Boulder Gorge On the SVRy

This is a scenic spot on the old Sumpter Valley Ry. that I sure wish could be recreated today. Numerous photographs were taken of trains around this spot know as Red Bridge. This narrow rock gorge known by early settlers to the area as Devil's Gate and to this day, Boulder Gorge stymied the early settlers to the Sumpter Valley country. Until the railroad was pushed through the gorge, the wagon road had to climb to a considerable elevation to get up and around the rugged rocky obstacle. In fact the wagon route had to climb so high to avoid the canyon that it was often impassible in winter due to deep snow, cutting off the Sumpter Valley from the outside world. The railroad therefore played an important roll in opening up a lot of country to successful ranching, logging and mining. In the photo, we are looking down grade toward Baker. The Howe Truss bridge, "Red Bridge", undoubtedly required a lot of maintenance being before the days of creosote treated timbers. The 111 ft. bridge with 74 ft. of trestle was retired in 1919 under AFE 172 and replaced with a 168' trestle which remained in use untill abandonment of the mainline in 1947. There are a couple other things of note. One is that the high rock outcropping on the left side of the trestle no longer exists today. This entire part of the cliff has been blasted out to make room for present Hwy. #7. When passing on the Hwy. you can look across the river and see the end of the road bed fill that is in the foreground of this photo. Also note the wooden blocks used on the outside of the inside rail on the curve to help prevent the rail from rolling over. The scan is from the SVRR Archive.