Saline Valley Salt Tram: February 2010

Monday, February 22, 2010

Timing Bell at Control Stations

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

SaltTram.blogspot.com SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com
Salt Tram history is rapidly disappearing, and we are striving to rediscover the efforts of our forefathers in order to give proper recognition to their hopes, dreams and abundant sweat from an era that is rapidly fading from our memories. We are actively seeking out information about the mining of Salt in Saline Valley between 1903 and the 1940's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you! --Tim and Brian Waag, the Waag brothers (aka E. Clampus Waagus).

Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links:
http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ca/Inyo/state.html
http://www.noehill.com/inyo/nat1974000514.asp

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QUESTION 1: Determine how the timing bell functioned - both physically and operationally.

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Photo courtesy of the Eastern California Museum. Click on photo to enlarge.

RICK (ORIGINAL QUESTION): What kind of power was used to activate the signal bells at the Control Station? Footnote: did you know that William Randolph Hearst (Hearst Castle) put in a set of bells at the main house but decided he did not like them .... consequently, no one ever heard them "back in the day". Not too long ago, the park service decided to fire them up ... and as far as I know they still run them, but only at noon. If a person were to take the "Garden Tour" that starts at about 11:40 am .... you can hear them ..... no other tour would be in the exact correct place at the estate to hear them at that time of day as far as I know.

Photo Courtesy of the Patterson Family. Red circle identfies the location of the bellset at what we believe was Control Station 4 (current condition of CS 4 is completely vandalized, destroyed and carted away). Click on photo to enlarge.

TIM: The ASCE 1917 article references the fact that the salt carriers' spacing was controlled by the *tap of a spacing gong* (see ASCE 1917 document below). We haven't yet analyzed the *spacing gong* functionality in detail, but there is a a historic photo from the Eastern California Museum (see above). The photo of our Salt Tram diarest, Cliff Patterson, at what I believe is CS 4, and the bells can clearly be seen (and circled in red in the photo). Sadly, the photo is not all that clear. Re: heart castle - still run the bells, as far as I know.

BRIAN: Don't know for sure what voltage the bell operated at. Can't assume it's 120 vac. Don't know the operating voltage of the bells. The motor voltage was 2200 volts, and assume that there was at one time a transformer to step the voltage down for operation of the bells? No evidence of a step down transformer but certainly could have been removed by someone as unfortunately there was quite a bit of vandalism to the conduit and wire. There were wires hanging off but the conduit was pretty much gone so hard to say what operated them.

TIM: I believe that the loading station had a timing mechanism for spacing of the salt buckets as they left the station. I don't believe that there was a need for that mechanism at any of the changeover / control stations, as going in and out of the changeover stations should not have significantly changed the spacing of the buckets. Believe that the bells shown in the old photos were for the ringing of the telephone system that we know was employed by the Salt Tram.

LEWIS: The Bell pictured would have a relay/ coil circuit that would operate very similar to the old bell ringer in a older telephone. (remember those?) A voltage would energize a coil which would cause the striker to hit one bell, the voltage would then be cut off causing the striker to hit the other bell. Typically this would be an AC voltage at a low frequency, 40 to 60Hz thus cycling on/off. There are other simple circuit configurations for ringing bells that may be used. Over time, the relay in the bell unit would be frozen from exposure to the elements. Also, the plate that can be seen in the picture on the cover of the ringer circuit would list the necessary operating voltage.

TIM: Below (document Courtesy of the Brian Webb collection): the text below that is highlighted in red, gives an indication of the purpose of the spacing gongs. Note that it only describes the gong at the Loading Station at the Salt Lake, and not those the bells that used to exist at the Control Stations, whose function is still uncertain, but I believe is for the ringing of the telephone system.

CRB: My 2 cents worth: I think the spacing gong is a different concept than the bells pictured. "A tap of an automatic spacing gong" brings to mind a gong with a striker that hits once when needed. The bell pictured in the photo was most likely a remote telephone bell ringer such as you would see in a noisy environment such as a shop, plant or the tramway, which I would imagine was quite noisy. While I don’t remember any telephone equipment during our visits in the 1960's, I do remember quite clearly old crank wall phones at Beveridge millsite, that ran up to the mine and perhaps to some of the other cabins further down the canyon. I have a very similar bell to the one pictured, and will attempt to locate it and see what voltage actuated it. If I recall correctly, the old hand crank telephone magnetos produced 40-60 volts, definitely enough to give you a tingle.

TIM: Yes, I bet the bells (shown in the first photo above) were for the telephone line, not for the so-called spacing gong! Like I said, what would be the point of a spacing gong at a mid-control station? In theory, the carriers / buckets should *already* be spaced. I wondered how the phone lines used at the Salt Tram might have worked - they certainly had to ring so that they knew to answer the phone, and they would have had to have been loud to be heard over the operation of the tram itself - I think you are on to something!

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click to go to SALT TRAM HOME

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Station 2 Analysis

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

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QUESTION 1: Walk all the towers between Station 1 (the first station West of the Salt Lake) and Station 2 (the second station West of the Salt Lake and near the foot of the Inyo Mountains). Determine the reason that the numerous A-towers have fallen over (by the early 1960's, they were already down), and how much of the wood has been removed, if any. It has been suggested that they fell over when the tram cables were being collected and recycled, thought I question this. The cables were NEVER attached to these towers (they go through the guide wheels and saddles) and are close to the ground (little climbing necessary), so why wouldn't a person just extricate the cables from each tower, then haul the cable away, rather than go to all the extra effort to pull the cables so hard that dozens of towers were pulled off their concrete foundations?

