Dairy of a soldier at Promontory

May 11^th, 1869

 

Dear, Father & Mother

I hope this letter find you in good health and that everyone is doing well. I want to write you of my experience at Promontory Summit, Utah. My regiment arrived by train the day before the Great Event as the reporters called it. As most people know the transcontinental railroad is almost done. This is an amazing accomplishment for the United States no longer will people of this great nation have to travel by ship or by wagon to get to California. People are saying in less than four days you can cross the country.

I am seeing first hand how this is possible. Already since leaving Virginia we have made record time and now I find myself in dry aired landscape of Utah. Company K pitched tents and settled for the evening near the railroad track. Our camp is small consisting of a Sibley, two dog tents and couple of other tents for men and gear. We hoisted a flag in camp and even have a portable telegraph box. Tomorrow the president of the Union Pacific, Charles Durrant will arrive. His train has been delayed due to heavy rains. It is peaceful right now and the weather is calm. Tomorrow the rails will be joined by a golden railroad spike and the East and West will have a road made of iron.

The trip so far has been comfortable. The train travels at speeds of 35 miles per hour and it is hard to watch the country side go by as it passes so quickly. By the time one of my men tell me to look at something from the window it has already passed. This evolution in transportation will greatly speed up commerce all over the nation.  The locomotive stops every 25 miles or so to fill with water and more coal. Once we crossed the Mississippi River towns grew smaller and smaller and the wide openness of the prairie stretched on like an ocean.

The men right now are sitting around the fire enjoying themselves and looking forward to California and the new post we will have. People say that California is the land where a man can strike is rich and make something of himself. All I know is that I miss home and you. Another man in our regiment also missies someone close to him. His name is Neal he always says he misses Poly but never talks much about her. She must be very special to him. Well mom my men are calling me over to join them so I will write more later.

 

May 10^th

Hello mother and father,

What a day that my company and I had. I have witnessed history here today. We even helped with the festivities during the event by standing guard and help with the flag raising.   Our day started at dawn. Breakfast consisted of oatmeal and cranberries. The Captains wife, Mrs. Clyne is with us on this trip as she is relocating with him so our food as been exceptional. Already at day break reporters were showing up and asking questions of who we are and what we were doing. Of course, our captain was not hesitant to stand up first and make sure the reporter had his name spelled correctly and all his information was indeed correct. He told us “Boys we are making history here today. As we are the first regiment to cross the country by the rail!”

When we marched over to the rails later that morning, already there were hundreds of people swarming the glistening locomotives. The Union Pacific had the 119 a beautiful burgundy painted engine with Johnny Appleseed painted on the sand dome along with lots of shining brass. The Central Pacific arrived with the Jupiter and it is equally magnificent with crimson blue paint and gold inlay on the tender. Both engines were parked nose to nose and before them lay a gap where the last rail would go.

Both the presidents of the railroad companies stood before the rail with Leland Stanford, the president of the Central Pacific holding the pure gold railroad spike and Mr. Durrant with a silver platted Maul. Alongside the track connected to the telegraph wire was a man typing out on his key everything that was taking place during the event. I hope you and all in town were able to crowed into the telegraph office and listen. If only you could have been here, I know you would have enjoyed it. There were a couple of photographers taking photos so maybe Ill be in one or so. They say the photos will go into the newspapers.

We stood for what seemed like hours next to the locomotives and were able to sneak some shots of us in front of the engines while the dignitaries talked. Finally, time had come to complete the railroad and the last rail was laid and spike driven into a special polished railroad tie form California. Everyone cheered and then another railroad tie was put in where the fancy one was and a regular iron spike was driven into that tie completing the railroad. The telegrapher typed out, done and everyone knew that it was over. After seven years of work we have a transcontinental railroad.

After the ceremony ended everyone clambered to get a piece of the railroad tie and chipped it away. Soon they will need to lay another. Our captain told us to gather all our stuff up and prepare to board the train again as the westbound is ready to leave. We are the first train to cross over and get to see Promontory fade into the distance as we head west into more desert. It is so dry out here I do hope California will be greener.

Take care, your loving son

 

~2019

150 years later I was able to take part in the re-enactment ceremony at Promontory Point. The story above is my recollection of the event with a little dreaming in-between.  It was a huge event with well over 10,000 people showing up. I camped with the Ft. Boise Garrison group from Boise who are also good friends of mine and they let me dress and be part of it all. It was fascinating to see how people lived and dress back then, before the age of plastic. The weekend was memorable and almost the same perfect 70 degree weather 150 years later. The event had the president of Union Pacific, Secretary of the Interior, Governor of Utah and leader for Mormon Church. I partaked in not only the ceremony of the 10^th but also on the 12^th. I want to thank the Ft. Boise Garrsion for loaning of the clothes and also for letting me be apart of history. The driving of the golden spike 150 years ago was the moon landing of the day and 100 years later we went to the moon. I plan to be back in 2069 for the 200^th anniversary. Who knows what we will have accomplished by then.

The Mother Road & Texas BBQ!

