Sparky
Explains Theodolite Usage
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To use a Theodolite, they fasten it
to that special mount with some duct tape or gaffer tape,
depending on what they brought along with them, then the boss
looks through the telescope to inspect the dam. If he sees
any cracks or something looks funny, he sends a helper, with the
end of a
piece of very strong fishing string that they have on a large
spool on the back of the truck, up to the place on the dam
where he saw the trubble.
When the helper gets there he holds
the end of the string up to the spot they want to check, and the
boss marks his end of the string with a red magic marker.
Then the helper comes back and they pull the string straight and
stretch it across the parking lot and measure it with a special
ruler that they keep in the truck fer jest such an occasion.
If it doesn't measure the same as it did the last time, then they
report that somebuddy else should go and do a reel accurate check
and see if anything is reely wrong or if the string or ruler was
jest a little stretched from bouncing around in the back of the
truck.
Engineers also use a Theodolite to
measure the height of dams and tall buildings. To do so they
hang the Theodolite on the end of the strong fishing string and
lower it off the top of the dam or roof of a tall building and
lower it to the bottom. After marking the string with the
red marking pen, they pull it back up, then measure it with the
special ruler.
To measure the height of a phone
pole, they simply fasten the Theodolite to the end of the string,
as usual, and swing it around several times, then release the
string so it flies up over the wires and comes down the other side
and lands on the ground. Then it is a simple matter to again
mark the fishing string with the red marker, unfasten if from the
Theodolite, pull it back from over the top of the wires, fold the
string in half, then measure it again. That equals the
height of the wires on the pole.
You can also use an Aneroid
Barometer or, in an emergency, a brick instead of a Theodolite.
Tunnel
Construction
Engineers also use a Theodolite to
help in the construction of tunnels through mountains.
The Eisenhower Tunnels west of
Denver are a good example of this usage.
By measuring from a given point at
ground level to the top of the mountain, then referencing it to
the other side, they can begin tunneling in from both sides at the
same time, thus shortening the construction time required to
finish the job.
In the case of the Eisenhower
Tunnels, the little arrow on the Theodolite got bent somehow from
bouncing around in the back of the pickup or measuring phone
poles, and it measured several degrees out of true. Thus,
when they should have met each other in the middle of the
mountain, the two tunneling crews actually passed each other about
50 feet apart and eventually came out on the opposite end of the
mountain, producing 2 tunnels instead of the planned 1 tunnel.
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Sparky's
Colorado Vacation, Page 2
by Sparky |
More Cripple Creek
After the mine
tour, we headed for the train ride on the little narrow gauge
train that leaves from the new train station, which is located
next to the museum, and it takes you about 5 miles south of town.
We had just missed the train, and the next one wouldn't leave
until the one we had just missed got back again, cuz that was the
train we would have to ride, and it wouldn't back for almost an
hour.
That's why we
decided to eat a little lunch and then go see the Cripple Creek
District Museum, which is in the old Midland-Terminal Railroad
Depot, and that is a hysterical building all by itself.
Inside they had a lot of interesting old antique kind of stuff
that told about the history of the region.
I guess I should
say that the old folks did all the heading for the train and
missing it, cuz none of us guys was originally gonna go ride it,
and fer sure, none of us guys was gonna go check out the museum,
but Sniffy did finally climb into Jim's jacket pocket and go to
the museum, so he's the one who told the rest of us what was in
there.
The pictures below
show a few of the highlights of the museum, and you can click on
their website to find out more about that museum:
Cripple
Creek District Museum
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Sniffy's
Cripple Creek Museum Photo Album |
1. Cripple Creek District Museum
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2. Beautiful stairs in museum
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3. Old telephone switching system
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4. Sign showing mine signals
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After the run through the museum, the
old folks and Sniffy came back to the van and Ty decided to go
along on the train ride instead of Sniffy, cuz Sniffy wanted to
hang around the van and eat a piece of left over cheese that was
in the little ice bag in the back seat.
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Ty's
Pictures Taken on the Cripple Creek Train |
1. Engineer oiling the locomotive |
2. View of the train yard & museum |
3. View of the train ride |
4. Cripple Creek in the background |
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Ty said the train ride was reel cool,
and it went nice and slow so it wouldn't jump off the tracks, cuz
they don't use levels or other sophisticated tools for putting
down tracks in Colorado either, and it was a pretty wiggly and
jiggly train ride most of the way. It went a couple of miles
toward the town of Victor, then came back. You can click on
their website here if you want more information about the train
ride:
Cripple
Creek Steam Train
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Heading to Gunnison
After getting back
from the train ride we headed to the old town of Victor, Colorado,
where we took picture #1 below. The story goes that the town
had gotten some street lights, and the work crew decided to put
them up quickly so they could get off work early. Since
nobuddy wanted to go and look fer a ladder, they jest hung them
all on the same pole, within easy reach, so it would be easy to
change the light bulbs if they burn out.
One feller also
said that he liked them put up low so he could pull his pickup up
under one of them at night to work on the engine. This is a
great idea that might spread quickly when people start to see this
picture and get the word out!!
After that, we set
out for Gunnison, where we would be spending the night. On
the way we went past an old railway tunnel that was used for many
years by cars coming from and going to Cripple Creek and
Victor. Since it was a railroad tunnel, it was only one
narrow lane, so traffic had to take turns.
When the gambling
casinos opened in Cripple Creek, many people were in too much of a
hurry to want to take turns, so a highway was built that bypassed
the tunnel and avoided many angry confrontations whereby two cars
ended up in the middle of the tunnel blowing their horns at each
other.
