In 1869, the Golden Spike was laid and the transcontinental railroad across the U.S. was complete. The rails connected just a few miles behind me here as I look south across the Great Salt Lake and to Fremont Island.
In 1902, the Southern Pacific railroad decided to shave off over 40 miles from the journey by building a cutoff and trestle right across the Great Salt Lake. Open in 1904, the trestle ran until 1956, when they simply built a road bed adjacent to the trestle from rocks and gravel (the lake's deepest point is only 34 feet). Not as romantic, but much more permanent, I suppose.
These pilings are some of the remains of the old rail system that used to be here on Promontory Point. A company has purchased salvage rights and is now taking these large logs out of the lake and selling them as special lumber for very high prices. I suppose that in a year or two, these will also be gone, used to make someone fireplace mantel or armoire.
Post Processing: I did a simple AutoColor, which made things a bit more vibrant. I then burned the rocks in the foreground (they were just a bit too light). I darkened parts of the sky by selecting the non-blue part and lowering just the middle ranges. The blue sky is the result of a circular polarizer. I then burned some of the highlights in the sky, since they were taking too much focus. I selected the sky again and added just a slight motion blur in the direction of the cloud patterns to lose some of the grain there. I applied NeatImage in a very small amount (15%), then sharpened.
This was a really cool place. I'm going back soon!
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Place: 5 out of 338 Avg (all users): 6.8969 Avg (commenters): 8.3571 Avg (participants): 6.8742 Avg (non-participants): 6.9444 Views since voting: 4478 Votes: 223 Comments: 28 Favorites: 12 (view)
Very nicely captured, David! In spite of my interest in trains (and particularly Utah's place in the completion of the transcontinental railroad) this is one location I have yet to visit. My wife's great-uncle worked in the quarry where the SP obtained the rock for the causeway that put the trestle out to pasture. I was aware of Trestlewood's efforts to salvage the old timber from the cutoff, but had assumed their work was completed and the trestle was no longer there. Looks like I've got a road trip to take!
Awesome!! You know I love it... My son doesnt understand yet that this is part of a rail road but he will in time... You did a great job! Are you gonna make it a print? Congratulations on being 5th...Should of been 1st!
Great finish!! I rated this an 8 originally, This is a beautiful capture, maybe would of ribboned in another challenge ...Congrats to another ribbon! your stuff is fantastic.
Perspective dominates and captured my heart. Between the long shadow lines, bright white rock forground and all beneath the vast cloud cover...love the framing. Love the photo. Great gosh 8 and thanks.
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