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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Us 40 Old Alignment Rediscovered Over Golconda Summit


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Dale,

 

Sounds like you are in road lover’s paradise! And you have "rattled Roadhound's chain" ;) so you have an excellent authority available!

 

Let me comment on

 

“The section from Illipah west goes up a dirt road to almost Hamilton and follows another main dirt road down to the turnoff to Belmont Mill. Can't find

anything about Rosevear's Ranch. Lincoln Hwy web site says the highway than went over White Pine Summit before going over Pancake Summit. You wouldn't have to pass another summit as it is flat between there???”

 

Unless it has disappeared since my last visit the remains of Rosevear's are at 39.35214, -115.37127 on the right of the current highway westbound.

 

The picturesque stone building you see was a storage shed. A hotel was operated here for several years serving stage coaches. Locals say that it was in operation as late as 1916, but the Lincoln Highway guide for 1916 states “Ranch not open. No accommodations. “ The hotel was operated by Alice Shekel who provided rooms and meals. Remnants of other buildings were removed by the Nevada State Highway Dept when the site was used to store road materials. (Credit for this info to the Ely, Nevada Lincoln Highway folks)

 

I’ll look at maps and see what there is to see about “summits!” And I have yet to check a couple of other great sources...Brian Butkos' Greetings from the Lincoln Highway and The Lincoln Highway - Nevada by Gregory M Franzwa and Jesse G Petersen.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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Dale,

 

I did a little map work and came up with this based on Franzwa’s maps

 

Take a look at 39.3140, -115.4613 give or take a little. The road has climbed about 700-800 feet westbound and crosses a pass (White Pine Pass). From there the 1913 road went to Hamilton, or you could shortcut westward to 6 Mile House and over Pancake Summit which is about 39.3184 -115.7224.

 

The guide mileage from Rosevear’s to White Pine Pass also match..

 

I plotted the 1913 route on Google Earth, and could give you the coordinates if they are useful…but you no doubt have them.

 

Keep in touch!!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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Thanks for the info, Dave.

 

I just got back from a ride in Jakes Valley near Moorman's Ranch to Ruth on the 1915-1916 Lincoln Hwy.

When I get URLs on the pictures I took, I'll post them and a story in a new thread in the Lincoln Hwy section of this forum.

 

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Thanks for the info, Dave.

 

I just got back from a ride in Jakes Valley near Moorman's Ranch to Ruth on the 1915-1916 Lincoln Hwy.

When I get URLs on the pictures I took, I'll post them and a story in a new thread in the Lincoln Hwy section of this forum.

 

Dale,

 

Sounds great. I'll be looking for the photos!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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  • 3 months later...
George Stewart’s US 40 book identifies a “Tie House” (constructed of ties) a few miles west of Valmy. His quote follows:

 

“A few miles west of Valmy a spur of a mountain juts out close to the highway and on its slope a miner (his claim is a little way up the mountainside) has constructed a typical Nevada house.”

 

Thomas & Geraldine Vale's U.S. 40 Today shows that the Tie House had burned down by 1980. "Two of the four planted poplars that drew water from the spring were destroyed by the fire; one is standing, and the other is reduced to a blackened stump. The two pines at the left in the earlier photo, which Stewart observed to be less typical of the region and not thriving, have been replaced by native cottonwoods. The grass growing around the spring and previously protected from wayward cattle now has thickened and spread beyond the downed barbed wire fence and into the foreground..."

 

In the 1980 photo, there is a cement foundation that looks like what appears in DaleS's picture. Two strips of (presumably) interstate highway cross the picture in the middle distance.

Edited by Mark G Simon
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Thomas & Geraldine Vale's U.S. 40 Today shows that the Tie House had burned down by 1980. "Two of the four planted poplars that drew water from the spring were destroyed by the fire; one is standing, and the other is reduced to a blackened stump. The two pines at the left in the earlier photo, which Stewart observed to be less typical of the region and not thriving, have been replaced by native cottonwoods. The grass growing around the spring and previously protected from wayward cattle now has thickened and spread beyond the downed barbed wire fence and into the foreground..."

 

In the 1980 photo, there is a cement foundation that looks like what appears in DaleS's picture. Two strips of (presumably) interstate highway cross the picture in the middle distance.

 

Mark,

 

First, a big WELCOME!

 

Second, thanks for the excellent research and description! You have enterer this "select" group with a fine entry for our collective enjoyment!

 

If you get time, I think there is a place under general discussion where you can introduce yourself and share a few of your road interests!

 

Thanks again for a great addition to the forum!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

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  • 9 years later...

A few months back I was planning for a road trip through Nevada and was researching the Golcanda Summit and found this thread. I had recalled a challenge that was placed by Keep the Show on the Road back when this topic was originated and contacted him to see if the the prize had been claimed. I was amazed to find that in 11 years no one had claimed the prize.

Quote

 

Keep the Show on the Road!
"Elsewhere on this forum I said “There is one half a dollar bill hidden at coordinates 40.93092, -117.41182 under a fallen road post on the old alignment of the road over Golconda Summit. You do not need a shovel or anything more than the ability to turn over a partially rotted old road post, lying all by itself in clear view” Hint: Look on top of the culvert shown in George Stewart’s photo.
 

Note, Roadhound, you can have a few gallons of gas on me if you do return to the site before anyone else!"

 

It was with great anticipation that I left Interstate 80 at the Golcanda exit and backtracked to the summit. Reaching the summit I drove through the cut, turned my truck around, put it in park, and hiked to the top of the cut to get the classic Stewart shot.

SC120965-60D05184.jpg

Surveying the area from above I picked out the likely spot of the old fencepost and made my way down the hill. Finding a fence post at the expected location I did a sweep of the area to make sure that it was the only one around. Seeing no other fence posts in a 20 foot radius I knew the odds were high that I had found the right post and that in a minute I would be taking a selfie to prove that I had found the treasure.

60D05190.jpg

My confidence level was high as I cautiously grabbed one side of the post and gave it a quick flip exposing the bare earth underneath. Nothing but dirt. Had somebody beat me to it in the preceeding 11 years and failed to report their find? Had rodents found the crisp piece of cotton and linen and used it as nesting material? I suppose we will never know and the prize money, such as it was, will remain in Keep the Show on the Road!'s pocket.

60D05191.jpg

Roadhound

http://rick-pisio.pixels.com

 

 

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