QUESTION 2: Using the photos in this post, carefully examine and analyze the fallen remains of Station 2. From the photo evidence on this page, it appears that no more pillaging of Station 2 took place between 1962 and the present, although the tower did fall over towards the north since 1962.

QUESTION 3: See if the old road that weaves around the tramline between Station 1 and the Saline Lake can still be found (click on photo below - taken around 1916) and walk it, looking for elements of the salt tram story.

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(click on all photos to enlarge).

Notice: identification of this as Station 2 is only tentative, and will be confirmed at a future date.

It all started when some photos of what we believe is Station 2 in Saline Valley surfaced, which were taken somewhere around 1963. According to the 1917 ASCE document (Doc02), Station 2 is a "Anchorage and Tension Station". I am embarassed to admit that I'll have to figure that one out - we know that "tension" stations contain weighted boxes that take the slack out of the track cable, and (just a guess) that "anchorage" stations are the ones where the track cable is cemented into the concrete. I believe that Station 2 had 2 "Weight Boxes", that I believe would have tensioned both Track Cable towards Station 1 (just a guess). Need more research on this, as it is hard to ascertain from photos where the cables are attached.

In any case, here is a nice historical photos of Station 2, which we have visited numerous times:

The first photo shows Station 2 while looking to the west. It reveals the unusual sloped ladder access that is not commonly found on Stations - they usually have 1x6 boards hammered to the corner beams with 5 nails, to serve as access ladders (and scary ones at that, even back in the day!). Note that you can barely make out the pack trail in the background just to the left of the middle of Station 2. There is also an empty cable spool on the ground in the lower right corner.

Now we come to the exciting new photos that were taken in 1962 of Station 2. They show a partially dismantled station that is still standing from several different angles.

This 1962 photo of Station 2 shows that the western section of the tower has been removed, with the eastern part still standing.

This next 1962 photo gives a better look at what is left of the structure. There are 2 Weighted Boxes (the fat one on the left, and the tall skinny one on the right), along with the photo contributor's 1961 blue and white Scout on the bottom left of the photo.

This last photo is significant, because the many A-frame type of towers located between Station 2 and Station 1 are observed to be fallen over in present times, and apparently, they also had fallen over by the time these photos were taken in 1962.

Finally, a few modern day photos that show what is left today.

At right is a contemporary shot of Station 2 in its collapsed state. The photo is facing towards the Saline Lake. The "fat" Weighted Boxes is revealed by the exposed rock pile, while the "skinny" Weighted Box is still standing. The remains of the tower itself fell towards the northwest.

Here is station 2 from high up on the hill above it. Station 2 is the largest structure in the photo, and closest to the bottom of the photo. One of our vehicles appears just to the left of the collapsed Station 2 structure.

Last but not least, here is a shot of Brian and his Landcruiser, with Station 2 in the background. He reminds me of the monster in some scary movie, but I can't remember exactly which one! (I think we decided it was the "Creature from the Black Lagoon").

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click to go to SALT TRAM HOME

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 5:30pm: Salt Tram Presentation

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

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This post is an update to the following post made in December 2009:

http://salttram.blogspot.com/2009/12/set-your-calendar-for-saturday-march-13.html

Brian and I just finished last Sunday 2/14/10 our Powerpoint Presentation (a mere 45 slides for an hour talk), and we're pretty happy with what we carved out in about 3 or 4 hours. The outline is as follows:

Part I - In the Beginning, There Was Salt! (Tim)
Part II - We Hiked the Bucket Brigade - Round 2! (Brian)
Part III - Conclusion and Questions (Tim & Brian)

If you would like a copy of this Powerpoint Presentation, please email us at:
SalineValleySaltTram@Gmail.com (we need to mail a CD of it to you, as it us
160 meg - due to large number of photos).

Also, we just got this additional information from the Eastern California Museum:

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Friends of ECM Event Website

Friends of the Eastern California Museum
Annual Meeting and Membership Dinner
Saturday, March 13, 2010

Owens Valley High School Multi Purpose Room
202 S. Clay Street, Independence, California

4:00 p.m. –Reception and Preview of the Women of the Eastern Sierra Exhibit at the Museum
5:30 p.m. (Owens Valley High School) - Potluck Dinner, Introduction of Officers, Guest Speakers

Tim and Brian Waag-- Guest Speakers
(Wow, I actually found a photo of the two of us at the Salt Tram - in the SAME photo!)
The Saline Valley Salt Tram

The Waag brothers’ presentation will begin with the genesis of Tennessee-born White Smith's inspiration to build this truly one-of-a-kind Saline Valley salt mine and 13.5 mile tramway over the entire Inyo Mountains to Owens Valley and its railroad spur. Tim and Brian will then lead a guided pictorial tour of their hazardous 3 day trek along the entire Salt Tram route, starting in Owens Valley and ending in Saline Valley. Finally, they will focus on the many mysteries that still confront them regarding the Salt Tram's construction, operation, bankruptcies, wild bucket rides, and its ultimate demise.

For further information please contact:
Roberta Harlan at 760-873-8583 or Elaine Delaney at 760-878-2625

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Friends of the Eastern California Museum
P.O. BOX 33
INDEPENDENCE, CA 93526

February 2010

Dear Friends:

We’re happy to report that 2009 was a very productive and active year for the Friends of the Eastern California Museum (FECM). Inyo County budget cuts affected funding for the Museum so the support provided by the Friends in 2009 was especially crucial and the need will continue through the foreseeable future. FECM supported nearly all of the museum exhibits such as the Norman Clyde Exhibit which was featured in the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fresno Bee, Sacramento Bee, and LA Sierra Club newsletter and web page. That is why we urge you to renew your membership in FECM for 2010.

