kayakbird

I'll have to plead the 5th; but living west of the 100th and wearing some orange clothing does seem to help. ML

My thought while there was that the distance from the milepost is along the rail - one way or the other - and then turn a right angle to go the other distance. Was/is there a standard method to do this? I covered all that ground, but with tall grass under 4 inches of snow and likely some loess since 1957, really didn't have much hope. Thanks, ML

All, Maybe the 82 & 82 teams were as confused as I am by this station description: portion of the DATASHEET: QX0222 HISTORY - Date Condition Recov. By QX0222 HISTORY - 1957 MONUMENTED CGS QX0222 HISTORY - 1958 GOOD NGS QX0222 HISTORY - 1982 MARK NOT FOUND NGS QX0222 HISTORY - 1984 MARK NOT FOUND USGS QX0222 QX0222 STATION DESCRIPTION QX0222 QX0222''DESCRIBED BY NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY 1958 QX0222''0.55 MI NW FROM BOZEMAN. QX0222''ABOUT 0.55 MILE NORTHWEST ALONG THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY FROM THE QX0222''STATION AT BOZEMAN, IN SECTION 6, T 2 S, R 6 E, 5 POLES NORTHWEST OF A QX0222''ROAD CROSSING, 64 FEET SOUTHWEST OF MILEPOST 141, 94 FEET SOUTHEAST OF QX0222''THE SOUTHEAST RAIL, 29 FEET SOUTHWEST OF A TELEPHONE POLE, 3 FEET QX0222''NORTHEAST OF A FENCE, 2 FEET NORTHWEST OF A WHITE WOODEN WITNESS POST, QX0222''ABOUT 3 FEET BELOW THE LEVEL OF THE TRACK, AND IN THE TOP OF A QX0222''CONCRETE POST PROJECTING 5 INCHES. Track runs 322 TN away from the Bozeman, MT RR station. This means to me that you can have a measurement either SW or NE of the rails. MP 141 is on the right (NE) side of the NE rail at the given distance from the RR station. An existing fence in poor repair is about 75 feet NE of the NE rail. There is a line of telephone poles about 94 feet SW of the SW rail but no evidence of a previous fence line. Some ground disturbance from firebreak bulldozing both sides and maybe a new siding since 1957 on the left (SW) side of the main line - but well within that 94 feet distance. Looking for ideas on which side of the tracks I should look on when the snow goes off. Thanks, ML

Paul, You sure know how to twist a guy's arm! Maybe in the spring, when the grass is green, I'll wander back around to my "NOT FOUND" and no data recovery's. ML

Bill93 & all, OK, can this become, or is there, a forum to figure out "just what did they mean by that" wording in some descriptions that may or may not be typo's. Thanks, ML

Thanks FX, In this case the NGS descriptions and the RR mileposts that I have observed are given in whole numbers that correlate with linear distance. A bit further NW the bridge in mile 157 does have 157 plus an underlined 1 painted on it. Always learning. ML

woodstrider & all, Is it fair to ask for the PID on your above referenced BM TREE? The original 1910 description for CHIRICAHUA, PID CF0328 made note of reference trees (bearing trees?). See below. RM NO 1 and RM NO 2 were placed in 1934. These standard disks were found 9 Oct 08; but not the trees or the drill hole reference object. "THE STATION IS MARKED BY STANDARD DISK. CF0328''THE REFERENCE MARK, A ONE-HALF INCH DRILL HOLE 2 INCHES DEEP CF0328''IN THE TOP OF A ROCK ON THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE WEST END CF0328''OF THE PEAK, IS 9.496 METERS FROM THE STATION S 30 DEG 51 MIN E. CF0328''TWO BLAZED TREES, THE FIRST ONE HAVING 3 CF0328''NAILS IN THE BLAZE AND THE SECOND ONE 4 NAILS, ARE AT THE CF0328''FOLLOWING DISTANCES FROM THE STATION--12.18 CF0328''METERS, AND 13.61 METERS." ML

Thanks all for the info. There is a bridge in mile 146 (QX0214) where I recovered M 493 yesterday. Since the ghost/erroneous 146 has apparently been removed, I may always wonder. ML

Sorry about the "dead air". I had lost my scab wireless connection and didn't realize it had posted. Is there a way to get a for sure standard "BENCH MARK DISK" brass cap into the system? In the fast month I have found one in Meagher Co, Montana (with a witness post tag ) and two in Park Co, Montana - one of these in a newer highway bridge. I like do some of my BM hunting by checking likely places without the benefit of a DATASHEET. ML

North Wes, Thanks for that information. The track alignment/length has not changed. Now I will have to figure out a combination of typo's that will lead me to another bridge or culvert in that general area. Maybe I should start another thread, but I'll throw this out here: in the last three weeks I have found five and maybe six marks that were reported as "Not Found" by NGS crews in the early 80's. is this unusual? I will file a recovery report to the NGS. ML

I am rather new to Bench Marking. Gathering up a few along the old Northern Pacific line in Gallatin County, Montana it seems that the bridges are numbered for the mile that they are in. Except that bridge 146 (QX0471) is described a being only 0.10 further from Bozeman than bridge 143 (QX0219). Both bridges appear to have been replaced by a single culvert and the marks were no found. Thank for any enlightenment. ML