Lake Mead's Historic Railroad Trail

right now we're at Lake Mead in Nevada trying to get some sun to help regrow my beard but today we're going to be exploring a little bit of the history of the area by taking the historic railroad Trail the same path that the railroads took to bring supplies and cement to build the Hoover Dam [Music] we're at the trailhead for the historic railroad Trail and there are signs everywhere warning you not to do this hike in the heat but lucky for us it's a nice cool 54 degrees today so it should be a pleasant hike and from what I've been told it's pretty flat too there's little to no elevation gain so it should be pretty easy as well the trailhead for the historic railroad Trail is located near the lake Mead Visitor Center in fact from The Visitor Center you can get a nice view of the lake and you'll see the parking lot for the trail directly below [Music] the trail follows the path of one of the Rail lines that helped build the Hoover Dam and like the dam itself The Rail lines construction was Quite a feat from the trailhead the trail travels a little over three and a half miles going through five old railroad tunnels to reach the Hoover Dam out and back the entire hike is about seven and a half miles so let's head out on the trail and we'll talk about its history and its importance in building the Hoover Dam along the way there's a gate at the beginning of the trail and they close it in the summertime and the trail isn't accessible because of the Heat since the trail is an old railroad path it's pretty flat and well graded making it good for hikers joggers and cyclists constructed between 1931 and 1936 the Hoover Dam was one of the country's most impressive construction projects built during the Great Depression its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers and cost over 100 lives in 1931 a Construction contract was awarded to six Companies Incorporated a Consortium of the six major Western firms to build the Hoover Dam six companies along with the government built 30 miles of railroad connecting the facilities needed to build the dam we've just come to an informational sign along the trail you'll find a number of these signs which really help to illustrate the history wildlife and the geology of the area the National Park Service really did a good job with these there are also a number of benches along the trail where you can rest and admire the views so getting back to this Trail's history this area's isolation demanded that the tons of concrete needed to build the Hoover Dam be manufactured locally coupled with the need for large equipment to build the dam the railroad had to be built fast Crews worked 24 hours a day for five months to complete the railroad to the construction site I know there are going to be people who are interested in these details so according to the Trail Guide they give you at The Visitor Center the railroad used a standard gauge 90-pound rail construction with organ fur ties after the rail line was completed nine Steam and four gas locomotives would use the rails pretty much 24 hours a day until 1935. [Music] it's amazing to think how this whole rail line was built in just five months it's construction much like the dam itself was a huge feat that permanently changed this area just look how this Canyon was transformed by the trail being built across it apparently a lot of the fill here comes from the train tunnels that we should be coming to shortly the sky over Lake Mead is pretty interesting to look at as well it's just crazy how many jets are flying over this area the railroad was largely abandoned after 1935 but this section was sporadically used until 1961 when the last generator was hauled over its rails and installed at the Hoover Dam's power plant the trail and its tunnels were placed on the national register of historic places in 1984. [Music] concrete on the side of the trail are plugs that were taken out of the Hoover Dam to install turbines the last one was dumped here in the 1960s [Music] check out the photos on this sign showing fortification Hill in the distance these really show how the water level of Lake Mead has changed over the years here's 1929 before the Hoover dam was built and here's 1985 with Lake Mead full notice that island in the middle [Music] and here's a look towards fortification hill now that island is much more exposed and a few more Islands have popped up I think it's starting to look more like 1929 in the 1985. we've reached the first of the five railroad tunnels and wow this is massive they had to be oversized to fit the large equipment being transported to the Hoover Dam but standing here these are huge to illustrate how large this tunnel is here's a small kid standing in front of it walking through these tunnels feels like something out of Middle Earth I'm half expecting to come across a Dwarven Kingdom or something at the end of the tunnel there are vertical supports which are used to hold up horizontal planks this was built in order to prevent any rocks from falling on the tracks to limit delays in the Dam's construction the trains were already running 24 hours a day so they really couldn't afford any delays to clear rocks in between tunnels one and two you get an amazing view of Lake Mead [Music] foreign the wooden beams for tunnel 2 were destroyed by an arsonist in 1990 in order to save the tunnel the National Park Service sprayed the tunnel with shotcrete to prevent rocks from falling so this tunnel has a stucco look to it [Music] we've just passed tunnel 2 and down below us is the location of what was known as ragtown with the Great Depression going on and so