Preparing to drive up the narrow road into Picayune Gulch, which was barely wide enough for my SUV.
history under ground
dirt-roads
Regauging is the process wherein barrels are opened and the whiskey is tested in various ways, especially in its alcohol content.
From left to right: shaft building, headframe, rock house, hoist house.
I found a meth lab in this building once. (Yes, I called it in.)
I included this image to illustrate the height of the headgrame and the distance between it and the hoist house. Of course, compared with the depth of the mine shaft, this distance is short.
While walking out I snapped this last shot of the sunset drenching the castle-top watertower (staying with the theme), right before the sun dipped below the hill across the stream from which the whiskey was distilled.
Looking through the loading platform of Frontenac Mine toward Black Hawk. In 1900, you would see Druid Mine on the left and Aduddell on the right.
The Duncan House overlooks the Columbus Mill (left) and the Gold Prince Mill ruins (not picture, but to the right). Note the Columbus Mine itself above the mill.
This ruin was once the Toltec Mine, a producing gold and silver claim that operated into the 1940s.
The wood-braced structures descending the hill connected the La Crosse Tunnel to the mill in Central City. To see a picture of an aerial tram in action, see at my Treasure Mountain article.
Upper Prize Street in Nevadaville earned the nickname ‘dogtown’ when a pack of dogs took over the abandoned houses.
Early bird gets the blast furnace. You gotta love that ore yard gantry crane.
The hiking around Central City is beautiful and full of history. Just get a proper topo map!
No windows? Bricks? Must be for flammables.
The main street of the ghost town is also the maintenance road for the BNSF line that bisects Colmor.
I couldn’t help but include this ghost sign for a demolished motel…
Looking across the whole milling operation from its dedicated powerhouse stretching across Eagle River.
There are 700 of these storage bunkers. Their design was to funnel explosions upward, rather than toward other buildings, to minimize secondary explosions.
Taken as I drove out of Silverton, CO. One of my favorite landscapes of 2015. Want a print? Email me!
The vines are thick across the asylum.
A typical rail shop.
The layout and design of the buildings reminded me strongly of a brewery or distillery. To the right you can see some of the retrofits by the first lumber company to buy the buildings, in the 1970s.
A dedicated 13-acre rail yard operated by Canadian Pacific. As of 2016, it’s still there, and considered a factor in the redevelopment of the former plant site.
The powerplant and its dedicated water tower supplied steam for heating and mechanical work.
Looking out of one of the biggest houses in Animas Forks toward the rest of the residential district. It is hard to imagine the life the people here lived, for those that stayed the winter.
Scanned after being recovered from the bottom of an old wooden box for a few years. Circa 2005. The only photo I have showing the steam locomotive out front.
What appears to be a building once associated with King Elevator is now a defunct scuba company. To the right of the frame you can see how the concrete on the elevator is beginning to show its rebar.
Ringling, MT is spread thin across the grassy land.
Looking out of the “back door”, where equipment could be lifted into the factory with a crane. The bottom of the coal conveyor can be seen outside.
Looking at ADM-1 from beside ADM-4, back when ADM-4 had a train shed and ADM-1 had a skyway. In the thick woods beneath the skyway was a long time homeless camp… most of its residents were very friendly.
Above Treasure Mountain Mine is the capped shaft of the defunct San Juan Queen Mine. This is taken near that location, looking down the road that connects the mines to Animas Forks.
Hunter and the Hoist House.
Before it was demolished, there was one good staircase the led to the middle of the dock. Trees grew from it.
The the left, the nitrating line in War City. To the right, War City’s sole suburb, Charlestown, IN.
The hospital featured a farm that once helped to sustain it. This is one of the few remaining signs of those years, near the Nurse’s Cottage.
Near Isabella, MB, frozen flooded fields expand to the horizon. Taken on a Voigtlander 25mm f/2.5 if you were wondering.