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Sparky's
Pictures Taken on the Way
to Gunnison |
1. Street lights in Victor, Colorado |
2. Old train tunnel once used by cars |
3. Sniffy sitting on tunnel lock |
4. Inside of locked tunnel |
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Morrow
Point Dam
We was going
through a pretty canyon, and saw a sign about a railroad display,
so Gloria asked Jim to turn off the highway to see what was there.
We saw a couple of
train cars and a restored cattle loading ramp at the visitor
center of the Curecanti National Recreation Area, so we continued
up the rugged canyon to see what the big deal was. It lead
up to the Morrow Point Dam & Power plant. Close to the
dam they had a special concrete thingy
with a red cap that looked kinda weird. so Jim and I had to go and
check it out. It turned out to be a special mount that they
put a Theodolite on so they ken keep track of the dam in case it
starts to move from the pressure of the water, or in case a boat
crashes into it from the lake on the other side. You ken
learn more about the Theodolite by reading the column at the
left.
They also had
an abandoned short train there parked on a bridge. The story
is that the train was crossing the bridge when it stopped and the
engineer and fireman from the locomotive went to catch some fish
that they usually cooked on a special hot part in the locomotive,
so they could have a fresh cooked lunch before getting into
Gunnison. Well, they went about a half mile up the canyon,
(back before the dam was built there, of course, cuz that train
wouldn't have been able to climb up the mountain soon enough to
get over that tall dam.)
That's when the
company that had sold the bridge to the railroad hired a repo man,
who showed up to repossess the bridge. He hauled away both
ends of the bridge and left before the train crew returned from
fishing, to discover their train left high and dry on the middle
bridge section that the repo man couldn't figure out how to get
the train off of so he could get that one too.
There were no cell
phones back in those days, so they jest had to walk into town to
report the incident to the railroad office, but the phone was
disconnected, so they never did get to cook the fish they had
caught, and they also had to find other jobs cuz the railroad had
gone bankrupt!
There was also a
reel cute Chipmunk hanging out and begging while we was there, so
I opened a can of peanuts that we keep in back fer jest such an
occasion and threw him a pawful of them, which he came up and
stuffed them into his cheek pouches, then he ran off. The
deal is that if I feed somebuddy like that he is supposed to eat
them right there and act reel cute fer at least a minute or 2, but
this guy ran off and ate by the side of the weeds, then he ran off
out of sight, so I didn't give him any more peanuts or even a
drink of my root beer!
For more
information, click on the website below:
Morrow
Point Dam |
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Gunnison,
Colorado
What we did in Gunnison: We
arrived, ate dinner at the Taco Bell, then checked into our
motel. In the morning we got up, ate the free continental
breakfast at the motel, then blasted off for Ouray, Colorado.
Continental Breakfast at the
Holiday Inn Express Motel: Jim says they have the BEST
CINNAMON ROLLS, and they're free! They go real good
with coffee and a banana and a bagel with jelly or cream
cheese. That makes a lite breakfast that only contains about
8,634 calories and keeps you from getting hungry again for almost
2 hours!!!!
What others do in Gunnison:
They drive all over looking for a Wendy's or Burger King or Arby's,
but you probably won't find any of them there.
We didn't.
Since Gunnison is home to a
college, you will find a Pizza Hut there
without a whole lot of searching, cuz college kids jest love
pizza!
They do have a Pioneer Museum in
Gunnison, and there are some interesting trains out front, but we
didn't go there to see what else they have inside.
They also do a lot
of farming and ranching in the Gunnison area. Besides that, read the column at
right to get more ideas about Gunnison.
(We overheard an old geezer in the
motel breakfast room telling another guy that his favorite thing
about Gunnison was seeing it in his rear view mirror).
We didn't think it was that bad of
a city, and the next time we're there and not on our way to
somewhere better, we'll go and check out that Pioneer Museum and
take another look for Wendy's, Arby's and Burger King!
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Weather
Report
Sunny but cool
all day, just right for sightseeing
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Things
to Do in the Gunnison Area: |
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•
Jeeping
• Talking about
Jeeping
• Making fun of
everybody else's Jeep
• Looking for a
better spot for Jeeping
• Washing your Jeep
• Shopping for
Jeeping accessories
• Getting the Jeep
unstuck
• More Jeeping
• Watching Jeeping tips on TV
• Watching for the
park ranger
• Welding parts back
onto the Jeep
• Talking about
fixing up the house
• Talking about
cleaning up the yard
• Talking about the
upcoming hunting season
• Looking for spouse,
who ran out of the house screaming, "No more Jeeping! I can't
take it anymore!"
What Else to
Do in Gunnison:
• Fishing
• Talking about
fishing
• Making fun of
somebody who doesn't like fishing
• Looking for a
better spot for fishing
• Seining for bait
• Shopping for
fishing paraphernalia
• Getting the pickup
unstuck
• More fishing
• Avoiding bugs,
snakes and mosquitoes
• Watching fishing
tips on TV
• Watching for the
fish and game warden
• Welding parts back
onto the pickup
• Talking about
fixing up the house
• Talking about
cleaning up the yard
• Talking about the
Civil War
• Looking for spouse,
who ran out of the house screaming, "No more fish! I can't
take it anymore!"
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Colorado
Mines Are Cool
Because of the
massiveness of the mountains most mines are dug into,
temperatures remain very constant year round. Many
Colorado mines retain a temperature of 55° F., so in the dead
of winter when outside temperatures are well below zero, miners
are relatively comfortable inside.
The Comstock
mines, near Virginia City, Nevada, on the other hand, were so
hot, at 130° F. and above, that insulated underground ice rooms
were constructed to allow the miners to work for around 15
minutes, then cool off for 45 minutes before returning to work.
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