Kingston's Hanley Spur: Modelling Tannery Effluent

Kingston's Hanley Spur: Modelling Tannery Effluent:   Throughout the 1960's, there were persistent complaints and calls for action to alleviate the smells and effluent emerging from the Da...

Impressive. 

Lex Anteinternet: Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist Part XXX. The Russo Uk...

Lex Anteinternet: Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist Part XXX. The Russo Uk...: 

Speaking of using petroleum

Speaking of cluelessness, what on earth is the American trucker's convoy about?

Whatever it was supposed to be over, that moment passed. This for all the world has the feel of people who arrived at an event about a week late. "What, this isn't the Johansen wedding. . .where's the food?"

This was, of course, inspired by the Canadian Freedom Convoy.  I had a post on that, but that was really distinctly different in the way it spilled over into other complaints.  I'm not sympathetic with the event, but it came to be the focus of a lot of conservative Canadian discontent with a nation's politics that has become extremely liberal.

It really was a Canadian thing, none of which prevented confused right wing Americans from voicing their support on something that they don't really know anything about.  Most Americans, I fear, couldn't pinpoint Edmonton on a map if their life depended on it.

Anyhow, the spectacle inspired a pretty pointless American truckers convoy, which is protesting. . . well who knows what it's protesting.  In a column by a liberal columnist, one of the protesters, for example, noted that they didn't want to be "digitalized", which means this protest just seems to be, well, a protest without a point.

Or maybe it does have one, but not the one that they're voicing or that they even realize.

Long haul trucking in the United States doesn't really have a long history.  Prior to the Second World War most long distance hauling of anything was by rail, not by truck.  Rail itself dated only back to the second quarter of the 19th Century.  Before that, for millennia, anything of substance moved by boat, and less bulky things moved by land at the speed of a draft animal.  Indeed, for that reason, early in the nation's history projects to extend aquatic transportation, like the Erie Canal, were a big deal.

Rail was a radical alteration of the transportation system with a massive impact on the nation in all sorts of forgotten ways, including the pattern of settlement.  Cities like Denver, Colorado became viable due to rail, without it, they'd be towns.

But through Federal subsidization of roads in the 20th Century, and particularly after World War Two, combined with advancements in automotive technology, long haul semi tractors with large trailers became a viable option in the mid 20th Century.  By the 1950s, but not before then, they began to supplant rail.  By the 1960s the process was well under way, while at the same time air travel and improved roads cut into rail passenger service as well, with railroads seeking to abandon that the latter.

Trucking as a profession was in fact glamorized.  Even early on, Hollywood portrayed it that way, with such movies as They Drive By Night.  Convoy, the Country & Western ballad, was one of only a collection of trucking songs that were on the airwaves in the 70s.  At least two movies, once based on the Convoy song, portrayed trucking as glamorous in the same era.

Well, that's all largely passed. We're told now that there's a nationwide shortage of truck drivers, with the country being 80,000 drivers short. 

All of the major automobile manufacturers are working on electric automobiles.  That transformation will come much more rapidly there than in trucking. Automated trucks, without drivers, are being explored and exist on an experimental level now.  But lurking in the back is the ultimate competition to the semi truck, the electric train.

Locomotives are already much, much, more efficient than trucks, and accordingly far, far more "green". The Burlington Northern in fact advertised that fact a few years back.

Predicting the future is always difficult, but I suspect that on a fairly significant level, the future of long distance transportation looks backwards.  It's rail.

Lex Anteinternet: Lincoln Highway Redux?

Lex Anteinternet: Lincoln Highway Redux?: 

Lincoln Highway Redux?

Gen. Luke Reiner^[1] head of the Wyoming Department of Transportation, has stated that WYDOT is proposing to reroute Interstate 80 along the path of Wyoming Highway 30.

Eh?

Okay, this is the stretch between Laramie and Rawlins, which is notoriously bad during bad weather.  For those not familiar with I80 in that area, or Highway 30 between Laramie and Rawlins, observe below:

WYDOT Public use map.

For those who are historically minded, you may be thinking that Highway 30, in that area, looks a bit familiar.

