trails, the authoritative little book by the late Bill George, you can see it from the Cape Room in the Red Frog Bar on California Highway 174 about a half-mile north of Colfax.
Post a Comment
<< Recent Messages