Wow, What a day! Dad and I got to travel the “Mother Road”, Route 66, pick up a classic railroad signal and eat at the famous Big Texan Steak Ranch. Im so full now, haha.

Pull up a chair and get ready to cruise down old Route 66 through Texas.

The day started at 8am with breakfast at the Comfort Inn and then breakfast for the Outback at Chevron. We hit I-40 East bound for Shamrock, Texas about a hour and half drive from Amarillo. As we drove I was on the

Texaco Station in Alanreed

lookout for historic Route 66 that runs parallel to the interstate. About half way out of town I found a Route 66 brown sign on an exit sign telling me to get off here to run on the old road. From that point on we drove along 66 through small Texas towns such as Groom, Alanreed and McLean. In the town of Alanreed we found an old Texaco Station that was built in 1930. Continuing on we found lots of fields of cotton ready for cutting. I did not know that cotton was grown in Texas.

Field of cotton along Route 66

Continuing on eastward the last town before Shamrock was McLean which has the first Phillipps 66 Gas Station in Texas and boy was it small. Just take a look at the little station. The Station was built in 1929 and was the first restored station on Route 66.

Phillips Station in McLean

After McLean the next stop was Shamrock to see the famous Conoco gas station that is seen in the movie Cars as Ramon’s Body Shop this would also be the place where I would meet Jeff and pick up the Wig Wag Signal. Now Shamrock,Texas sits on the rolling plains of the eastern Texas Panhandle, along Historic U.S. Route 66 it is well known for its historic CONOCO Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café, an iconic Art-Deco building dating back to the Great Depression, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now how did Shamrock get its name? Well an Irish immigrant and sheep rancher, George Nickel used the name Shamrock when he applied to open a post office in 1890 some 6 miles from the current town’s location. It was accepted by the postal officials but never opened. However the name lived on. The Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway reached the region in 1902 and named their stop Shamrock. A post office and a school soon opened next to it. Business followed and the town was incorporated in 1911. Oil was discovered in the area in 1925 bringing wealth and growth to Shamrock. Route 66 was the town’s main street, filled with diners, garages, filling stations and motels. Unfortunately when I-40 skipped the city center, most of these businesses closed or moved out of town, to the bypass. Natural gas, oil and cattle, and increasingly Road Trip Tourism are the main pillars of the local economy.

As we pulled into town about 30 minutes before noon when we were to meet Jeff, there it was on the main intersection in town, the Conoco Tower Station and U-Drop Inn.

U-Drop Inn cafe part of the gas station used until 1997

This station was amazing and I wish I could have stayed until night fall to take photos of the neon. Here is a day shot and a night shot that was found on line.

Pixar’s “Cars” Movie

A great night shot of the station found on line.

 

At noon Jeff showed up and we went back to his truck and found the signal which I was surprised at how large it was, I guess when they are mounted up on a poll they seem smaller. It took all three of us to carry it from his truck to my car. It fit just fine with room to spare in the back of the Outback.

Magnetic Flagman or Wig Wag Signal in the car ready to head back to Idaho

Once parting ways with Jeff we talked with the kind lady that worked at the gas station gift shop and yes we did buy Route 66 souvenirs, she suggested lunch at Mesquite’s hometown restaurant just north of town. After a good lunch we hit the mother road back to Amarillo and took photos and video of me driving on the original pavement.

Route 66 original pavement

Once we made it back to Amarillo we continued to follow Route 66 through downtown Amarillo and found the old main offices for the Santa Fe Railroad now a city office building and also a large antique store right along 66 which we explored for about an hour finding a perfect 1960s KFC bucket, it never even had chicken in it since there were no grease stains on the cardboard. When all said and down it was 6pm and time for dinner so we headed to the world famous Big Texan Steak Ranch!

Big Texan Steak Ranch along I-40

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steakhouse restaurant and motel originally opened on the previous U.S. Route 66 in the 4500 block of East Amarillo Boulevard in 1960. It relocated to its present location along Interstate 40 in 1970. Fire gutted the west wing of the restaurant in 1976 and destroyed $100,000 in antiques. The restaurant reopened as a larger facility in 1977. The building is painted a bright yellow, with blue trim. A large bull statue advertises their “free” 72 oz. steak!

Outside of the restaurant

The Big Texan is best known for its 72 ounce (4.5 pounds ) steak, nicknamed “The Texas King.” The steak is free to anyone who, in one hour or less, can eat the entire meal, consisting of the steak itself, a bread roll with butter, a baked potato, shrimp cocktail, and a salad; otherwise, the meal costs $72. Those who have successfully consumed the Texas King meal have their names recorded and posted at the restaurant. As of February 2018, over 9,500 people out of about 62,000 have accomplished this feat and tonight we got to witness two brothers from Alabama take the challenge and one of them succeed and eat it all in 45 minutes!