The Friends of the Eastern California Museum provided $16,340 mostly from membership dues, to help support Museum exhibits and educational activities, and assist in Museum operations. Museum Director Jon Klusmire noted, “The museum’s entire expense budget for the fiscal year is about $26,000 – that includes utilities (about half the total), office supplies, advertising, and general operations. Without FECM, it would be tough to put on exhibits, pay an intern, do a basic, necessary level of advertising and promotions and improve the building and facilities.” Friends volunteers also cleaned up and made improvements to the grounds around the historic Commander’s House in downtown Independence.

Thank you to all the dedicated Friends who supported the Friends of the Eastern California Museum during the past year. Your support is more important than ever. With your continued support, the Museum plans to continue hosting a steady schedule of educational and informative talks, as well as exciting fundraisers, events, and exhibits in 2010.
Please use the form attached below to renew your membership for 2010.

Best wishes for the New Year!— The Friends of the Eastern California Museum Board of Trustees
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join the Friends of the Eastern California Museum
YES! I want to support the Eastern California Museum and its programs by becoming a member of the Friends!
Name:____________________________________Address:__________________________________________
City:______________________________________State:______Zip Code:__________Phone:______________
Email Address:______________________________________________________________________________ Check if you would like to help the Friends cut costs by receiving your newsletter electronically       _
I enclose my payment of $___________ (Make check payable to FECM, P.O. Box 33, Independence, CA 93526)

Membership Type (please check one):
_ Individual or subscription ($25)
_ Supporting ($150)
_ Family ($40)
_ Patron ($250)
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_ Benefactor ($1000 and up)
Members receive a newsletter, invitations to special events, and a 10% discount at the Eastern California Museum Bookstore
Visit the Friends of the Eastern California Museum website at FECM33.org (where
it is now on their website!)

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Since Roberta asked me to write a bio for Brian and me, as well as a description of our
presentation, I wrote this big long thing that she, of course, cut down (as she should). Given
the affordability of bits & bytes on the internet, however, I am reproducing it for anyone out
there who might care to read it (our Mom, maybe? Dad? How about you, Dad? If either of you
read this, cell phone me and I'll give you a $100 - that's the safest $100 I'll ever have!).

Tim and Brian Waag's Bio and Presentation Description (all rolled into one!)
White Smith's Amazing Salt Tram

Tim Waag and his younger brother Brian have been adventurers and explorers since the time they first got lost at the Death Valley sand dunes at night (distances in the desert are farther than they appear!), when they attempted to cross them late in the day, and had their mother wandering along the highway 3 hours after dark, tears in her eyes, wondering if they would ever come out alive. Since then, they've rarely finished a hike with any daylight left in the skies, as the draw of desert exploration pulls them every deeper into the unknown.

Its hard to write a suitable (or short) bio as it relates to a borderline obsession (for them) such as the Salt Tram, just as it is difficult to describe the attraction to something that on its face, is merely a mundane salts transportation mechanism that has long since passed its usefulness, with a subset of its once grandiose machinery managing to cling to the inhospitable Inyo Mountains, that supposed ugly stepsister to the grand and dandy Sierra's across the valley.

The boys grew up together in El Segundo, next to LAX, where Brian found lifetime employment as an Electrician and later, as a Procurement Manager for Chevron. Tim headed up the road, to get a BS in Math and Computer Science at UCLA, followed by an MS in Management Science at USC. After 12 years of software development work at TRW, Tim and his family moved to San Luis Obispo in 1992 where they currently reside, and where Tim is an office manager for a law firm.

The real story here, of course, is the every increasing pull of the Salt Tram itself, when construction began in 1911, started operation in 1913, and ceased its salt deliveries by 1932 as the recession settled in for the decade. From the first time a person sets their eyes on its massive structures, they are hooked, just like the Waag's were. Repeated visits only emboldened them to learn more, and in learning more, found that it has never been thoroughly investigated and documented for the wonderful, crazy idea from another time that it represents. They decided they were up to the challenge of drawing in as much as there is to know about the amped up ambition of local Bishop attorney White Smith, and his desire to build what is referred to as "White Smith's Fabulous Salt Tram". That title is courtesy of the late and marvelous desert wanderer and researcher, Mary Dedecker, which first appeared in the Death Valley 49ers Keepsake No. 3 from November, 1993.

The Waag brother's presentation will begin with the genesis of Tennessee-born White Smith's inspiration to build this truly one-of-a-kind Saline Valley salt mine and 13.5 mile tramway over the entire Inyo Mountains to Owens Valley and its railroad spur. Tim and Brian will then lead a guided pictorial tour of their hazardous 3 day trek along the entire Salt Tram route, starting in Owen's Valley and ending in Saline Valley. Finally, they will focus on the many mysteries that still confront them regarding the Salt Tram's construction, operation, bankruptcies, wild bucket rides, and ultimate demise.

The Eastern California Museum is currently seeking historical resource information about the Salt Tram, including but not limited to photos, artifacts, stories, and documents - if you have information that could assist with this effort to preserve the history of this magnificent monument to the "can-do" attitude of the pioneers of Owens Valley, it would be most appreciated. For frequent updates on the progress of the Saline Valley Salt Tram Research Project, please see www.SaltTram.blogspot.com.

