Re: Skagway power plant incline

The incline cable way was indeed the only way down to the powerhouse, unless you wanted a difficult four mile hike to the dam. Everything at the plant, equipment, bricks, building materials all came down the incline. The incline was 3 foot gauge and the incline car was a small 4 wheel car about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long. The maximum grade on the incline was 57% and it was about 3/4 of a mile long, with a elevation loss of 1,165'.
The dam and reservoir are located about 5 miles south east of Victor, off of the Phantom Canyon road (the old F.& C.C. grade to Canon City). The dam is still in service, the reservoir is now a popular fishing area owned by the state. The 30" diameter wooden pipe line started at the dam and was 4 miles long heading south down West Beaver Creek Canyon. At the top of the incline it turned to steel pipe for the fall down to the powerhouse. The West Beaver Creek Canyon starts out gentle below the dam, but turns extremely rugged. There is a lot of stream crossing, rock scrabling or bush wacking to reach the powerhouse, but is well worth the effort.