This is the Texas King meal

The current Champ is a woman that only weighs 120lb. and hold the fastest time. On May 26, 2014, Molly Sehuyler “Memorial Day Molly” consumed the entire meal in 4 minutes and 58 seconds and then eat another in 9 minutes 59 seconds! Check out their website: Big Texan Steak Ranch

Inside the Steak Ranch

After a filling meal of a combo of select BBQ meats dad and I retired to the hot tub at the hotel. Tomorrow we check out one more antique shop in town and then head westward down 66 past Cadillac Ranch and out to Vega, Texas the last town we will explore before turning north for Ft. Collins, Colorado where we will be staying all day on Friday before finally turning back to Idaho and home.

Today was great and thanks to Jeff for selling his signal to us and creating this great trip for dad and I…. Remember folks, Get your kicks on Route 66! oh and your bellies full! haha

Texas Road Trip parts 2 & 3

So far this road trip has been exciting! In this post ill try to comprise both Monday and Tuesday adventures that were had in Leadville and then the drive down to Amarillo, Texas.

On Monday we spent the day riding the rails of the former Rio Grande Railroads, Tennessee Pass Line. The has been abandoned since 1996 or so and now lots of ATVs and hikers walk the line. Starting up at the pass we rode through a long tunnel that takes the railroad under the continental divide. We rode down grade to Red Cliff, Colorado where we went under the impressive highway bridge which is seen in the cover photo. There was snow all down the north side of the pass due to a winter storm that blew through the area late Saturday night and Sunday morning leaving the area with at least 2 to 3 inches of snow.

Tunnel portal on South side of pass.

Driving into Leadville Sunday night it was slow going with snow and ice covered roads but the Subaru handled perfectly. After the storm blew through it left the entire Rocky Mountain area in a deep freeze. Temps on Monday morning when waking up at 8 a.m. was zero degrees feeling like -7. That day the temperatures only got to the upper 20s! In total we rode 14 miles of rail one way and then picked up the rail carts at the end of the ride and drove home.

Riding through the snow covered rails.

Leadville, Colorado is a quite little rustic mining town situated at an elevation of 10,202ft. making it the highest incorporated town in North America. Leadville was founded in 1877 by mine owners Horace Tabor and August Meyer at the start of the Colorado Silver Boom. The town was built on desolate flat land below the tree line. The first miners lived in a rough tented camp near the silver deposits in California Gulch. Initially the settlement was called Slabtown but when the residents petitioned for a post office the name Leadville was chosen. By 1880 Tabor and Meyer’s new town had gas lighting, water mains and 28 miles of streets, five churches, three hospitals, six banks, and a school for 1,100 students. Many business buildings were constructed with bricks hauled in by wagons. The railroad arrived in 1880 bringing trains from Pueblo, CO. up and over the mountains to Minturn and Glenwood Springs, now along I-70. The town of Leadville also has the church where the famous “Unsinkable” Molly Brown was married in.

Downtown Leadville, Colorado

Dad and I spent two nights in Leadville and left Tuesday morning for Amarillo, TX about a 440 mile, 7 hour drive. We followed the old rail line all the way down to Pueblo through the towns of Buena Vista, Salida and Canon City. It was about a two hour drive down to Canon City which lies at the base of the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River and is home to the Royal Gorge Scenic Train Ride. I met a friend there who works for the excursion company and he was able to show us around and give us history of the railroad. We also arrived by noon in time to see the 12:30 p.m. train leave the station.

Royal Gorge train

After parting way with my friend Nick we had lunch in downtown Canon City at Pizza Madness both enjoying two good sandwiches. We again hit the road still having roughly a five hour drive making our arrival time in Amarillo by 8:30pm. As we drove down to Pueblo we left the Rocky Mountains behind and gently the rolling hills became flatter and flatter till finally everything to the left of I-25 was totally flat as far as you could see. The last big hill we climbed was Raton Pass starting in Trinidad, CO and climbing over into New Mexico and dropping down into Raton, NM. From there we proceeded south Easternly along Route 64 to Texline, Texas crossing the border around 6pm Mountain time entering not only Texas but the Central Time Zone.

Texas State line at Texline, Texas.

The about three hour drive from New Mexico through into Texas was so flat and you could say boring with nothing to see. By the time we made it to Amarillo it was dark and around 9pm. A 440 mile trip used only half a tank of gas on the Outback! The drive felt long after getting into the flat land of Texas. We are staying at a Comfort Inn in Amarillo and tomorrow, Wednesday will be headed for Shamrock, Texas along historic Route 66 to see the famous Conoco Gas Station there and pick up the Wig Wag Signal.

 

Texas Road Trip part 1

Here I am on the road the again though this time I have my father with me. Today we begin our adventure to Amarillo, Texas with the ultimate eastern town for this trip being Shamrock, Texas along historic Route 66 where me and dad will be meeting a friend who has recently sold us his 1920s Automatic Flagman, wig wag crossing signal.

We decided to take a road trip instead of hassling shipping something such as this signal. So our day started at 5:30am when we hit the road in my Subaru Outback leaving Boise Idaho for Leadville, Colorado our destination for that night and all day Monday since I have a good friend who lives there and will be spending Monday exploring the area.