That's because that is where the "interstate", or protointerstate if you will, was prior to Interstate 80 being build.

Witness:

Gen. Reiner notes, in his statements to the Cowboy State Daily, that 

“If you look at a map, you’ll see that the old highway, Highway 30, goes further to the north, and then sort of comes down from the north into I-80.  Rumor has it that when they went to build I-80, that the initial route followed the route of Highway 30. And somebody made the decision, ‘No, we’re going to move closer to these very beautiful mountains,’ to which the locals said, ‘Bad idea,’ based on weather. And it has proved to be true.”

I don't know if its a rumor, and I don't know if they had beauty in mind.  I've heard the same thing about locals warning those building the highway not to get to close to the mountains, only to be disregarded.

Highway 30 followed the route of the Union Pacific, and except in this stretch still largey does.  The Interstate, however, followed a cutoff route of the Overland Trail.  Taht's signficantin that the portion of the Overland Trail that it followed turned out to be an unpopular one, and the Army, which garrisoned a post at the base of Elk Mountain, eventually abaonded it.

We've writtein about that location here:

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Ft. Halleck, sort of. Near Elk Mountain Wyoming

Where Ft. Halleck was, from a great distance.

This set of photographs attempts to record something from a very great distance, and with the improper lenses.   I really should have known better, quite frankly, and forgot to bring the lense that would have been ideal.  None the less, looking straight up the center of this photograph, you'll see where Ft. Halleck once was.

The post was located at the base of Elk Mountain on the Overland Trail, that "shortcut" alternative to the Oregon Trail that shaved miles, at the expense of convenience and risk.  Ft. Halleck was built in 1862 to reduce the risk.  Whomever located the post must have done so in the summer, as placing a post on this location would seem, almost by definition, to express a degree of ignorance as to what the winters here are like.

 The area to the northeast of where Ft. Halleck once was.

The fort was only occupied until 1866, although it was a major post during that time.  Ft. Sanders, outside the present city of Laramie, made the unnecessary and to add to that, Sanders was in a more livable 

Of course, by that time the Union Pacific was also progressing through the area, and that would soon render the Overland Trail obsolete.  While not on an identical path the Overland Trail and the Union Pacific approximated each others routes and, very shortly, troops would be able to travel by rail.

As that occured, it would also be the case that guarding the railroad would become a more important function for the Army, and forts soon came to be placed on it.

Elk Mountain

And, therefore, Ft. Halleck was abandoned.

Whatever the reason for locating Interstate 80 there, and I suspect it had more to do with bypassing a bunch of country, making the road shorter, and the like, it was a poor choice indeed. The weather in that area is horrific during the winter.  Perhaps the irony of that is that this stretch of the National Defense Highway system would have had to end up being avoided, quite frequently, if we'd really needed it if the Soviets had attacked us in the winter.  

Gen. Reiner, who really doesn't expect this to occur, has noted in favor of it:

Our suggestion to the federal government is to say, ‘If you want to do something for the nation’s commerce along I-80, reroute it. Follow Highway 30 — it’s about 100 miles of new interstate, the estimated cost would be about $6 billion. So, it’s not cheap, but our estimate is that it would dramatically reduce the number of days the interstate’s closed, because that’s the section that that kills us.

It doesn't just "kill" us in a budgetary fashion. It kills a lot of people too.  Anyone who has litigated in Wyoming has dealt with I80 highway fatalities in this section.  That makes the $6,000,000,000 investment worthwhile in my mind.

And of course taking the more southerly route doesn't just kill people, as crass as that is to say, it helped kill the towns of Rock River and Medicine Bow, two of the five towns on that stretch of Highway 30 that were once pretty bustling Lincoln Highway towns.^[1]   Highway 30 runs rough through them.  

And of note, FWIW, Highway 30 between Bosler and Rock River

Now, I know that a new Interstate 80 wouldn't go right through Rock River and Medicine Bow, but past them, like Highway 30 does to Hanna, but some people would in fact pull off.  It's inevitable.  

It's a good idea.

Not as good of idea as electrifying the railroad and restoring train travel, but still a good idea.