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click to go to SALT TRAM HOME

Monday, February 8, 2010

San Lucas Canyon Road

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

SaltTram.blogspot.com SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com
Little is left of the Salt Tram and its diggin's. The Waag Bros. are actively seeking out information about the Saline Valley Salt Tram and the Salt Mine between 1903 and the 1960's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you! --Tim and Brian Waag, the Waag brothers (aka E. Clampus Waagus).

Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links: http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ca/Inyo/state.html http://www.noehill.com/inyo/nat1974000514.asp

*****QUESTION 1: (To Do) Hike the section of San Lucas Canyon Road between Saline Valley Road and the San Lucas Canyon Narrows, along the road that is barely discernable from Google Earth, looking for dated artifacts alongside the road from the Sierra Salt era. Bring the 8x10 print-outs of the historic photos with us, and match up those photos that we have still not matched up yet; to properly do the matchups, we need to continue hiking about a quarter to a half mile west of the San Lucas narrows section. Find an old map that shows the pink road below from the mouth of San Lucas Canyon Narrows to the Saline Valley Road (none of the maps that we have shows it; trying to find an older map that does have it on the map - want to see if the double track "use" road matches the original Salt road used by the Moreland Motor Trucks.

Above: Salt Lake in upper left corner of Google Earth image. Green Line is the Saline Valley Road. Pink Line is the road from the Saline Valley Road to the mouth of San Lucas Canyon. The waypoint marked as SLCN (San Lucas Canyon Narrows) is the site of the fascinating narrows section of this Sierra Salt road. Note that the road in pink is still visible on Google Earth.

Above: antique map of unknown vintage (supplied by M. Bizon of Darwin). It indeed shows the approximate route that was traced in pink in the Google Earth image above the map. In addition, it also shows another side road that appears to now be the Saline Valley Road coming in from South Pass (about 1 or 2 miles to the east of the San Lucas Canyon to Salt Lake Road) - SV Road takes a turn right around that same location.

*****QUESTION 2: DONE! Re-hike the section of San Lucas Canyon Road between the trailhead on the Cerro Gordo side and to below the dry falls , along the road that is barely discernable from Google Earth, looking for dated artifacts alongside the road from the Sierra Salt era. We hiked this section of road twice - once, when Tim was in a cast on his right leg and could only explore by hopping around the trailhead, and the 2nd time, when we were able to explore the San Lucas Canyon narrows more carefully. Bring the 8x10 print-outs of the historic photos with us, and match up those photos that we have still not matched up yet.

*****QUESTION 3: Sierra Salt Company teamed with Inyo County to build the San Lucas Canyon road. When was the San Lucas Canyon road built?

*****Caution: the San Lucas Canyon narrows are difficult to access, and dangerous and scary once you are there, so proceed with extreme caution. The slopes have steep drop-offs and are unstable, so you have been warned!

Above: Green cross is the trailhead where we parked our cars; we did this hike starting from here twice. The pink is the canyon bottom route that stops at the top of the start of the narrows.

*****Introduction to the San Lucas Canyon Road: Sierra Salt Company teamed with Inyo County to build the San Lucas Canyon road, located at the north end of the Nelson Range where it intersects the Inyo Mountains. Though mostly tame over most of it's run, it is famous for its crazy cliffside route through the short but crazy San Lucas Canyon narrows. The Sierra Salt Company first trucked salt out of Saline Valley on its trucks on June 15, 1926 (see below; photo Courtesy of Eastern California Museum). The road was abandoned by the Sierra Salt Company a few years later due to the high maintenance costs of keeping the road open in the steep narrows section.

Above: Found an oil changing depot of sorts along San Lucas Canyon Road - perhaps it was for the 1920's Salt Trucks that slowly made their way along this road for a few years?

According to legend, the last trip down this road was made in the sixties, by Colonel Rogers and Fred Story, two local miners. The trip by automobile was said to require men with fearless souls, filled with an unspecified (but substantial?) amount of alcohol. Reaching the San Lucas Canyon narrows from Lee Flat (west) side requires a hike of only about 3.5 miles to reach the narrows. A hiker could continue down the canyon and come out on the Saline Valley floor, and within easy reach of the Saline Valley Road

Above: Brian on the road in the San Lucas Canyon Dry Falls on a trip in February, 2009:

*****Trip Report in March 2010: Our 2nd Exploration of San Lucas Canyon Road - Tim, Brian, Mark, Greg and Alan got a late start hiking down the long dry wash of San Lucas Canyon. We approached the trailhead coming in from the Lee Flat area and heading east. We didn't start our hike until about 2:45pm, and it took about 1.5 hours of hard downhill humping along the largely roadless drywash from the trailhead to get there. Surprisingly, it only took us 1.5 hours of steady uphill hiking to get back to the cars on the return trip. In between, we had about an hour to explore the area, with rock-climber Mark finding a route down the falls the did not require the use of the climbing ropes that he so kindly brought for this adventure (thanks, Mark!).

Weeks after the hike, we were informed by the locals that even though there is a boulder in the middle of the road down San Lucas Canyon, the road itself is still open all the way down to the first set of dry falls (shown in the photo below - facing east or down canyon). Next time we go there, we can drive at least half of the distance that we hiked on this trip. In the first section of the canyon road, there is a perfectly passable high clearance 2wd road until you get to the falls shown in the photo below.

Above: Beginning of the San Lucas Canyon narrows, as you are heading east towards Saline Valley. West of this section is a high clearance 2 wheel drive road up to this point.

