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Curator's Corner

On Occasion we stumble upon an article, letter, or other historical anecdote of interest to share with you. If this is your first visit, the Curator's Corner has been aptly named after our good friend and occasional contributor: Kyle Wyatt, former Curator of Technology at the California State Railroad Museum.

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Stump Removal

In February 1875, the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad was under construction. The contractors were grading the right of way across the San Lorenzo River from Big Trees, now called Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Large redwood tree stumps were being removed that were in the way of the railroad. The typical method of removing these ten to fifteen foot diameter stumps was to dig out the individual roots and then cut out the stump. The average cost was about $50 per stump. That's $1,250 in today's dollars. Looking to save costs the contractor decided to try something different. The crew dug a shaft straight down by the side of the stump then a drift was dug to the center root. Here six kegs of powder were placed around the root and the hole was backfilled. As the newspaper said, The result was grand. The stump weighing about fifty tons was shot about three hundred feet into the air, and deposited out of the way of the graders. The cost of the experiment was less than one half of the previous method. San Jose Daily Mercury February 9, 1875, page 2 --JFH

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