It was a Sweet Life

The informtion below was taken from these websites: https://locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/Great_Western_Railroad_No._75 https://www.up.com/customers/shortline/profiles_d-k/gwr/index.htm https://www.reporterherald.com/2019/07/20/colorado-history-the-great-western-railway/

The locomotive on the front of this post card is still around. The Great Western Railroad #75 is a 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in September 1907 (serial number 31778) to haul sugar beets and freight on the Great Western Railroad Company of Colorado. It was later retired from revenue service in 1965 and was sold to the Inner-mountain Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, then to Colorado native, Everett Rohrer, who founded the GW 75 corporation with intentions to preserve railroad equipment for movie making purposes. In 1975, it starred in the film "Breakheart Pass" as Wyoming & Northern Railroad #9. After Rohrer's death in 1998, #75 was put up for sale. In 1999, #75 was sold to the Heber Valley Railroad, where it was restored for operation, and took part in the 2002 Olympics by carrying the Olympic Torch from Heber City to Soldier Hollow. At the end of the 2002 season, #75 was taken out for a major overhaul. The Great Western Railroad was incorporated October 16, 1901, by the Great Western Sugar Company and started operations a short time later. Passenger service ended in 1927. The company was acquired from Great Western Sugar by the Castle Corporation (BROE Corporation) in June 1986. It is now owned by OmniTRAX of Denver. It is a common carrier hauling a variety of products. In some respects, they are a bridge carrier connecting to the BNSF and the Union Pacific.

The post card was published by www.railcards.com in Alameda, California (east across the Bay from San Francisco next to Oakland). Even though I have 204 post cards from this publisher, I know nothing about them. When I type the address into my browser it takes me to several related and possible links, because what I am looking for does not exist. I love his sense of humour as expressed in the titles; I hope he did well while the company existed.

Seatte? Why Seattle?

The train pictured on the front of this post card is part of the Spokane, Portland, and

Seattle Railway. It is said that “All is fair in love and war.” When it came to building railroads, there was definitely love – the people loved the new, quick transportation; and there certainly was also war – and lots of it. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) was born of war, not love. James Hill, the “Empire Builder”, wanted to make an incursion into the territory of E. H. Harriman. Harriman controlled the two most important railroads (Union Pacific and Southern Pacific) of Oregon and California in the late 1800s. His companies were making money because of the power of these two railroads in the area. James Hill wanted a piece of the action. However, he also knew the power that Harriman could wield. Hill was already in control of two other railroads, the Great Northern and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. These two had a similar control in the Northwest as Harriman’s two did in Oregon and California. Hill decided to enter Oregon. He knew that Harriman would be suspicious and take actions if it looked like Hill was trying to connect his two railroads which were in Spokane. Building a set of tracks out of Spokane would raise and alert. Instead, he chartered a railroad to “build from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon. This, on paper, was a non-threatening proposal – a north/south route with no connection to the other of Hill’s railroads. But this railroad went north/south only on paper. Hills’ company was actually building along the north side of the Columbia River from Spokane toward Portland. After a court challenge that Harriman lost to Hill, the Portland and Seattle Railway was completed from Spokane to Portland. Mr. Hill decided that it was now time to express the reality in the name of the railway and renamed it to the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway – even though it never did get to Seattle. The line was completed in 1908, after going way over the budget, because Mr. Hill told the builder to spare no expense. Soon after this the Panama Canal opened, taking paying traffic away from the railway, too. The company did not get out from under that debt until World War II provided the rail traffic needed to do so. The quote below comes from this website: http://www.sps700.org/zoldsite/spshist.html "The SP&S really came into its own after 1945. With powerful steam locomotives and a growing fleet of Diesels, the line billing itself as "the Northwest's Own Railway" was able to take advantage of the only water-level route from the west slope of the Rockies to the Pacific Coast. Even the UP had to contend with the Oregon Blue Moutains, which contain the steepest grades on that entire railroad. The post-war SP&S was particularly known for its large fleet of Alco Diesel locomotives. Where most railroads, including the SP&S' parents, bought mainly General Motors (EMD) locomotives, the SP&S endeared itself to Alco fans by buying a large fleet of Alco road and switch engines (though it used EMD units for passenger trains). After the Burlington Northern merger, GN and NP Alco engines were sent to the former SP&S route, where they were familiar to engine crews and shops. The Hill lines, including the SP&S, merged together into the Burlington Northern in 1970." This ended the existence of the SP&S.

