Leaving the boiler house remains behind, we took a stroll through the forest in search of the old rail bed that we initially used to find this shaft location. It wasn’t long until we found a short ridge running along a straight line through the woods. Climbing to the top we expected to come across a dirt trail but instead found ourselves standing within some dense underbrush. This wasn’t the trail we were looking for, but it was definitely an old railroad grade and worth a look nonetheless. Unfortunately the grade didn’t last too long. Before we knew it we had come to the end, which had dropped off quickly into a shallow valley. Climbing down to take a look we found the reason behind the grade’s sudden demise – concrete foundations.

We recognized these right away as the remains of an old trestle. There were about five to six sets in total, eat set comprised of four short square blocks. They were set apart about a dozen feet or so, lined up with the end of the old rail grade. (Check out the BIG PICTURE)

A closer look revealed a very simple set up with each block topped by a single iron rod. The blocks were covered in a thick layer of green moss and looked more like rocks than anything man made. We followed their bread-crumb trail for a short spell before finding ourselves at yet another raised railroad grade. This would definately make this a short trestle, which brought the rail line over this shallow valley. We weren’t sure why they just didn’t fill it in, since there was no obvious stream or obstacle that required crossing. But then again we were exploring in late fall and any stream that once ran through here could have dried up.

After looking over various old photos of the Trimountain mine we think what we had found was in fact the short wooden crossing shown in the photo above. Behind it stands the No.2 and No.3 shaft houses. This trestle stood along the Copper Range spur line that branched off from the main line down to the pictures right side. Trains would come down this line before turning back towards Trimountains remaining shafts.

We decided to follow the old line to try to find where it met up with the Copper Range mainline, only to first hit an old road. The road snaked its way down the hillside and up the hill was the same road that ran past the No.2 shaft. Deciding not to have to hike any further uphill then we had to, we elected to discontinue following the old line and instead hiked back up towards the mine.

To Be Continued…