Dad and I are taking turns driving and as I write this he has taken the wheel and we are cursing down I-84 approaching the Utah border. Let me give you some background on what a wig wag signal is. The automatic flagman was invented by the Pacific Electric. The Pacific electric signal department decided that better grade crossing signal was needed due to the higher amount of vehicle auto traffic on the roads in Southern California. At the time of the Pacific electric was the largest inter-urban in the world spinning tracks from Los Angeles to San Bernardino down to Long Beach California. The automatic flagman is as the name suggests doing the job of the flagman who would come out from his guard shack with a red lantern and stand in the road and swing his lantern from side to side. This is what the signal does but also has a bonus of a audio warning. As the armature attached to the motor seen in the photo Below swings from side to side the red lamp is illuminated and as it swings the arm rings the bell mounted to the backside of the signal box making a dink, dink, dink sound. The PE had many of these installed on their lines and proved to be at the time quite affective. The early ones in the 1920s were built in Los Angels Ca. These signal soon spread nation wide for the first type of grade crossing signal.

The wig wag that I am picking up in Texas is just the signal box with bell and armature or banjo. I’ll be mounting this on a bracket to a telephone pole in the back yard. Not all wig wag signals had their own pole some where set on telephone poles that were next to the crossing already.

we made it to Ogden by 10:30 and had one of our favorites, In-N-Out Burger which now has locations in Utah. Of course I had the double double with animal fries and it was delicious.

After lunch we continued on our way heading for solider summit along US route 6 and down to I-70. Colorado state line was crossed around 3pm and making it to Glenwood Springs just at sunset for the area by 6pm. The Glenwood Springs area is really beautiful this time of year with all the fall colors along the river and the narrow canyon I-70 winds it’s way through Glenwood Canyon and we were very surprised to see the Colorado River bone dry for the most part. The canyon was great in the late evening light. The temperature continued to drop as we approached minturn where we got off to head for Leadville and we began to encounter snow covered roads along with ice. The last hour of driving was slow going but we made it by 7pm to our destination.

Glenwood Canyon

The road to Leadville hwy. 24

Silver City via a Model T Ford

On Sunday October 7th the Western Idaho Model T Club headed for Silver City, Idaho. This was a journey the club used to make all the time but in the past ten years it has only been a dream. The trip would make history not only because it was the first trip up the mountain for the club in over ten years but a surprise finding in Silver City would make the trip even more special. I was privileged enough to have been invited to come along with the club on this trip even though I dont own a Model T myself. In next couple paragraphs I will recount the trip and share with you lots of photos that I took of the ride.

At around 11:45 a.m. on October 7th two 1924 Model T Touring cars and one 1923 Model T speedster started out at the base of the mountain where the dirt road meets the pavement. All the T’s where trailered to this position  from Nampa, Idaho. Everyone was bundled up since the cars are not enclosed and it was a brisk morning with breezy conditions but the sun was out and crystal blue skies as far as you can see all the way up to the top of the mountains where our destination lay, the old mining town of Silver City, Idaho.

Silver City was founded in 1864 soon after silver was discovered at nearby War Eagle Mountain at an elev. 8,065 ft. The settlement grew quickly and was soon considered one of the major cities in Idaho Territory. The first daily newspaper and telegraph office in Idaho Territory were established in Silver City. The town was also among the first places in present-day Idaho to receive electric and telephone service. The town would have electricity before the capital of Idaho, Boise did. 

The placer and quartz vein mines became depleted around the time Idaho became a state in 1890. Due in part to its extremely remote location, Silver City began a slow decline but was never completely abandoned. Small-scale mining continued off and on until World War II; the last mine to be operated all year round in Silver City was the “Potossi,” managed by Ned Williams.

The Idaho Hotel one of the main iconic buildings in Silver City once housed 40 rooms and electric power. It was restored and re-opened for tourists in 1972. It relies today on the use of propane refrigerators and stoves in order to supply cold drinks and snacks or a complete meal to guests during the summer months. The rooms are fitted with indoor plumbing and furnished with antiques, making it a tourist destination though today there are only 13 rooms. By 1972, the townsite and its environs were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, the Silver City Historic District.

From our starting location with the T’s to our destination is around 60 miles of dirt road. Luckily the road was in great shape but has about two large steep climbs that the group was concerned about but were all pretty sure that they T’s could make it. As we rolled along and began our accent the cars did well and there is nothing like watching the scenery roll by from the back seat of a Ford Model T.  I was in Jeremy’s 1924 Model T along with Susan and Jerry making the car fully loaded along with Mark’s tour car also fully loaded they were handling well as we climbed the first hill. Gary’s speedster with only one passenger eventually over came us and sped along the dirt road, having no problems climbing up the grade.

Getting closer to Silver City before the big accent. Paused for a little break and time to get a great shot of the cars together.

Following the group was a pace car and a truck and trailer just in case one of the cars broke down and had to be towed out. As we began our climb up the steepest part of the road Jeremy and Mark’s T eventually just flamed out with not enough power to climb the hill with all the weight in it. This is when Susan Jerry and I climbed out along with the other passengers in Mark’s car. After helping with a push of the T they started up the grade once again while we were left with either the pace car to ride in or on the trailer. I chose the trailer which proved to be a bumpy ride going up the hill.