The post card was published by the Pacific Novelty Company (started in 1908, the same year the railway was completed), which had offices in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. This publishing company printed many postcards that were duplicates of postcards published by Edward Mitchell. Mitchell was a partner with other photographers in this publishing company then at some point he bought the others out. A major publisher and printer of view-cards depicting California in halftone lithography. They produced cards in different styles, most of which were printed in Germany. They eventually sold off their own printing department to Herman Vogel who renamed it Quadricolor Press. Pacific Novelty went on to produce photochromes that were manufactured in the United States.

Over 14,000 Feet Above Sea Level

The following information is taken from a pdf paper found on this website: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwimvKL185nvAhUPgp4KHV_1CG8QFjADegQIDBAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.co.clear-creek.co.us%2FDocumentCenter%2FView%2F7798&usg=AOvVaw1zJelcKDNzi5E4pbtQTvtM Edward John Wilcox, president of the Waldorf Mining and Milling Company, wanted a more expedient way of transporting materials to and from his extensive group of mining properties in the Argentine District other than the laborious method via pack mule and wagon freight. On August 1, 1905 Wilcox started construction on the Argentine Central railway, beginning at the terminus of the Colorado & Southern railroad in Silver Plume and ending at the Wilcox Tunnel at Waldorf. The track was further extended to a point near the top of Mt. McClellan, a total distance of approximately 16 miles from Silver Plume. This is the point at which the train on the front of this post card is resting.

On August 1, 1906, exactly one year after ground was broken, a special ceremony was held near the terminus of the railway in which a golden spike was driven in to celebrate the railways completion. The Argentine Central railway was a narrow gauge, the same as that of the Colorado & Southern (C&S) railway that ran from Denver to Silver Plume, thus making the cars of the two rail lines interchangeable. Connecting with the C&S at Silver Plume, the Argentine Central climbed the north side of Leavenworth Mountain by a series of switchbacks, cresting at Pavilion Point before curving back along the south side of the same mountain into Leavenworth Gulch, then climbing until making its final ascent along the eastern face near the top of Mt. McClellan at an elevation of 14,007 feet. Steeply graded and sharply curved, the rail line has a maximum grade of 6 percent with a minimum curvature of 32 degrees. As a result of these grades, a total of seven Shay geared steam locomotives were used during the existence of the railway. Shay locomotives were not built for speed but rather for strength, enabling it to pull heavy loads - up to 200 tons - on a 6 percent grade, with the capacity of attaining a speed of 15 miles per hour. Although the primary object of the building of the new railway was to furnish transportation facilities to the mining properties, it became evident that this new road would also furnish as an unsurpassed scenic attraction. Tourists rode up the north face of Leavenworth Mountain where they were rewarded with birds-eye views of Silver Plume, the “Loop” of the Colorado & Southern, and Georgetown. After rounding Pavilion Point and gradually climbing Leavenworth Gulch to above timberline, the rail line reached the mining town of Waldorf. From there tourists could continuing the climb up toward the summit Mt. McClellan with its unsurpassed views of Mt. Evans, Mt. Rosalie, Gray’s and Torrey’s Peaks. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the railway, it never prospered as hoped and Wilcox did not maintain ownership of the Argentine Central for very long. Financial troubles, conflicts with the Colorado & Southern, and not operating on Sundays (Wilcox, a one-time Methodist minister, was a strict observer of the Sabbath) forced the sale of the railway in 1909. The new owners, a Denver syndicate, immediately initiated Sunday operations and revitalized plans to extend the line to the top of Grays Peak, proposing to construct an observatory and hotel at the summit. However, the railway was operating at a loss and heavily in debt; operations ceased in 1911 or 1912 due to these financial troubles. Sold at auction and reorganized as the Georgetown & Gray's Peak Railway Company, freight and tourist traffic was resumed for the 1913 summer season. Attempts were made to boost dwindling tourist interest with the introduction of a tourist camp at Pavilion Point and replacement of the Shay locomotives with self-propelled trolley-like railcars. In 1918, with mining production diminishing, growing popularity of the automobile, and the country’s involvement in World War I, a notice of abandonment was filed by the Georgetown & Gray’s Peak Railway Co. and operations were discontinued. The last of the Argentine Central’s 16 miles of track were removed in 1920.