We attempted to match historical photos from the Eastern California Museum to locations along the hike. Given the late hour, we didn't have a lot of time to do that, unfortunately - but we find a few matches, some of which are shown below.

*****Caution! We cannot emphasize enough how dangerous going up and down the dry falls section can be. On our first trip to San Lucas Canyon narrows in February of 2009, Brian was not able to negotiate the falls himself, and Doug and Lewis didn't try (probably due to the effects of vertigo at this site!). On the February, 2009 trip, Tim was not able to do the hike because he was in a cast on his right leg from ankle surgery. However, Tim did accompany the Waag Bros. team to the trailhead and guard the trucks (and drink alot of beer, no doubt!).

Above: Google Earth image of San Lucas Canyon narrows, looking towards the west.

*****Hike Description from Lee Flat Trailhead towards Saline Valley - We started our March 2010 hike at the trailhead where the dirt road curves up/west towards the Bonham Talc Mines. The hike is on an open and beautiful desert canyon double-track road, until the first set of dry falls is reached. From there, the trail would be hard to navigate in a stock 4x4 (see photo above).

As you enter the narrows, the canyon gets more and more interesting. The walls are contorted with colorful sedimentary rock displayed in interesting arrays as you work your way down canyon. Eventually, you reach the top of the narrows, where the show starts. The Sierra Salt Company carved the road here out of a massive dry falls area. In order to maintain a grade that the salt trucks could traverse with their heavy loads, the road was carved into the the cliffs and snaked from one side of the canyon to the other in a most amazing fashion.

This trip, we did manage to find a route down the dry falls, but it wasn't easy. The route down traverses the type of terrain where one slip and you're headed for an air lift evacuation and the hospital - so exercise all caution. A disappointingly few manmade artifacts were found on this dayhike. What was found was limited to a couple of auto parts of unknown vintage, and used railroad ties living a second life as shoring for some amazingly high stacked rock walls for the narrows section of the road. We only had an hour to explore the narrows, so we didn't get far down canyon. The topo indicates that the narrows in San Lucas Canyon are extensive, though rarely do the walls close in to within 20 feet of each other.

*****Let's take a look at a few random photos - The photos displayed below are both historical (from the 1920's Sierra Salt era), and from our March 2010 hike. The initials D. B. stands for Don Becker, another Salt Tram expert who is now hiding out in Oregon. The annotations that accompany the historical photos were written by Mr. Becker on the back of the displayed photos; for your convenience, I have put them together into a single image.

Above: north side of San Lucas Canyon (Photo courtesy Eastern California Museum; click to enlarge)

Above: Photo of Tim standing on the road in roughly the same spot as the driver of the Sierra Salt truck is in the photo above this one.

Above: Remnants of massive retaining wall on south side of canyon; note the railroad ties used to hold together the massive stone wall (Photo courtesy E. Clampus Waagus Press; click to enlarge)

Above: Passenger auto in center left of photo at upper end of the dry falls on the south side of the canyon (Photo courtesy Eastern California Museum; click to enlarge)

Above: remnants of road on South side of canyon - Brian is the guy on the far right under the overhang (Photo courtesy E. Clampus Waagus Press; click to enlarge)

*****Additional reference information: You can also take a look at Major Tom's website that gives a San Lucas Canyon report (click on link): Major Tom's San Lucas Canyon Report

********************click to go to Salt Tram Home********************

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Station 1 Analysis

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

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QUESTION 1: Walk all the towers between Station 1 and the Saline Lake. Determine the reason that the numerous A-towers fell over, and how much of the wood has been removed.

QUESTION 2: Find the location of Station 1. Using the photos in this post, carefully examine and analyze what, if anything, remains of Station 1; although Brian recalls visiting the site of Station 1 and seeing only concrete, foundations, I do not recall. Note in the side-by-side photo below that I believe Station 1 can be seen in BOTH photos as a dark spec along the tram line between Station 2 and Station 1.

QUESTION 3: Brian recently claimed that we DID look at Station 1, and that all was gone except for the concrete foundations. However, in the modern photos of the tram route, as viewed from Control Station 1, there is still a large black dot where Station 1 "used to be", so I'm skeptical. On our May 2010 exploratory trip, we will be checking this out. See the photo below to see for yourself. Stay tuned.

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(click on all photos to enlarge).

It all started when some photos of what we believe is Station 1 in Saline Valley surfaced, which were taken in 1963; unfortunately, these now appear to be photos of Station 2 and NOT Station 1; note that identification of Station 1 and 2 numbering right now is TENTATIVE, but we will sort this out before it is all said and done.

Click here for Station 2 Analysis and 1960s photos of Station 2

This station is believed to be unique among Salt Tram stations because it is the only double-tension structure in the entire Salt Tramway, at least according to the 1917 ASCE document (Doc02) - see excerpt from that document below - red underline.

