Tuesday 23 May 2006
After a night of noisy trains, wind and rain we woke up with the sun shining. We were on the road by 9.20pm following highway 80 east.
It is obvious that the USA is a wealthy country. The highway was packed with huge trucks travelling in either direction and beside us the railway was equally as busy.
We noticed big signs showing fireworks for sale. Fireworks are allowed in Wyoming but not in many other States so the Wyoming locals capitalise on this.
As we followed the railway – called railroad in America, Dick pointed out that this was the original route of the Union Pacific Railroad, the first transcontinental railway in the USA. It is interesting to find that the Rocky Mountains here are a huge high plateau without the jagged peaks that are present both north and south of here. This is obviously why the railway surveyors followed this route.
The Americans label this area the Red Desert but we would more likely call it an arid zone. Of course in winter it must be incredibly cold. Every now and then we noticed large modern sheds that house snowploughs.
At Black Buttes we passed another open cut coal mine with diggers and trucks going flat out. It was a barren area and there are no trees for many miles. We stopped at a little old roadside garage where Marvin, the owner, served us. He had the establishment for sale, only $130,000 for the diner and a six room motel. Unfortunately it was pretty run down and it would not be a popular place in the middle of winter.
On the highway there was a continuing stream of huge mobile homes, (RV’s or recreational vehicles) 40ft long with the 4wd or small car being towed close behind.
As we crossed the Continental Divide – we did so three times in quick succession – we saw a police car with flashing lights booking a motorist. We’d only just commented to each other on how you see far fewer enforcement officers in Canada and the USA than you see at home. The huge signs beside the road increased – this is indeed the home of capitalism.
We tried to keep up with the train at one stage but it must have been doing over 60mph, our standard cruise speed, so we never caught up.
Passing a huge gas plant at Sinclair we pulled off to see the Fort Steel State Historic Site.
Established in 1868 and occupied until 1886 it was set up to guard the railroad against attack from Indians. Yes, in those days the native people, having learnt to ride horses (called mustangs), introduced by the Spanish in the 1600s fought a bitter war to try and protect their lands.
Beside the railway line was a small building, which was the Bridge Tender’s House.
Inside were photographs of the area in the old days – fascinating. It appears the old steam engines would throw cinders that set the wooden bridge alight from time to time – it was the bridge tender’s job to put out the fire. Of course we were here in spring. It was hard for us as Australians to imagine living in such a tiny house in the middle of winter. In those days at least, they had a telegraph line to communicate if there were troubles.
This was Dick’s dream day. As we had lunch at Fort Steele, two huge trains passed us. In fact, the trains never stopped all day.
We headed further east along highway 80 and very soon came across an area of extensive snow fences. Made of timber and set up to stop snow from drifting onto the highway and onto the railroad.
We were now out of the high ‘desert’ country and, very quickly at around Elk Mountain, were into green fields and cropping areas.
Nearby was an extensive wind farm along a ridge at 7,800ft altitude.
The wind was increasing all the time and we had an estimated 80kph tailwind. Suddenly a group of coloured trucks passed us.
Now this is indeed a wealthy part of the USA. Many fields had oil or gas wells, there were cattle and deer ranches that went as far as the eye could see and the pasture appeared to be perfectly groomed.
We were following, not only the railroad, but oil, gas and fibre optic cables. Every now and then we could see a ‘pipe cleaner’ station for the gas pipeline and fibre optic repeater buildings.
The roadside is clean with virtually no rubbish. Every now and then a sign would say that a particular family or business were sponsoring this cleanliness.
As we passed Laramie there were storm clouds in the distance.
We saw our first silos, which showed that we had entered cropping areas, even though we were still at over 6,000ft in altitude. Every now and then we saw an electronic sign informing us that the winds were now peaking at 60mph. This could be dangerous for light vehicles.
Fortunately the wind was from behind us.
Just after Laramie we turned to the southeast off the highway and found the Ames Monument. Built in the late 1800’s to commemorate the Ames brothers who were the entrepreneurs whose vision resulted in the Trans Continental Railroad. After the construction, they were later discredited for their financial dealings – sort of a modern day Enron or HIH.
We parked beside the huge granite structure and could hardly stand up in the strong winds. We searched around and found the old rail bed of the Union Pacific about 100 meters north of the monument. This is where the famous town of Sherman existed. This was at the highest point on the Union Pacific Railway between Chicago and Sacramento, some 8,621ft. This altitude was a record for railway construction at the time.
This wasn’t good enough for Dick. He was convinced that the present day railway must be nearby, so we headed south on a rough dirt road and sure enough we found a junction of the main Union Pacific and an additional line that had been built to ease the gradient. We were on Monument Road where we could see a farm through a tunnel under the railway.
Dick walked through and met the owner Nancy Bath and she gave us permission to walk around and watch the trains.
It appears that this area is where the huge ‘Big Boy’ steam engines were used in the 1940’s and early 50’s.
We drove through the tunnel with only a few meters clearance and took this photograph as a west bound freight train went past.
Later we found a book with a photo that showed a steam train in the same location.
Dick has decided that this location would have to be the best in the world for train enthusiasts. There was a double track in one direction and a single by-pass track with constant 100 truck trains going in both directions.
On the way back to highway 80 there were lots of small deer. They were extremely timid but we managed to get a few photographs.
We headed into Cheyenne to the AB Camping RV Park. A spotlessly clean place proudly showing American flags supporting the military.
473km today – 6,107km total
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