The road started to level off at the top and we were able to once again ride in style to our destination. By this time the road was winding its way through the pine trees and aspens that were all in full Autumn bloom.

Before coming into Silver City the road drops back down into a valley and as we rode down both the Model T’s used their brakes a little much to the point you could smell the oil in the transmission starting to cook. Model T’s dont have normal brakes on the wheel area like modern cars. All the braking and clutching is done with bands on the transmission and you can over heat them if you are not careful and also destroy the band completely. By the time we rolled into to town most of the braking power was gone.

We Made it!

By the time we rolled into town it was just past 12:30 p.m. and decided to break out the pack lunches we all made. Town was busy with ATVs and side by sides and we found that the Idaho Hotel was still opened and was its last day of the season for them and they still had fresh baked pie to serve. Of course the whole club cleaned out what was left.

While looking around the town we met the winter caretaker. Each winter everyone leaves but one man stays and watches over all the buildings from people who come up through the snow to look at the town and may vandalize the historic structures. Now the winter caretaker happened to be Dave Wilper who was one of the founding members of the Western Model T Club! This trip to Silver City become all that more memorable and special when he gave us a tour of his home and the historic church that was built in 1868. He also showed us photos of when the club used to come up to Silver city during the 1970s.

Dave Wilper holding a photo of Pete and his Model T in Silver City many years ago.

Our Lady of Tears Catholic Church.

Inside of the church with original ceiling and varnish.

After our private tour of the church it was time to head back down the hill to where we started that morning. Jeremy and Mark checked their transmissions to see how the bands had fared on the way up and down the hills and both agreed that the cars could make it back home. Once again I climbed into Jeremy’s Model T, this time just me as a passenger which helped lighten the load. Luckily we had two pilot cars for everyone to ride in to keep the weight off the T’s.  Up and down the hills we went again eventually Marks Model T lost all its braking power and he relied on low gear using the engine to brake, no tightening of the bands could help eventually and we just took it slow going back. We left Silver City around 3:30 making it back to the starting location by 5pm.

Leaving Silver City

In the end no cars had to be put on the trailer and everyone had a great time. The weather was perfect for the drive up to 6,210 ft. The group all decided to head for Pizza at Idaho Pizza back in Nampa where we talked about the days events and how special the day was for the group.  I myself do not own a Model T but a big 1937 school bus but the club has welcomed me in like I am part of the family. It is a great group of people and look forward to more adventures with them in the future. They all say next year they plan to ride again to Silver City and this time bring their speedsters and leave the touring cars behind. As a passenger on the trip it left me time to look out and enjoy the scenery of the trip and one could almost imagine what it was like to travel by dirt road across the great American West in an open touring car with the wind and dust in your hair. What an experience to be able to have almost 100 years later.

Cars up at Silver City in front of the former drug store.

 

MOR to Discover at the Museum of the Rockies

From dinosaurs to homesteading and lots in between, the Museum of the Rockies offers a an inside look at Montana geologic past along with its pioneering roots.

I took my last trip to Bozeman, Montana yesterday as I am now one month from going home and my summer job ending here in West Yellowstone. After all the trips that I did make to Bozeman I had not yet visited the Museum of the Rockies. I can say that I had a nice time down in the valley and back into summer with temperatures reaching 81 compared to the fall like weather of 70 in West Yellowstone. Up here all the willows and aspen trees have turned yellow and Autumn has arrived for sure.

The hour and 20 minute drive down the hill was uneventful besides seeing the fire that has been slowly burning along the hill side since July 20th of this year. The smoke comes and goes form the Yellowstone valley making tourists complain. When I arrived at the museum I was just in time for the 11am showing of “The Mystery of Dark Matter” playing in the planetarium. The 30 min. show was nice and relaxing. The planetarium also shows “Whats up with the night sky” which talks about what is currently in the sky at night and what to look out for.

After taking in Dark Matter I headed into the museum and their current display on the history of the Guitar.  In the hall they had all kinds of guitars and even as they say the largest playable guitar in the world. I felt like I was at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Hondo H-1 Guitar

They even had a fun display about the history of the “air guitar”. It was just an empty display case but what I found out is that there is a contest in Europe that judges the best air guitarist.

The museum is known for its large displays of dinosaur fossils and the larges T-Rex skull in the world along with displays on geologic time and triceratops skull from birth to old age. Its amazing how large they get. 

T-Rex skulls, some of the largest in the world.

As you wander through time you end up coming into a small display on Native Americans and then in to Montana’s pioneering and early statehood displays.

Display of Montana’s history

The displays range from mining to military to a mail order airplane. Yep at one time you could order one in the mail and as you can imagine some assembly required. The plane came with a Ford Model T engine and the one in the photo above shows a mail order plane that did fly. Also just below the plane is a representation of an old Montana gas station that once sat along the early dirt highways of the state. A cute sign hangs on the front porch which reads……

Another interesting find was a small tin can that was used to store condoms in. I guess back in the day condoms were reusable. Back when the tin was used latex didnt exist so from what I can remember from past history I have stumbled upon is that condoms were made from somewhat of the same material as sausage casing.