The Eastern California Museum provided us with photocopies of some of their Salt Tram photos, and I scanned one of the photocopies, which is (naturally) of low quality, but it does show the structure of Station 1, and it does appear, indeed, to be a double-tension structure (as described), and it does appear to be Station 1:

Its hard to tell. with the poor resolution, exactly which cables are being tensioned. However, given that this is an intermediate station (and not a Control Station where the each of the 5 tramway circuits terminates and starts), I am not aware of how the traction cable can be tensioned here. Therefore, the 4 "Box of Rox" (BOR) must be tensioning each of the track cables in both directions. What is not clear is why the BOR are of different shapes and sizes. However, I believe that ech of the 4 BOR are tensioning the track cables in both directions. It is approximately 2.5 miles from the Saline Lake Loading Terminal to Station 1, so it would make sense that both track cables are tensioned here over this large stretch of relatively flat ground (715 feet of elevation gain from the lake to Station 1). For the uphill direction, it is a short distance to Control Station 1, a mere 8/10ths of a mile, but almost 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Normally, one end of the track cable is concrete into a huge cement block, but we will need to examine Control Station 1 to see if that is the case, or whether the track cable here is tensioned with BORs on both ends.

In any case, here are a few nice historical photos of Station 1:

This historical photo shows Station 1 facing roughly towards the Saline Lake with 1 bucket heading out and one bucket just entering the station.

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Friday, February 5, 2010

Salt Tram Discharge Station: INTRO

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

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QUESTION 1:There is much research left to be done to determine how the Salt Tram Discharge Station Complex functioned. Missing data needs to be filled in as best as possible. Without further concrete data (no pun intended) about the Salt Tram Discharge Station (from photos, engineering drawings, etc. of the Salt Tram), our one great hope is the recently acquired book entitled "Salt in California", State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Bulletin 175, 1957, Division of Mines, Ferry Building, San Francisco, by William E. Ver Planck (with a chapter by Robert F. Heizer), Price $3.25, March, 1958. This book (all 273 pages of it - thanks Tom for printing it out for us!), has 2 chapters which may prove useful: Chapter 2: Methods of Recovery, and Chapter 3: The Refining of Salt.

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Photo above (Courtesy of Eastern California Museum): Wide angle view of the Salt Tram Discharge Station Complex, as seen looking west towards Owens Lake. This scan of a print is a proof from a very large printout by "Bledsoe Photo Co. of L. A. Cal".

November, 2009 Salt Tram Research Trip (Independence, California): We made this trip to begin our periodical research, but made a side trip out to Swansea to take another look at the Salt Tram Discharge Station. Each time we visit a Salt Tram site, we are armed with greater knowledge of its operation, and therefore, find more evidence on the ground that previously went either unnoticed, or unrecognized. Brian and I went out with Chris "Lucky Pabst" (of Lone Pine) and explored around for a few hours. We brought our 100' tape measure, and scratched out this pathetic drawing (apologies to BWebb) that gives an idea of the layout of the Salt Tram's western-most industrial (non-residential) structures.

The next 2 blog posts also discuss the Discharge Station in excessive detail, but I will list here what we did find on this brief excursion:

1) The history books managed to dub the Salt Tram's mini-city at the discharge station as "Tramway", for that was what was listed in the railroad maps as the name of this side spur destination. However, judging from "Cliff" Patterson's diary, in which he referred to this site as "Swansea", that is what we shall call it, until a reason to call it something else comes along. (I dug out the National Geographic Topo Software and created this little map; the route in blue from the Salt Tram Discharge Station to Swansea is 1.1 miles; the red extension of the Salt Tram is due to the fact that, for some strange reason, this one tiny segment of the tramway is NOT shown on the topo map; and finally, the Swansea town complex, never very large, is circled in red).

2) Historical references indicate that 2 wells in the area of Swansea supplied water to the Salt Tram workers, and we found one of them, and no, we didn't take a photo 'cuz nobody had a camera on them at the time (long story; but short story: we're not too bright, sometimes).

3) There are petroglyphs nearby - and no, no photos of them either.

4) With the help of Chris and Mike A., we found the long-removed side spur railroad bed, and no, no pictures of that either. We stood on the spot where the spur connected to the main line (that went to Lone Pine?), and no, no photos of that either. We found the one section that is still asphaulted into the highway (really, and its really cool), and no, no photos of that either.

5) There was a nearby Chinese camp that was alleged to have been for the laborers who built this side spur. We actually found the camp, and the pipe that fed the camp with water from a nearby spring - you guessed it, no photos of this either.

6) Concrete foundation for the water tank shown in several photos no photos of that either. But at least we have a historical photo of the water tank for you to see:

7) The remains of one of the largest outhouses in the world (okay, an exageration) - no photos of that either. And yes, we do have a historical photo of the crapper, and here it is (also courtesy of the Eastern California Museum!):

8) We found lots of other stuff, but since this was a preliminary investigation, we'll document and photograph these things at a later date.

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DISCHARGE STATION FUNCTIONS. This is my current understanding of the salt mining operation that took place at the Salt Tram Discharge Station:

1. DISCHARGE TERMINAL: This 4 story structure served as the final destination for the fully laden salt carriers (buckets). Upon arrival, they were automatically detached from the traction cable, giving the operator 56 seconds to dump the bucket into a chute that dumped the salt in a bin below the carrier deck (sounds so Navy!) using gravity. In fact, the reason the final station situated alongside the every drier Owen's (semi) Dry Lake was so tall was, in fact, to take advantage of gravity, where moving 20 tons of salt per hour (the stated capacity of the tramway) without the help of gravity would be plain silly! After dumping, the operator would push the salt carrier back towards Saline Valley, where the traction cable would automatically be re-attached and the bucket would be one its very long way back for another load of salt.

