Black Hills Photo Album

Back in the 60's, I was a standard gauge HO modeler.  When the Air Force stationed me near the Black Hills, I was lucky enough to meet a very nice lady who worked as a volunteer at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, South Dakota.  One day she noticed me looking at old train photos and offered some assistance.  I didn't figure a little old gray-haired lady would know much about trains, but boy, was I surprised.

To make a long story short, she was Mildred Fielder, author of the book "Railroads of the Black Hills".  Before long she had converted me into a true, die-hard narrow gauge addict with her stories and photographs.  Although I no longer model Black Hills railroads, I have a special place in my heart for some of the lines that ran there.  I will be forever indebted to Ms. Fielder for introducing me to the fascinating world of Narrow Gauge.  This cyber-album contains some of the wonderful photos she shared with me.

These photos are for all of you heavily into the TOC (Turn of the Century) era.  They are mostly of NG trains, with a few miscellaneous shots of scenery, structures and people thrown in for spice.  Some of the scenes should be of interest to those who think the mid-west is flat.  These photos are especially dedicated to those who didn’t know there were mountain NG lines outside of Colorado!

Click on the thumbnail photos for larger images.

Photo #1 - Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley RR, Engine #208, descending hill above Pluma on the way to Central City from Lead, South Dakota, around 1902.

Photo #2 - Same train as Photo #1, at Crown Hill Station, at highest point on the FE&MV branch to Spearfish, South Dakota, around 1902.

Photo #3 - Similar train as in Photos #1 & #2, above Nevada Gulch just before Terry, South Dakota, around 1900.

Photo #4 - FE&MV #212 and coach between Deadwood Gulch and Portland, above Central City, South Dakota, around 1900.

Photo #5 - Approach to Spearfish Canyon, Grand Island & Wyoming Central RR, on the Spearfish high line, below Portland, South Dakota, around 1900.  Three sections of the line are visible in this photo; the lowest is 1300 feet beneath the foreground level.

An early traveler wrote of his travel through Spearfish Canyon,  "... As he advances, this bewilderment changes to a half-reverie.  Imagination lends a subtle aid.  For miles and miles, the right of way seems to this pilgrim in the coach but an avenue of ruined majesties – the palaces of ancient kings, the monasteries of a medieval day, the stronghold of some feudal clan.  In the long successions of gray old battlements, stern, bare and scarred, he reads the fantastic history of a million years defending – a million years defiance of the snow, the rain and the winds.  It is the Panorama of Dissolution.  Nature painted it; its accuracy the pilgrims cannot question.”

Photo #6 - Burlington & Missouri River RR (formerly Deadwood Central RR) narrow gauge trolley in Deadwood Gulch, between Lead and Pluma, South Dakota,  August 16, 1907.

Photo #7 - Hoodoo Mine ore bin, with narrow gauge engine “Natalie”, on the Branch Mint Line (private three-mile long spur off the Deadwood Central RR), above Galena, South Dakota, around 1906.

Photo #8 - Another view of the “Natalie” with ore cars on the Branch Mint Line, crossing Terrible Gulch, near Galena, South Dakota, around 1908.

Photo #9 - The “Natalie” with Burlington and Missouri River wooden hi-side gon, on the Branch Mint Line, around 1906.

Photo #10 - Burlington #538, formerly B&MR #495, at Fantail Wye, on the Black Hills & Fort Pierre RR, near Pluma, South Dakota, around 1905.

Photo #11 - Spearfish Canyon, Black Hills, South Dakota, on the Grand Island & Wyoming Central RR, Spearfish high line, around 1900.

Photo #12 - Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley RR #208, a Schenectady Locomotive Works 4-8-0, around 1900.

Photo #13 - First express train over the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley RR (locomotive #57, standard gauge), at Central City, South Dakota, May 25^th, 1891.  Yeah, I know its not NG, but they ran a lot of mixed standard/narrow gauge trains on 3-rail trackage with locomotives like this.

Photo #14 - DeSmet stamp mill and gold mine at Central City, South Dakota, on the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley RR (C&NW), around 1903.

Photo #15 - Lead City Hose Team, competing in Hub-and-Hub Race at Lead, South Dakota, July 4^th,  1900.