Two Booms, Two World Wars, and Colorado Yule Marble is Bust, 1900 to 1945
I have long known about the role the Georgetown Branch played in the construction of the Lincoln Memorial, but it is really refreshing to fill in more details and specifics. This chronicle of the Colorado Yule Marble Co. contains a really neat timeline and history which adds some specifics to when the marble for the Lincoln Memorial would have come down the GB, across Rock Creek and down the Potomac to the Memorial construction site on the temporarily constructed extension to the GB. It seems the first shipment left Yule, CO 5/25/1914, and the final shipment was on 6/16/1916.
A few months later the quarry would shut down, only to reopen six years later. In 1931 the famous Yule marble was once again selected for a notable monument in the DC area, the Tomb of the Unknown. Carved from a single, massive piece of stone, this proved to be a real challenge. I would wager that this stone did not travel on the Georgetown Branch, but rather on the Pennsylvania RR which had a branch that ran into Rosslyn, VA, passing the area where the Tomb is located at Arlington National Cemetery.
Another interesting note I found on the Marble, CO Chamber of Commerce site reads:
The block was loaded onto a rail car and shipped to Vermont for cutting
Another interesting tidbit:
In 1913, a slab of Yule marble was sent to Washington, D.C. to be part of the Washington Monument.
There is some chance this traveled to the Monument site via the GB, but based on proximity of the PRR and its trackage on Virginia Ave & Maryland Ave, I would wager the delivery was handled from that location. There were yards located right near the Mall on that PRR line back then.
I am fascinated by the small moments and details that make the GB special. Its proximity to downtown DC certainly gave it host to many interesting deliveries over the years; National Christmas Trees, stone for national monuments and maybe even a President of the United States. More details on that another time.
This looks very good! What era are you doing now?
Btw, one piece of footage to definitely keep on the lookout for provided you haven’t seen it is footage of the Bradley Boulevard bridge, shot around 1977 I believe. I tried to find it to post here but to no avail. Anyways, I believe it was part of a film project a producer was doing, which wasn’t very good but at various parts it shows people running around on top of the bridge. Still neat though.
Thank you, Hayden. Much appreciated. I’m modeling the era from ~1945 to 1955 for a few main reasons. One, I want to model late steam engines. I found a memo from Nov 1945 at the B&ORRHS Archives a number of years back indicating the end of steam service in Georgetown. Second, the Whitehurst Freeway was built from 1947-49. I don’t want to model it, as although it is impressive and interesting, it makes operations difficult. I may model a few sections of it being erected at the East end of the layout. Third, I want to model into the mid 1950s due to the availability of equipment in the HO market and a slightly wider breadth of diesels, such as GP-9’s and SW900’s.
Hayden – I have seen it! It really is a riot. I stumbled across it back in 2013. Here’s a link to my post: http://gbblog.sluggyjunx.com/2013/01/17/bradley-blvd-bridge-on-film