2. SALT STORAGE: We believe that the Salt Tram did not run all year 'round, with much evidence to support that. For instance, the capacity of the discharge terminal operations to process salt was much less than the 20 tons per hour that the tramway was capable of delivery the salt, logically supporting the need to run the tramway only at a level to support the salt procesing operations. Also, the historical photos show salt being piled up both at the Saline Lake (waiting to ride the tramway to Swansea), and being piled up at Swansea (waiting for its turn in the salt drier, followed by the salt grinders). Therefore, the machinery at the Discharge Station clearly show a path to mass storage of salt, which consisted of a giant pile of the white stuff (we wonder, with the strong winds know to pass through the area on a frequent basis, how often the salt pile was buffeted by winds, and how much was blown off the pile?).

3. SALT DRYING: The salt came by way of tramway to the discharge station with a moisture content that varied from moist to soggy. Therefore, the salt drier did its thing to dry the raw salt. We assume (with no evidence yet) that it was dried before it was grinded into different grades of salt - makes sense to us, yet we are seeking actual evidence to support this fact - stay tuned.

4. SALT GRINDING: To turn pure, dry salt into saleable products, grinding to various grades is required. Some mention is made of 5 to 8 grades of salt, from rock salt for roads, to powdery salt for flatjack mix. This complex had machinery, probably powered by that new and convenient energy source, electricity, that ground the salt into the necessary grades before bagging and shipping.

5. SALT PACKAGING: Evidence suggests that the various grades of salt required various sizes of bags in which it is sacked and shipped. This required machinery to sack and seal the bags, although it appears that human power was used to stack the bags next to the railroad (see the historical photos), and further, to move the sack pile into the railroad cars themselves.

6. SALT SHIPPING: Once dried, grinded, and sacked, the bags of salt were moved onto the railroad cars for shipping to various salt depos across the land (or least where the railroad tracks carried them).

7. BUSINESS OFFICE: The Swansea Salt Tram complex was the closest buildings to civilization, so we imagine that there must have been a business office for the "care and feeding" of the available salt sales outlets. Before being shipped, there surely must have been sales contracts, and communication of shipping and receiving dates and methods of payments. These buildings pictured are large, and surely had room for a business office or two. Note also that in the diary of Henry Clifton Patterson, he gives frequent reference to "spending the day in the office", which well may have referred to the office at Swansea.

CONCLUSION: Much activity went on at the massive Salt Tram Discharge Station Complex, and we have much to learn about how, when and why these operations were conducted - a large task indeed!

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Salt Tram Discharge Station: HISTORICAL

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

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This post uses the crude map of the discharge station site to highlight some of the views of few remaining photos of this once mighty facility. Unfortunately, we have (so far) only discovered 2 photos of the inside of this facility (3 if you count the salt driver before the building was paneled with corrugated metal), and these are both of poor quality. Nonetheless, all 3 are displayed here. Historical photos in this sequence are (by and large) courtesy of the Eastern Sierra Museum in Independence, California.

The red image numbers (of the not-to-scale floor plan) correspond to the photos with the same numbers. The red arrow indicates the direction in which the photo was taken, thus clarifying the orientation of the image. In most cases, the photo was taken much further away than is indicated in the drawing.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Image 1 (below) gives a great view of the Salt Tram Discharge Station, clearly showing stacked bags of salt, 3 railroad cars waiting to be loaded, a stockpile of salt ready to be dried during the winter months (when the tram did not run), and what we believe could be the discarded remains of the original salt drier (more on this in the next blog post).

Image 2 (below) is a fascinating and rare photo, showing the Discharge Station looking from the back out towards Owens (somewhat) dry lake. It shows some great details, many of which we have yet to figure out their function. The large pole in the left center of the frame is not (we believe) a power pole, as there are no insulators on the pole where the wires are attached, but we have yet to determine its function. It appears that the platform near the top is for a person to stand upon, and there is a cable going straight down from the top of the pole that may have been used for a person to climb to said platform. This photo also gives many more clues as to the operation of this discharge complex. Another mysterious detail are the strange structures (we don't even know how to describe them!) attached to the cable, and being spread out like a deck of cards in the hands of a magician! Once again, if anybody out there understands the functioning of this machinery, please contact us!

Image 3 (below) shows the Tramway Discharge Terminal looking to the North. From this shot, it is obvious that the tram has been running for some years, as there is a bucket on the tramway, 3 autos parked near the back, and a large junk pile further to the east (to the right of the cars).

Image 4 (below) gives a great frontal view of this monstrous Salt Tram Discharge Station facility. The railroad tracks from the spur serving the Salt Works are hard to see in the front of this building, but they are there. The building, with the exception of the 3-story Tramway Bucket turnaround structure (which is largely open to the elements), is constructed using the Board-and-Batten Siding style. This style consists of boards that are secured vertically to the exterior of the building, with smaller boards secured over the joints. In the U.S., this was a popular siding for barns, as well as houses between 1850-1920. Notice the large spools of tramway cable in the foreground.

Image 5 (below) shows one of only 2 interior shots of the Salt Tram Discharge Station. We have no idea what function the machinery performed, but believe that it would have been powered by electricity, just like the Salt Tram itself (if you can identify the function of any of the machinery in this photo, please email or call us ASAP - thanks!). Also of great significance is the use of indoor electrical lighting, as evidenced by the 2 lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. We have no idea where this machinery would have been located in the Discharge Station complex.

