Merry Christmas 
   2003... 

 ... from the 1876 CPRR Fire Lookout Station at Signal Peak (7,680') atop Red Mountain in the Sierra Nevadas near Cisco Grove, CA.

    
Dear Friends...

I created my holiday greeting to you this year (above) from a digital image that I took last August of the old Central Pacific Railroad Fire Lookout Station located 7,680' up on Signal Peak atop Red Mountain in the Sierra Nevadas near Cisco Grove, CA.  Established in 1876, the stone cabin in the picture was built by the Southern Pacific in 1909 to replace the CPRR's original wooden structure.  It remained in continuous service until 1934 to protect against fires in the many miles of old wooden showsheds along the CPRR grade over the Sierra Nevada Mountains between Blue Cañon and Donner Summit.

I will be returning to Northern California and will be taking winter views of the CPRR Sierra Grade from Amtrak's "California Zephyr" which I will then add as an eighth Gallery to my current exhibit of 114 images (and six annotated maps) of the Sierra Grade located on the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum, our family website.

May you have a very Merry Christmas & Happy and Prosperous New Year!!
 

Bruce C. Cooper