Condom tin

Overall the museum took about half a day to walk through and im sure could take more than a day if you really look and watch everything. During the summer there is even a living history farm just next door to the museum that has an old farm hour dating to the 1890s and a blacksmith shop.

If you in the Bozeman area and have time make sure to stop and see a T-Rex dinosaur and a mail order airplane.

Protected: Rail Riding Homestake Pass: A Survival Guide

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Yellowstone from the backseat of a 37 Touring Bus.

On August 17-18 was Yellow Bus Weekend put on by “Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust” at the Yellowstone Historic Center in West Yellowstone, Mt. The weekend included presentations on the White Motor Company touring buses that once ran in the park and a raffle drawing to ride in one of the historic buses in the park. The weekend concluded on Saturday afternoon with that special ride in the all original 1937 touring bus. Of course I had to be on that trip and was fortunate enough that my co-worker filled my shift so that not only I could go but also Christina.

What makes the Yellowstone Buses so special is that most of them still run in the park today, unfortunately the ones operated by Xanterra have been totally restored and altered by Ford Motor Co.. There is a small fleet of tour buses dating from the 1920s into the 1930s still running in there original condition. Meaning they still have no powering steering, 6 Volt electrical and stick shift. During the summer months at the museum a 1938 White Motor Company bus is displayed and I am lucky to be able to drive it each day to and from the museum. The bus fleet for Yellowstone was built by White Motor Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The company started building buses in the 1930s, White produced 500 of their small Model 706 buses specifically designed to carry passengers through the major National Parks of the western US. The distinctive vehicles, with roll-back canvas convertible tops, were the product of noted industrial designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, and originally operated in seven National Parks.

Glacier’s Red Buses

Today, Glacier National Park operates 33 of their original 35 buses, where they are referred to as “Red Jammers”, and 8 (of an original 98) have been restored for renewed service in Yellowstone National Park. Glacier National Park’s 33 buses were refurbished by Ford Motor Company and TransGlobal in 2000-2002, while Yellowstone National Park’s eight buses were refurbished by TransGlobal in 2007. Glacier has kept one bus in original condition. Yellowstone has five White buses in original condition, two model 706s and three older units as well. In addition, Gettysburg National Battlefield operates two of Yellowstone’s original buses.

Along with the 1938, 706 model on display at the museum the The Buses of Yellowstone brought another 706 model built only a year earlier in 1937. This Bus along with the other is in art deco style and has a long bold horizontal black stripe running the length of the body and a black oversized teardrop rear fenders are in contrast to the yellow body and chrome radiator shell, bumpers, and door handles.

The bus has a six-cylinder engine which were the latest from White and featured 318 cubic inches and could climb a hill in the Park in 3rd gear! The engine underwent some modification after 1936 but remained essentially similar through 1939.

Standing inside the bus looking toward the back.

Looking down on the front seat and dash board.

Each of the four seats has a grab handle and a roof bow support bar for passengers to hold as they stand to view scenery through the open top. Behind the fourth seat, yet separate from the luggage area, are two compartments where the driver could keep tools, personal belongings, and blankets, and yes we had classic plaid blankets on our trip into the park!

So, about the special trip into the park. We left at 3pm with one full bus of 11 people, each seat can hold four people. We first looped downtown West Yellowstone so everyone could stand up and experience what it was like going through the park back when, unfortunately today the Park service does not allow you to stand up while in a moving vehicle even if it is a historic bus. The top speed of the bus is 35mph, which is a perfect cruising speed to allow you to fully enjoy the views of the park. With the canvas top rolled back you could look way up and see the tall mountains and canyon walls.

Looking out the window of the bus, driving through the Park.

The trip took us up to Madison Jct. then over to the original road which is now Firehole Canyon Drive along the Firehole River. The road is now a one way road as it is only wide enough to have one direction of cars. Once we were on this one way road we were able to stand up as there was no park ranger around to bust us and give us a ticket and really got a feel for what it was like and boy did the early tourists to the park have it made. This was really the way to see Yellowstone.

Our ride did stop at a couple of locations, one was Firehole Falls and another along the Firehole River. We even made it over Gibbon Falls and thats when the rain moved in so the canvas top was rolled back over. Not only did we get to stand and look out but also got the warm and cozy feel of the top on the bus as well. Over all the trip lasted 3 hours and was quite the experience.

Here we are at Firehole Falls. I dressed for the special occasion in my new top hat that I found on my trip to Virginia City.

Everyone on the trip had a grand time and a Big thank you goes out to Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust for preserving these buses and taking the public through the park today. Also thank you to Don and Leo who were our drivers and keepers of the bus, you guys do a great job and bring smiles wherever you go!

The Trust is located out of Red Lodge, Mt. and they host private and public rides over the Beartooth Highway. If you would like to learn more about the Trust follow this link and help them out by donating to their cause! Yellow Bus Preservation Web Site

 

Vintage postcard of Old Faithful and a yellow bus.

The Railroads, Yellowstone, & Old Faithful Inn

The Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone, now what does that have to do with a railroad?

