::Nikoneer

gallery

Here's one from my somewhat old bin... Ten years ago I treated my family to a short vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and one of the attractions we took in was a 2-hour ride on the "1880 Train." In 1881, the Home-Stake Mining Company created the first narrow-gauge railroad in the Black Hills to haul its cargo and the public from Lead to several mining camps. Today, the Black Hills Central Railroad is a heritage railroad that operates between the towns of Keystone and Hill City. This view was shot on the leg out from Hill City to Keystone, and once in Keystone the train is stopped on a spur, the engine disconnected and run to the other end where it is connected, and then commences pulling the cars backwards back to Hill City. If you look closely at the black hardware of the seats, you will see that the backs are hinged. This allows passengers to flip the backs up and over to the opposite side, thereby allowing them to face forward for both legs of the trip. The railroad was added to the National Register of Historic Places, February 5, 2003.