many people out of work people started arriving in the area two years before the Dam's Construction in the hopes of getting a job as construction got closer a makeshift Shanty Town consisting of tents cardboard boxes basically anything that could serve a shelter against the Heat of summer are freezing temperature of winter was built next to the Colorado River the heat of the summer was brutal in June and July of 1931 alone 25 men women and children in ragtown died from the Heat still by the end of summer 1931 about 1400 people lived in ragdown fortunately by 1932 most workers and their families were able to relocate to Boulder City which had just been constructed and now we're at tunnel three [Music] the entire hike has great views of Lake Mead but it's interesting all these boats in the marina and not a single boat anywhere else on the lake today here's tunnel 4 which looks like it's shorter than the others looks like something lives here in tunnel 4. bats do live in these tunnels part of the year but right now it's too late in the year for them and here's tunnel five Tunnel 5 has an Overlook on the top of it at first I thought I saw some bighorn sheep but then I realized it's just people up at the Overlook because it curves inside the tunnel Tunnel 5 is the first tunnel that we've come to where you can't see the exit from the entrance Tunnel 5 was burned in 1978 and was actually sealed until 2001 after it had been stabilized with shotcrete so the inside of it has that same stucco look as tunnel 2. now that we've passed Tunnel 5 there are some restrooms and a picnic table but we are leaving the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and heading to the Hoover Dam the trail is supposed to be less flat from here almost immediately after entering the Hoover Dam property we've started going uphill but it's not too bad the scenery has definitely taking a massive hit after leaving Lake Mead though [Music] you definitely get a look at some of the Forgotten history of the Hoover Dam on this Trail though I'd love to go down there and take a closer look at those but there are signs everywhere warning us to stay on the trail [Music] so we're about a mile from the Hoover Dam and while the trail is far less Scenic once you get past the railroad tunnels it's also far less crowded we haven't run into a single other person once we've passed the railroad tunnels I think most people turn around there but anyways we got about a mile to the Hoover Dam we're also going to pass through the Hoover Dam's Boneyard so let's go check it out almost the entire Trail you see these custom Rock and it's incredible to think about the back-breaking labor of The Men Who Built This railroad Trail using 1930s equipment we've just arrived at the Hoover Dam's Boneyard this is something most visitors to the dam don't get to see we aren't that far from the dam now but I don't think I've ever seen any signs directing to it or any mention of it at the dam this Boneyard is where unused equipment from the Hoover Dam is temporarily stored the Bureau of Reclamation will reuse or recycle most of this equipment you can really see how massive some of the parts for the dam are the parts are set aside on display with signs detailing what they are walking between the electric lines here really gives this hike a behind the scenes feel to the dam I bet this would be pretty unsettling to anyone worried about 5G signals or whatever the trail has finally arrived at the Hoover Dam's parking garage well at the top of the parking garage anyway I never realized there was a trail on top of the parking garage here before [Music] these switchbacks coming down to the parking garage were easy going down but I'm not looking forward to going back up though and from the top of the parking garage we get our first look at the Hoover Dam foreign of course there is plenty to see and do at the Hoover Dam the views from the dam are incredible and it's hard to get a grasp on just how large it is until you see it in person if you feel like doing more walking you could take a tour of the dam while you are here or you could just look around on your own the Hoover Dam also has a gift shop and Cafe where we are going to grab a bite to eat before we start our hike back to Lake Mead and depending on the time of year you can also time travel one hour into the future by walking to the Arizona side of the dam I'm filming this on the Arizona side so I've lost an hour but I've been to the Hoover Dam plenty of times and I've always appreciated the history and the sacrifice of the people who built the dam and just what it took to build the Hoover Dam but this is the first time that I've walked to the Hoover Dam on the historic railroad Trail and it was definitely an interesting and unique look at some Hoover Dam history I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area and you get a chance to do it but anyways that's our look at the historic railroad Trail thank you so much for watching if you enjoyed the video please give it a thumbs up consider subscribing and we'll see you next week

Channel: Sidetrack Adventures

Views: 121,613

Keywords: Lake Mead, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lake Mead Railroad Trail, Historic Railroad Trail, Hoover Dam Railroad, Hoover Dam Railroad Trail, Hoover Dam Boneyard, Lake Mead hikes, Lake Mead tunnels, Hoover Dam hikes, Hoover Dam behind the scenes, lake mead drying up, lake mead water level, lake mead drought, Hoover Dam history, Lake Mead History, Colorado River history, Nevada history

Id: N9vOGtc98tI

Length: 13min 18sec (798 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 30 2022