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'Death Valley R.R.' - Another Walkabout - By Charley & Ken
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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 03:57 pm
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kneighbarger
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Well, last Wednesday, Charley and I decided to hike the DVRR right of way to Ryan,
or at least as close as the "No Trespassing" sign would allow us,
give or take a few feet..... 

The map shows our baby guage hikes on multiple days, multiple levels of track (blue).

The hike we did Wednesday on the DVRR (purple).

And the upcoming Tonopah & Tidewater hike to Old Ryan site and Lila C. mine (green).





Looking across a trestle less gap....





Our path forward.....





A couple of right of way rock fills...





Mr Lix waiting on me.....





The next missing trestle, scoot down & back up.....










Moving on....





Old construction camp shelter from DVRR build....  More of these on the return trip.





My favorite can find of the trip....





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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:02 pm
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kneighbarger
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There is a white dot on the right of this photo, that is our goal of Ryan in the distance.

Beautiful views all along the journey.....















This was a cool find, took quite a tumble from above....




















Came down from the dump up above....





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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:16 pm
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kneighbarger
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Trying to find the name of this portion of mining activity, looks like it loaded directly
into the DVRR ore cars....

Found it, the "Played Out" mine, 2+ miles from Ryan.










Mr Lix recharging his batteries, waiting on me while I check some things out....

























One of those strange happenings that make you go Hmmm....  L:

While Charley and I are standing here, my text message alert went off twice in a few seconds....
It is the sound of a train whistle....
 
There is no cell reception in the area, not even in Death Valley Junction.

That it some how got through at this time and place is rather odd,
but we found it most appropriate.....

:2t:





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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:27 pm
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kneighbarger
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Another missing trestle, the quality of rock work was amazing....






























Now for one of those interesting items ...
The colors are amazing in this area, the photos do not due them justice... 

And the rock from the cut was used in the next fill area.
From rather drab volcanic rock fill to Wizzard of Oz colors...

Go ahead, color your railroad like this....  ;)










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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:32 pm
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kneighbarger
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More color....

























No idea what this was for...   Childs dog cart ?...










We just came from over there....





Ryan, with the famous "Poisen Rock" One drop will kill you...  ;)





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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:38 pm
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kneighbarger
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Making good use of the "no trespassing" sign, camera stand...

Where we came from...





And where we were heading...





Points of interest on the return trip....






























That's it for now, Charley should be adding a few more soon.

Good weather, windy, but tolerable...

No idea how far we hiked, but we were both sore the next day.


Now for the Tonapah & Tidewater hike...


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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:48 pm
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W C Greene
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It's stuff like this which makes Freerails what it is...  The best website around.

Thanks Ken and Cha-wee for the wonderments and the time it takes to show them.

Mui excellente...

Woodie





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 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 04:50 pm
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mabloodhound
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Very good.

I know you and many others find this scenery beautiful,
but for me it is bleak but interesting.

The things they did in that arid place are wondrous.





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 Posted: 11 Mar 2013 01:05 pm
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Herb Kephart
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Can't imagine stacking all that rock into walls that are still standing,

without mortar and with a lot of heat, probably.


Thanks, Guys!

Herb





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 Posted: 11 Mar 2013 02:37 pm
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kneighbarger
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One of the things that I was looking for on this walk was Ryan Cemetary.

We found it, though it took some looking.

6 graves, in a rather remote place.


I wonder if there is any record of names and cause of death....










Each cross was a little different, and the one grave was covered in borax ore.





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 Posted: 12 Mar 2013 12:37 am
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Ray Dunakin
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Great stuff,

very interesting to this old desert rat!





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 Posted: 12 Mar 2013 03:34 pm
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kneighbarger
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Well, it looks like those are ore bin remains,
loading directly into DVRR cars on the main line.

I  had always assumed that everything was loaded up at Ryan ore bins.










As for the cemetary,
the first known burial was Jim Vance,
a cook who died of a brain hemorage in June 1918.

The last was Frank McCarthy,
a miner who died of a heart attack and pneumonia in February 1924.

I'll see if I can find the 4 names in the middle......


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 Posted: 14 Mar 2013 04:07 am
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Dan B
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Great walkabout gents, thanks for posting!

I appreciate the B&W for perspective.


Question, that barrel lid was marked for Hercules,

so explosives or something similar?


Keep it coming,

Dan B


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 Posted: 14 Mar 2013 09:50 am
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mabloodhound
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kneighbarger wrote:
As for the cemetary,
the first known burial was Jim Vance,
a cook who died of a brain hemorage in June 1918.

The last was Frank McCarthy,
a miner who died of a heart attack and pneumonia in February 1924.

I'll see if I can find the 4 names in the middle......


Interesting find kneighbarger.  

I did some looking for the Ryan burials in the Inyo County records,
but didn't find anything.

Actually, the cemetery was listed with no info,
and the website did ask for more info if anyone had it.

Dave




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D&G RR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” ~ Thos. Jefferson
“Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.” ~ me
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 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 12:52 am
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kneighbarger
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Actually, sometimes when you search you get lucky.
I stumbled across a thesis for USC by Mary Ringhoff from 2012.


" Life and Work in the Ryan District, Death Valley California, 1914-1930.
A Historic Context For a Borax Mining Community "


319 pages, the best write up of Ryan and the Borax mines that I have found yet.
Her access to resources is pretty impressive...

http://gradworks.umi.com/1514165.pdf

If this history interests you, then enjoy....


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 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 01:50 am
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kneighbarger
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The can was about 10" across and a foot tall,

and I am assuming black powder.

Could be wrong though......

Ken


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 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 04:05 am
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Dan B
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Ken, thanks for the reply.

Learned a little about the old Hercules Co. a while back,
neat to see an artifact left out there.

Thanks for those dimensions,
might make for a neat trackside detail.

Dan B


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 Posted: 15 Mar 2013 06:11 am
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kneighbarger
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Here is another photo of the large "can"...





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 Posted: 8 Apr 2017 06:59 am
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Michael M
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Thanks for the photos.

I've been to Death valley a couple of times.  Planning a small layout that will haul borax.





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 Posted: 8 Dec 2019 02:48 pm
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Si.archived
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" I've been to Death valley a couple of times.  Planning a small layout that will haul borax "





Ah !  :old dude:


Michaels  :mex:  'N.I.& E.R.R.'  ore-bins !!  :thumb:



:cb:



Si.



WOW ! ... This railroad tie has seen some action !  :mex:







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