Well if it wasn’t for the Northern Pacific Railroad we wouldn’t have the Inn or even Yellowstone National Park for the most part. Pretty much every lodge in the western National parks were built by a railroad company. The lodges in Yellowstone include, Mammoth, Lake Hotel and Old Faithful Inn. The Lake Hotel is the oldest in the park, constructed in 1898. Now Yellowstone National Park came into existence thousands of years ago with the Yellowstone hot spot and the large magma chamber far below the earths crust. Fast forward to 1870, the Washburn Party was exploring the area of Yellowstone, the name Yellowstone comes from the Indians who named the area for the yellow rock that can be found in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

The Washburn Party is where the so called story of creating a “park” for everyone to enjoy instead of dividing the land for private use. This is the great campfire story that was not told until five years later… One main thing to take from this Washburn Party is that sitting around the campfire during this expedition was a man named, Jay Cooke

Jay Cooke

who was the financier of the Northern Pacific Railroad. As he sat around the fire and listened to the men talk he knew that the Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) would be building across southern Montana in a couple of years and put them within 60 miles of the Yellowstone area.

In the coming year the Hayden Party came to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton area to study and survey the the thermal features, since this was a scientific expedition.

William Jackson Photo of the Hayden Party

That party had two extra people on it, Thomas Moran and William Henry Jackson these men where put on the party due to Jay Cooke and the NP influence stating that these men would be a good addition to the party and they were. Moran and Jackson took many photos and sketches of the area. With these photos and eventually the famous painting Moran made helped congress to sign the Yellowstone area as a National Park in 1872.

Thomas Moran painting of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This would be the first color image of Yellowstone people back east would see.

By 1882, the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Livingston, Montana, and soon they added a spur to Cinnabar, close to the north end of the park. By 1902, their trains reached Gardiner, adjacent to the north entrance to the park. Tourists boarded stagecoaches in Gardiner to continue their trip through the park.

Northern Pacific train in Gardiner Mt.

The Northern Pacific wasted no time in promoting the new National Park. Many classic advertisements were released by the railroad. Early campaigns featured the park as “Americas Wonderland” and  “Alice in Wonderland”.

Northern Pacific Poster

Eventually the NP constructed three different hotels, mentioned above. By 1903 the Old Faithful area was in need of a new hotel since the old one was a shack and eventually burned down. Travel to the park was for the wealthy and high class. A train ticket from the east cost $45 in 1900 and most people barely made $40 a month! If you wanted to take the train from the east to Gardiner and stay 5 1/2 days in the park that would cost you $75 which is about $1,256 today. So visitors expected modern amenities when seeing the wild west.

The old faithful Inn replaced the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel, also known as the “Shack Hotel”, which had burned down. The Northern Pacific Railroad, in the form of the Yellowstone Park Association operating company, was required by the terms of its concession to build a new hotel no closer than 1/8 mile of Old Faithful geyser, a stipulation the Yellowstone Park Association observed to the letter. An initial design was prepared by architect A.W. Spalding in 1898, producing a design typical of the time, a turreted Queen Anne style hotel. The design was approved by the Park Service, but construction never started. Mr. Child instead hired Robert Reamer to design a much more radical building with antecedents in the rustic camps of the Adirondacks.

Design work took place in 1902, and construction started in 1903, with work continuing through the winter to open in 1904. The original cost of the Inn was about $140,000, using materials gathered from within the park. The hotel was furnished for another $25,000. Most of the logs came from a location about 8 miles south of Old Faithful, where a temporary sawmill produced boards as needed. Stone came from the Black Sand Basin and from a site along the road to Craig Pass about five miles to the east. The unusually-shaped log brackets were collected from the surrounding forests.

Inside the main Lobby of Old Faithful

The Inn was complete for opening season of 1904 only becasue of the hard work put forth by a crew from the bridge department of the Northern Pacific. This crew knew how to hoist the heavy timbers into the rafters of the hotel since they were used to erecting large trestles to span rives and canyons for the railroad. This was an all exclusive hotel and you were only allowed in if you had a reservation. Each night at 10pm the front door was locked and if you arrived late you better be able to show your paper reservation or you were not let in. This was due to the many stagecoach robberies that took place in the early days of the park.

Most you may have walked into the Inn many times and might not have noticed the front door is painted red and black. This is because the NP main colors were red and black and they were the ones who built the Inn, giving a little subliminal advertising.

My girlfriend, Christina standing in the door way of the old Faithful Inn.

Due to the foresight of the Northern Pacific with protecting the Yellowstone area a National Park was formed and service to the new park brought hundreds of people to a remote area. The Northern Pacific set standards for other railroads to follow when Great Northern, Union Pacific and Santa Fe started servicing other national parks they too built wonderful beautiful lodges that are now famous and much loved by all.

Northern Pacific Railroad Poster advertising Yellowstone.

Historic Bus Keeps Rolling Along!