The post card was published by the H.H. Tamen Company. It was a novelty dealer and important publisher of national view-cards and Western themes in continuous tone and halftone lithography. Their logo does not appear on all their cards but other graphic elements are often remain the same. H. H. Tammen (1856-1924) Harry Heye Tammen was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 1856, the son of a German immigrant pharmacist. He attended Knapps Academy in Baltimore, then worked in Philadelphia before moving to Denver in 1880. With his partner Charles A. Stuart he worked as a Denver bartender in 1880, and in 1881 they established the firm of H.H. Tammen & Co. (which in 1896 became the H.H. Tammen Curio Co., with partners Carl Litzenberger and Joseph Cox ) in Denver, Colorado. Deeply interested in the study of mineralogy, he published a promotional journal called Western Echoes magazine, "Devoted to Mineralogy, Natural History, Botany, &c. &c." Volume 1 number 1 is copyrighted 1882. Tammen sold mineral specimens and mineral collections, some of which must have been quite fine. His "native silver in elongated octahedrons and arborescent forms, from the Stonewall Jackson mine, McMillanville, Arizona" (specimens priced up to an expensive $40), for example, would be highly prized today. He offered Pikes Peak amazonite specimens ("we can at all times furnish them") priced up to $20, "the high-priced ones are, of course, comparatively very large and of considerable weight, including twin crystals and large groups of same, and are suitable for State or National museums or other large collections." His selection of fine Colorado telluride minerals included petzite, sylvanite, coloradoite, altaite, calaverite, hessite, and native tellurium. Tammen also manufactured a very popular line of "Colorado curiosities" and "mineral novelties" consusting of a variety of numbered and identified Colorado mineral and ore specimens cemented onto clocks, caskets, inkstands (one of which won an award at the 1881 Colorado State Fair), centerpieces, crosses, horseshoes and so on for ornamental purposes. He described these items as "perfect in taste, blending of colors, etc., and absolutely trustworthy as regards the cataloguing, classification and specifications of the different minerals employed in the construction of each article." He also dealt in stereoscopic and other photos of the West (he was supplied by the famous Western photographer W.H. Jackson), photo albums, books on the West, silver souvenir spoons, a wide variety of humorous and scenic postcards (especially of mining areas), fossil fish, polished agates, botanical specimens, Pueblo Indian pottery, Tlingit Indian carvings, relics and taxidermy items from his stores in Denver. In 1895 Tammen formed a partnership with F.G. Bonfils (whom he had met at the Chicago World's Fair) and they became co-owners and co-editors of the Denver Post. Their publishing business flourished, and Tammen's business successes made him a wealthy man. In 1917 Buffalo Bill Cody happened to die while in Denver, and Tammen (one of the city's biggest boosters) offered Cody's widow $10,000 if she would allow Cody to be buried in Denver; she accepted, and the ensuing funeral procession drew 50,000 people. He established the H.H. Tammen Trust in 1924, providing essential health care for children of families who cannot afford to pay. Tammen died July 19, 1924. The H.H. Tammen Curio Co. was in business until 1953, and possibly as late as 1962.

Let's Go to Mohler

Today, there is a railroad that runs from the Oregon coast to Portland. The predecessor to the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad was a line built by the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company between 1906 and 1911. The line, whose reporting mark was "PR&N", was sometimes known as the "Punk, Rotten, and Nasty" because of the wet and muddy working conditions for crews building the railroad through the Coast Range. The line became the Tillamook Branch Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1916. The above information was taken from Wikipedia. That is everything that I could find out about the tracks on which the train on the front of this post card is travelling.

The title on the card says that it is near Mohler. I found out why some people would want to live in that area. I include it below. The first tidbit of information is from this website: http://www.smalltownoregon.com/01northcoast/mohler.html If you want to take a nature drive from the coast back to Portland take Highway 53 eastbound off Highway 101 at the Nehalem junction just north of Wheeler. Better take your Dramimine before you start. You will quickly come to Mohler, the last settlement until you reach Highway 26 at the Necanicum junction. We just about dismissed Mohler on the day we passed through, but the place had a winery and that caught our attention. The next thing you know they will have a Starbucks! As you can see from my pictures we took only a few. Needing some filler for my page I did some research and I am pleased that I did. The Mohler family in America dates back to the 1700's. The family icon made his first money producing wheelbarrows for the gold rush in California. After the rush died down he returned to the mid-west to continue his career as an industrialist and eventually developed the Studebaker automobile! The story is amazing and the Mohler family keeps a nice picture web site of the whole thing! This is more information about area as taken from this website: https://oregonwild.org/waters/protecting-oregons-waterways/nehalem-state-scenic-waterway The Nehalem River is one of the most impressive waterways in the Oregon Coast Range Mountains. It is one of Oregon's longest free-flowing (ie undammed) rivers. It has outstanding wildlife, recreational, and scenic values that make it a great place to visit, or call home. After a two year vetting process the Oregon State Parks and Water Resources Commissions both unanimously recommended the river be designated as a "State Scenic Waterway" by Governor Brown, which she signed in 2019. This designation will protect the river corridor, recreational opportunities, wildlife, private property rights, and scenic values.

