New Project

By-Passed: Stories from the Lincoln Highway Across Wyoming

This project started with the examination of Bosler, Wyoming. As I was researching the history of this modern ghost town; I began thinking about what caused the demise of this place, and then I became curious about the other towns along the Lincoln Highway. One question came to mind: "How many more Boslers are there?" As a part of my research on the Make No Roads project, I acquired a number of maps and other materials including a copy of a 1949 Rand-McNally Road Atlas. I compared this to the 2009 version, and discovered that there were a substantial number of towns that either no longer existed, or were bypassed when Interstate 80 was officially opened in 1977; (most of the highway was opened prior to 1971, but there were two minor additions added in 1977). This became the impetus for this new project. The towns I'm going to investigate will meet certain criteria; they were bypassed by the Interstate, have suffered economic atrophy from the same, and have seen a drastic decline in population over the past 40 years. No town with a current population over 1,000 will be scrutinized, with only two exceptions, (this will be announced later). 
In addition to the towns of Sherman, Wyoming, (a.k.a. Two Rivers), and Bosler, I've begun to research and document the towns of Rock River, Medicine Bow, and many of the other forty-two towns and places.
(Please click on the images for a larger view)

The Longhorn Lodge Motel in Rock River is open during the summer months. 

Hostlers General Store has everything for the weary traveler.

The Double Shot Bar.

The Rock River Lumber.

The Round Up.

According to the Albany County GIS web site, this location is listed as residential vacant land. It backs up to the Union Pacific rail line that originally stopped in Rock River. 

This service station was built in 1925. 

The First National Bank building in Rock River was built in 1929, it had a jail inside. It was later used as the towns fire station. 

One of the towns that was west of Cheyenne was named Granite Canyon. This school was opened in 1892. 

Located near the "dinosaur graveyard" of Como Bluffs; "The World's Oldest Cabin" was built in 1932, it's made entirely of dinosaur fossils.

 This house is located near the intersection for Lookout, about five miles north of Bosler. It was constructed in 1935, and it sits as a lonely sentinel watching over the traffic passing by.

Ghost Train

I've been working on school assignments exclusively for the last couple of weeks; of these, one of my personal favorites is the image below. I want to thank Paul Harrison, Mike Zook, and the rest of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Laramie, along with Larry Ostresh and Jerry Hanson and the Laramie Railroad Depot Association for their help and support for this project. I also want to thank everyone who loaned me the floodlights - this might have looked a little weird with just the lights inside the train.
For those who are unaware, the park is lined on the east side by old and tall trees. Further, there is only only one streetlight across the street, the effect of which is seen on the fence near the boiler, (blueish light). This image is slightly altered; I "removed" the graffiti, and the expanding foam from the engine.

Please click on the image for a larger view.
A little technical information: I used fourteen light fixtures inside the train, plus one in front for the headlamp. I used six 2x 500-watt worklights outside to light the scene.