Image 6 (below) shows the huge salt drier used, not surprisingly, to dry the still moist to dripping wet salt that was recently trammed over the Inyo Mountains. It is not clear from this photo whether or not the drier was currently operational, as there is both evidence for and against that proposition in this photo; currently, we lean towards it being operational in this photo, if what we assume to be bags of salt (ready for shipment) actually are bags of salt! (they could, of course, be many other things besides salt). Of greater interest for our purposes here, it is clear to us that the concrete foundations for this drier do NOT match what is currently "en situ" (see next blog post for further details). For this reason, we believe that at some point in time during the salt mining operation, this original drier was replaced with a new drier, which required a completely different foundation. Also of interest here is the lack of corrugated tin outer paneling that appears in all other photos of this section of the discharge station. Whether this drier operated without benefit of a weather-protection enclosure, or the enclosing metal had yet to be installed is not clear to us.

Image 7 (below) was taken from the following publication (its sure a mouthful!):

California State Mining Bureau
Ferry Building, San Francisco

FLETCHER HAMILTON, State Mineralogist
San Francisco] [December 1917
Report XV
of the
STATE MINERALOGIST
Mines and Mineral Resources
OF PORTIONS OF
CALIFORNIA
Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report
Biennial Period 1915-1916
CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE
SACRAMENTO
1919

Image 7 shows a surprisingly detailed interior of what appears to be a salt bagging plant. The photo is staged to some degree, as it features a large dolly with a display of various bags (and assumedly) grades of salt. The photo may have been used for promotional purposes of some sort. The location of this facility is unknown, though the caption indicates it is a sacking facility for the "Owens Valley Salt Company", which means it is likely to be at the Discharge Station site. Note that the building walls have horizontal boards with light showing through, similar to the construction of most rural barns. No evidence of any building of this type is shown at the Discharge Station site, as can be seen from the numerous photos on this blog post.

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Salt Tram Discharge Station: TODAY

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

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QUESTION 1: Starting with the existing hand-drawn map, complete the investigation of this main site of the Salt Tram Discharge Station, including key measurements that are missing from the map, as well as concrete foundation structures that are also missing from the map.

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This post uses the crude map of the discharge station site to highlight some of the views of the scant remains of this once mighty facility. The red image numbers (of the not-to-scale floor plan) correspond to the photos with the same numbers. The red arrow indicates the direction in which the photo was taken, thus clarifying the orientation of the image. Note to those visiting the site: do NOT disturb a single hair of material, both human-made and natural, in order to preserve it for future hoped-for investigation. We hope our research will result in archaeological survey action being taken at these Salt Tram sites before they are disturbed beyond a useful state of preservation (if that hasn't happened already).

Click on the images to enlarge.

Image 1 (below) identifies 2 metal corrugated and galvanized tubs that are likely, but not definitively, associated with the Salt Tram operation at this site. They are both buried up to the grade, with the one in the foreground substantially larger than the one in the background of the photo. Again, the tubs are filled with debris, thus hindering investigation (note to those visiting the site: do NOT distrub a single hair of material, both human-made and natural, in order to preserve it for future hoped-for investigation).

Image 2 (below) gives a view of the foundation for the Tramway Discharge Terminal itself, along with the remains of the rocks used as a counterweight for the track cable or the traction/drive cable, which we refer to as the "box of rox", since for the Salt Tram, the cable counterweights were consisted of wooden boxes filled with local rocks collected on-site. The wood used to construct the box has long been carted away, leaving the once-mysterious pile of rocks in a mild alluvial area largely devoid of such rocks. The metal attachment points are still to be found in the middle of the rock pile, if one looks carefully. In addition, in the debris in the foreground is a badly decomposed drive wheel or flywheel, which we have yet to analyze to determine where it fit in the tramway machinery. However, due to the dense salt content of the area, it has badly decomposed and there is not much left of it. No photo of the wheel is currently available.

Image 3 (below) shows a portion of the large pile of so-called "refractory bricks", which we believe were used as a liner inside the salt drier. As part of our theory of the 2nd drier, the first would have been deconstructed on site, and the bricks dumps a simple debris to be shoved out of the way, but not disposed of off-site.

Image 4 (below) shows a frontal view of the salt drier supports, as well as the first "station" east of the discharge station, high on the first of many ridges traversed by the Salt Tram:

Image 5 (below) shows a closeup of the salt drier foundation supports. It appears that these supports do NOT match the supports shown in the historical photos of the salt drier. We believe that it is possible that the drier was upgraded at some point in the operation, and a new foundation poured. There is some on-site evidence for this (re-poured concrete from different eras), as well as historical photographic evidence (in one operational salt drier photo, the drier is "al fresco", whereas in the majority of photos of this section of the facility, the drier area is completed enclosed in a corrugated metal shed-type housing).

Image 6 (below) shows one of the 2 curious "pits" in the foundation. This one has 2 posts sticking out of it. The function of the pits is unknown, and would require some excavation to determine, as there is a large amount of debris in the bottom of each pit (mostly wood and metal bits).

Image 7 (below) shows some detail of the small concrete foundation posts whose purpose is currently unknown:

Image 8 (below) shows another view of the Salt Drier foundation remains. In this shot it is easy to view the angle of the various concrete structures that support the Salt Drier:

Image 9 (below) shows the only 2 remaining railroad ties from the spur that serviced the Salt Tram Discharge Station (note that for clarity, I have outlined one of the ties in green):

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Saline Valley Salt Tram

Monday, February 22, 2010

Timing Bell at Control Stations

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Station 2 Analysis

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 5:30pm: Salt Tram Presentation

Monday, February 8, 2010

San Lucas Canyon Road

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Station 1 Analysis

Friday, February 5, 2010

Salt Tram Discharge Station: INTRO

Salt Tram Discharge Station: HISTORICAL

Salt Tram Discharge Station: TODAY

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