It won't happen, however.  Not even though there's still relatively little between Laramie and Rawlins, and it won't cause any real towns to dry up and blow away.  Not even though it would save lives and ultimately thousands of lost travel dollars.  And not even though the current administration is spending infrastructure money like crazy.

Footnotes:

1.  Before he was head of WYDOT, Reiner was the commanding officer of the Wyoming Army National Guard.

When I was a National Guardsmen he was a lieutenant, and his first assignment was to my Liaison section.  I knew him at that time.  He's an accountant by training, and he was in fact an accountant at the time.  His parents were Lutheran missionaries in Namibia, where he had partially grown up.

2.  The towns are Bosler, Rock River, Medicine Bow,  and Hanna.

Mutzerbahn - "Cat-aclysm" in Such station, waiting for a model train to ...

Somethings you just can't resist.

Lex Anteinternet: Pandemic Part 7. The Litigation Edition

Lex Anteinternet: Pandemic Part 7. The Litigation Edition:   November 10, 2021

The Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern have gone to court to determine if they can impose mandates on their employees, which they wish to do. Their unions are resisting the efforts on the basis that the railroads didn't negotiate first. That is, the unions support vaccinations, but they wanted the railroads to negotiate on the incentives first.

Towns and Nature: West Liberty, IA: Rock Island Depot and Preserved ...

Towns and Nature: West Liberty, IA: Rock Island Depot and Preserved ...: ( Satellite ) Roger Kujawa posted seven photos with the comment: "West Liberty, Iowa. Rock island 1913 era caboose." Dennis DeBrul...

Lex Anteinternet: April 12, 1921 International hands off, and hands...

Lex Anteinternet: April 12, 1921 International hands off, and hands...:    This railroad disaster was photographed in Alaska:

Lex Anteinternet: March 24, 1941. The "Wild West Cowboys"

Lex Anteinternet: March 24, 1941. Reversal of fortunes in North Afr...: 

The last of New York's "Wild West Cowboys", mounted men who rode in front of the city's urban freight trains in Manhattan to clear pedestrians, made his last ride. After this date, the mounted riders were retired from that service, there being at that time only one left.

Blog Mirror: Virtual Railfan

 Virtual Railfan

Lex Anteinternet: November 23, 1920. Empires

Lex Anteinternet: November 23, 1920. Empires: 

November 23, 1920. Empires

* * *

Anchorage Alaska, which had been founded in 1915, was incorporated.

Anchorage was, and is, as the name indicates a port city.  And today its a large one, much like any other large port city, all of which have a certain universal character.  It was also, however, right from the onset a railhead, which made it all the more important.

Lex Anteinternet: October 5, 1920. World Series begins, Russo Polish War ends, Railway reopens

Lex Anteinternet: October 5, 1920. World Series begins, Russo Polis...: 

October 5, 1920. World Series begins, Russo Polish War ends, Railways reopen.

 The 1920 World Series started on this day, in 1920.

Crowd in Ebbets Field.

Cleveland won the first game, 1 to 0.

New York City Mayor John Hylan throws ball to open World Series at Ebbets Field

Poland and the Soviet Union signed an armistice to end the fighting between their countries.  Fighting would stop on October 18.

In Egypt, the American University in Cairo opened.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, a new railroad opened up.  Or rather a rebuilt raiilway.

The opening of the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway was attended, as all such things were, by the senior British official.

The line had originally been a narrow gauge railway, but  the British reconstructed it to a new, more useful, wider gauge.

While it has been closed from time to time, updates and reconstructions have meant that the rail line remains in use today.

Lex Anteinternet: August 1, 1920. Denver Tramway workers go on strike.

Lex Anteinternet: August 1, 1920. Denver Tramway workers go on strike.:

August 1, 1920. Denver Tramway workers go on strike.

Denver Tramway Building in Denver, which now houses the giant Denver REI outlet.

Workers for Denver Tramway, the cities streetcar company, went on strike on this day in 1920.