For the past 81 years this International School Bus has been rolling along the country side past houses, farms and fields. This is the first thing kids saw in rural America in the morning heading for school and with great joy watched it roll away each afternoon after dropping them off back at home. Life was simpler in America in the 1930s while also difficult for most people. The dirty 30’s were called that for a reason, After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the largest stock market crash in American history, most of the decade was consumed by an economic downfall called the Great Depression that had a traumatic effect worldwide, leading to widespread unemployment and poverty. The 1930s also saw a proliferation of new technologies, especially in the fields of intercontinental aviation, radio, film, and school buses.

School buses before the mid 1930s were made from old utility trucks called “Hacks”. These hacks were used from police wagons to hauling kids around, kid hacks. By the 1930s school bus manufactures started using all steel construction for the bus frame since before most of the buses and hacks were made with a wood body. One such manufacture of bus bodies that were mounted on truck frames of the era was Hicks Bus Body Co. of Lebanon, Indiana. The Hicks Bus Body Co. was one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of school bus bodies, ranking 5th in total production at the start of the Second World War; its major competitors being Wayne, Blue Bird, Carpenter, Thomas and Ward. During the 1930s Earl M. Hicks designed, developed and patented several bus-related inventions, one of which was one of the first driver actuated remote school bus stop signs.

Now Hicks would build on whatever chassis desired by the customer in this case with cover photo of a International D30 truck. The school bus business was a highly seasonal enterprise, with four months on, then eight months off. Most school boards and superintendents put off ordering any new buses for the coming school year until the very last minute,  typically in April or May but demanded the vehicles be ready in time for the upcoming school year. Consequently many Hicks employees were part-time farmers, relying upon their bus building income to tide them over during the hot summer sabbatical.

An unfortunate rise in fatal school bus accidents resulted in an April 1939 conference in New York City where representatives from all 48 states gathered to develop a set of national standards for school bus construction and operation. The symposium was chaired by Frank W. Cyr, a Columbia University professor and a former superintendent of the Chappell, Nebraska school district.

The conference was attended by representatives of the bus body industry and at the end of the 7-day event the group released a list of minimum standards and recommendations. Among them were specifications for type of body, length, ceiling height and aisle width and color.

To determine the right color for the school bus strips of different colors were hung from a wall and the participants in the conference slowly narrowed down the colors until three slightly different shades of yellow remained and it was here that National School Bus Chrome became the chosen shade with slight variations allowed as yellow was a difficult color to reproduce exactly. Yellow had been decided upon because it provided good visibility in the semi-darkness of early morning and late afternoon.

1937 International D30, School Bus. I am the current owner of this marvelous vehicle.

Fast forward to June of 2017, I started maintaining this 1937 International School Bus, pictured above. A good friend of mine, Doug Rutan had been the driver of the bus for the past 20 years and was willing to let me not only drive it but also keep it at my place to work on it.  This particular bus lived its life in the Twin Falls County of Idaho transporting kids to one of the small farming towns in the county. Eventually school buses progressed in design and safety and the bus was sent to the junk yard. One wintry day in 1998 Doug Rutan noticed the bus in the junk yard and wanted to bring it back to where he lived to have it restored and on display at the Meridian Historical Society.

Bus before restoration in 1998.

After a couple months later the bus was brought back on a trailer and restoration began. The Bus was restored between 1998-2001 by the Meridian Historical Foundation. The Meridian Historical Foundation and the West Ada, Boise and Kuna school districts pitched in help and money for the project.

The bus was rebuilt, rust removed, holes welded shut, body painted and interior completely redone. The project was funded, in part, with a $3,000 grant from the Idaho Heritage Trust, along with $5,000 from the Boise School District, and $1,500 from the Meridian Historical Foundation. Students from the Boise, Kuna and Meridian districts volunteered their time to restore the Bus. The Kuna FFA Chapter designed and fabricated 12 new seats for the Bus based on the original.  Students at the Dehryl A.Dennis Professional-Technical Center did much of the bodywork along with students at Boise State University.

The School Bus made its debut at the Kuna Days Parade in 2001 and since then has seen many more local parades and car shows. Since I started working on the bus it is now running better then ever with new spark plugs, oil, and belts. After 20 years it was time for a service. Soon the bus will be converted to 12 volt system since its still running the old 6 volts. After about a year of running the bus I acquired the bus out rite in April of 2018. I am a proud owner of a very rare school bus since its in its original condition still. I have been able to take it to many car shows and cruises and it wins awards anywhere it goes. It is a joy to drive and take out. Thanks to Doug Rutan and his efforts to restore this vehicle it can now be enjoyed by kids and adults alike for many years to come. I now carry the torch and am proud to keep the bus running.

Thank you Doug for giving me this opportunity…

Here are some facts about the bus:

• The Bus is an International D-30 truck built in 1937 with a Blue Diamond Flat Head six cylinder motor.
• The top speed is 35 mph and has no power steering and must be double clutched to shift gears.
• The school bus body was constructed by the Hicks Bus Body Co. of Lebanon Indiana and mounted onto the truck frame.
• The bus was built two years before the official School Bus Chrome, Yellow was mandated.
• This particular bus operated in Twin Falls County, Idaho for most of its life. It is uncertain which school district used this bus.