The post card was printed by the Pacific Novelty Company with branches in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. This publishing company printed many postcards that were duplicates of postcards published by Edward Mitchell. Mitchell was a partner with other photographers in this publishing company; then, at some point, he bought the others out. A major publisher and printer of view-cards depicting California in halftone lithography. They produced cards in different styles, most of which were printed in Germany. They eventually sold off their own printing department to Herman Vogel who renamed it Quadricolor Press. Pacific Novelty went on to produce photochromes that were manufactured in the United States. They existed from 1908 to the 1960s.

The Final Leg

The train on the front of this post card is peeking out of one of the human-made wonders of Southern California. The wonder is the tunnel that made the final connection of the Southern Pacific Railroad possible, the San Fernando Tunnel.

Below is some history that explains the significance of the building of the tunnel. Its title is “1876: Southern Pacific Tunnels Through”. It was written by Alan Pollack, M.D. president of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, and was found on this website: https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/pollack0710tunnel.html Work began on the San Fernando Railroad Tunnel on March 22, 1875. Former Central Pacific Railroad worker Frank Frates was chosen to supervise some 1,000 Chinese and 500 white laborers in constructing the tunnel. Frates and his workers faced a sandstone mountain saturated with water and oil, causing frequent cave-ins and loss of life. According to Marie Harrington in her 1976 pamphlet titled "A Golden Spike": "Frates' excavation was 22 feet high, 16½ feet wide at the bottom and over 18 feet at the shoulders, an angular arch being formed overhead. The Chinese worked as teams of two, one man holding the wedge in place against the rock while his partner swung the heavy sledge. The upper half of the tunnel was dug in advance of the bottom half for a distance of about 20 feet. Temporary timbers were placed as soon as the excavations were made; permanent timbers of Oregon cedar would be placed later. The lower half of the tunnel was dug by another crew of workers, the dirt being carried away by two-horse cars running on laid track. Day and night the work went on in 8-hour shifts, the Chinese being paid $1.00 per day and the white carpenters and mechanics receiving $2.60 a day for a 12-hour shift. A city of tents was located near the south end of the tunnel mouth for the workers." Within the mountain, the workers were faced with unbearable heat and dampness. Emma Louie of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California — who wrote about the Chinese contribution to the railroad in the 1976 Golden Spike Centennial Souvenir Program — quoted Remi Nadeau stating, "Oriental toilers fell at their work in regular succession and had to be carried to the sunshine burning with fever." Originally estimated to take two years to complete, work was begun at both the north and south ends of the tunnel. To help expedite the enormous task, surveyors determined a spot at the summit of the mountain from which a vertical shaft was dug to meet with the center of the tunnel. This allowed waste rock to be hauled out of the tunnel by means of a large cable drum and hoisting engine built in Sacramento. The tunnel actually took just over a year to complete. Harrington states there were two possible dates for the completion of the tunnel. The first version has Chinese diggers coming face to face July 14, 1876, with the opening of the tunnel just one-half inch out of line. Another version has Frates himself completing the tunnel in August 1876, removing the last cart of earth with his own hands. At any rate, the first train passed through this miraculous, 6,966.5-foot tunnel August 12, 1876. At the time of completion, it was the third longest tunnel in the United States and fourth longest in the world. The courageous work done on the San Fernando Tunnel culminated in the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Lang Station on September 5, 1876. A Golden Spike ceremony took place that day as the last tracks were laid. Unlike the ceremony for the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit in Utah, thousands of Chinese were in attendance at Lang Station. Remi Nadeau described the scene: "Clad in basket hats, blue denim jackets and trousers, and cotton sandals, stood along either side of the mounded right-of-way. Four thousand strong, they lined the roadbed in military file, leaning on their long-handled shovels, ‘like an army at rest after a well-fought battle."

It is obvious that that the card was published by the B.N. Company, (that is their logo in the top left-hand corner) but I know nothing about them. It was published between 1907 and 1915 - that is the Divided Back Era of post cards in the United States.