Founded in 1886, Denver Tramway had expanded aggressively and become a monopoly in the city.  Its workers founded a union in 1918 and were demanding fare increases in order that their wages could be raised.  Denied their goal, they went out on strike on this day.

 Cable car barn on 14th and Arapahoe.

The company responded by bringing in strike breakers, with the first street car piloted from the cable car barn at 14th and Arapahoe by strike breaker John "Black Jack" Jerome, whom the company had hired to organize strike breakers.  The strike would soon turn violent and up to 1/3d of the cities police reported by August 6 to have received serious injuries.  Denver's mayor called for armed citizens to enforce the peace on that day and Federal troops arrived later that day and restored order.

Cheyenne State Leader from August 1, 1920, noting that strike breakers were being brought in.

The net result was that the union was broken and would not be reorganized until 1933.  Seven Denverites were dead, all of whom were in the nature of bystanders to the violence.

Jerome, who was born Yiannis Petrolekas in Greece, would go on to have a successful career in his dangerous profession.  A poor immigrant to the US who had arrived in 1905, he had first sought his fortune in aviation but in 1917 he changed his name and founded the Jerome Detective Agency.  Having worked in the streetcar industry, he offered its services to strike and union breaking, which made him a rich man.  His company expanded during this time and at one time even employed Dashiell Hammett, prior to his becoming famous.

He invested in real estate and, during the depression, in horse and dog racing.  In 1933 he returned to Greece a rich man, while still retaining business interests in the United States.  He died in San Francisco in 1953, his funeral delayed as an undertakers union went on strike in protest over his having broken a strike of theirs in prior years.

Blog Mirror: Don't let it end like this

Don't let it end like this

Lex Anteinternet: June 2, 1920. Ships and faraway places.

Note hte engine on the far left:

Lex Anteinternet: June 2, 1920. Ships and faraway places.:

June 2, 1920. Ships and faraway places.

Workmen posing before the launch of the USS Neches, Boston Navy Yard, June 2, 1920.  The ship was an oiler that would serve for 22 years until sunk by the Japanese submarine I-72 on January 23, 1942.

On the same day a Shia revolt commenced in Iraq.  Known as the Great Iraqi Revolt, the revolution would run its course for months before the British were able to put it down.  The British would deploy aircraft using air delivered poisonous gas during the war and at least 8,000 Iraqi lives were lost during the conflict, as well as 500 British lives.

The United States Congress rejected the proposal that the country engage in a League of Nations mandate over Armenia.

Lex Anteinternet: May 29, 1920. Good Roads Week.

Lex Anteinternet: May 29, 1920. Good Roads Week.:

May 29, 1920. Good Roads Week.

First East Bay Ship by Truck Tour, May 17-22, 1920, Robert W. Martland, Train Commander.  Copyright deposit, May 29, 1920.  Not juxtaposition next to railroad. . . a sign of things to come.  The five day tour, which included military and civilian trucks, was part of Good Roads Week.

Lex Anteinternet: A Memorial Day Reflection on the Second World War....

Lex Anteinternet: A Memorial Day Reflection on the Second World War....:

Rio Grande terminal in a less than nifty part of Salt Lake City.

 A  need for an Interstate Highway System, by which is meant a good one, was also noted.

This is one of those things where I'd disagree.  It's often stated that Eisenhower was really impressed with the German Autobahn, which was really a massive German public works project during the pre war Nazi years there, and he may have really been. But I think it was the ongoing evolution of the automobile that made the Interstate Highway System come in.  It was billed a defense program but that was, quite frankly, a funding charade.

What that does bring up, however, is the massive expansion of government that started with the Great Depression and which kept on keeping on during World War Two and which never went away thereafter.  It wasn't until the Reagan administration of the 1980s that contraction of any kind started, and its never contracted to its pre 1932 level.  Prior to the Great Depression the nation would never have undertaken a highway construction project on a national level, and not until World War Two would the country thought of trying to pass it off as a defense measure.

That act, of course, lead to the demise of passenger rail in US, so its another thing that had a mixed result.

Lex Anteinternet: Burlington Northern to layoff 130 and to close two...

Lex Anteinternet: Burlington Northern to layoff 130 and to close two...:

Burlington Northern to layoff 130 and to close two maintenance facilities in Wyoming.

The facilities are in Rozet and Guernsey.  

The slow down in the economy is being cited for the reason, brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic. Combined with that, the BNSF heavily relies upon coal hauling, which has been in decline with the decline in coal.

Suffice it to say, bad news for the employees and for the state as well.

Lex Anteinternet: The Wyoming Legislature 2020, Part Two

Lex Anteinternet: The Wyoming Legislature 2020, Part Two: March 7, 2020

A lot of bills died this past week, some of which died through a parliamentary move of legislative leaders just not assigning a bill that passed the other house to a committee.  Stuff like that tends to make the bills supporters mad, but its a long established legislative practice and it demonstrates why a leadership position has real power.

So, as to bills that didn't make it.

* * *

And the House bill that required two man train crews died in the Senate.

Lex Anteinternet: March 1, 2020. Railroads Revert To Civilian Control.

Lex Anteinternet: March 1, 2020. Railroads Revert To Civilian Contro...:

March 1, 2020. Railroads Revert To Civilian Control, Caroline Lockhart hits the Screen.

On this day in 1920, the railroads, which had been taken over by the U.S. Government during World War One reverted to civilian control.



The country's rail had been nationalized during the war and then run by the United States Railroad Administration as the system was proving to not be up to the tasks that were imposed upon it due to the crisis of World War One.  Additionally, concerns over pricing and labor unrest called for the action.  Following the war there was some serious consideration given to retaining national control over the lines, which labor favored, but in the end the government returned the system to its owners.

While U.S. administration of the railroad infrastructure was a success, it was not repeated during the Second World War when the rail system was just as heavily taxed by an even heavier wartime demand.  There proved to be no need to do it during World War Two.



Not too surprisingly, the news featured prominently on the cover of Laramie's newspapers, as the Laramie was, and is, a major Union Pacific Railroad town.

Union Pacific Depot in Laramie, Wyoming.

On the same day a movie featuring Wyoming as the location (which doesn't mean it was filmed here), was released.

The 1916 vintage Burlington Northern depot in Casper, Wyoming.

Likewise, the reversion was big news to the double railhead town of Casper.

Former Great Northwestern Depot in Casper.

The Fighting Sheperdess was the story of just that, a fighting female sheep rancher was was struggling to keep her sheep ranch against raiding cattlemen.

In reality, the sheep wars in Wyoming had largely come to an end by this time, although it was definitely within living memory.  The Spring Creek Raid of 1909 had only been a decade prior, and there had been two more raids in 1911 and 1912, although nobody had been killed in those two latter events.  The peace was, however, still an uneasy one, perhaps oddly aided by a massive decline in sheep, which still were vast in number, caused by economic conditions during the 1910s.  By 1914, the number of sheep on Wyoming's ranges had been cut 40% from recent numbers. World War One reversed the decline, and then dumped the industry flat, as the war increased the demand for wool uniforms and then the demand suddenly ended with the end of Germany's fortunes.  Colorado, however, would see a sheep raid as late as this year, 1920.



The novel the movie was based on was by author, Caroline Lockhart, a figure who is still recalled and celebrated in Cody, Wyoming.

Illinois born Lockhart had been raised on a ranch in Kansas and was college educated.  She had aspired to be an actress but turned to writing and became a newspaper reporter in Boston and Philadelphia before moving to Cody, Wyoming in 1904 at age 33, where she soon became a novelist.  During the war years she relocated to Denver, but was back in Cody shortly thereafter, until she purchased a ranch in Montana, showing how successful her writing had become.  She ranched and wrote from there, spending winters in Cody until she retired there in 1950.  She passed away in 1962.



The Fighting Shepherdess was her fifth of seven published novels, the last being published in 1933.

Lex Anteinternet: The Wyoming Legislature 2020, Part Two: Wyoming legislature passes bill requiring trains to have two crewmen.

Lex Anteinternet: The Wyoming Legislature 2020, Part Two: February 28, 2020

In other legislative news, a bill that would require train crews to be no less than two passed.