+greg1701 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I've been to Vegas a few times for work and had noticed that there weren't all that many benchmarks to uncover near the strip... there was one, but it was on top of the Riviera Hotel and seemed unreachable to me... I had tried to contact someone at the hotel a number of times but was having a hard time convincing them to let me up on their roof and scramble around... dadgum casino security!! I figured that the description alone would make finding it difficult anyway... but there was something about it that kept it in the back of my mind all these months.. here is the descrip... 1/1/1956 by CGS (MONUMENTED) DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1956 (LSB) THE STATION (TRUE) CANNOT BE OCCUPIED HENCE NO DIRECTIONS TO REFERENCE MARKS. THE STATION IS LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN SECTION OF LAS VEGAS, ALONG FIFTH STREET AND IS ON THE HIGHEST PART OF THE RIVIERA HOTEL. IT IS SET IN THE TOP OF THE EAST PARAPET, ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH PARAPETS. THIS STATION MUST BE OBSERVED ECCENTRICALLY DUE TO ITS INACCESSIBILITY. THE STATION MARK IS A STANDARD DISK STAMPED RIVIERA 1956 SET IN A DRILL HOLE IN A CONCRETE PARAPET. REFERENCE MARK 1, A STANDARD DISK STAMPED RIVIERA NO 1 1956 IS SET IN A DRILL HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE SOUTHWEST CORNER NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF THE WEST AND SOUTH PARAPETS. REFERENCE MARK 2, A STANDARD DISK STAMPED RIVIERA NO 2 1956 IS SET IN A DRILL HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE NORTHWEST CORNER AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTH AND WEST PARAPETS. AN AZIMUTH MARK WAS NOT ESTABLISHED AT THIS STATION. THE REFERENCE POINT IS A NAIL DRIVEN INTO THE TOP OF THE WEST PARAPET. IT IS 5.492 M., 18.02 FT. SOUTH OF REFERENCE MARK 2, AND 5.127 M., 16.82 FT. NORTH OF REFERENCE MARK 1. THE ECCENTRIC POINT FROM WHICH ALL OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE IS ON LINE WITH THE TRUE STATION AND THE REFERENCE POINT (NAIL). IT IS A CARPET TACK DRIVEN INTO THE SURFACE OF THE ROOF AND HAS A CROSS INSCRIBED ON ITS TOP. So you apparently couldn't get to the mark anyway... but I still wanted to try.. and thanks to a very kind art director at the casino I got my shot last week... I went to the roof with a nice security guard... we had to guess at the roof as the casino has 4 buildings now... but we figured the oldest was best to start... After getting up there and walking around the huge roof scouring for the marks I was getting frustrated.. noting that the reference marks were just 20 feet apart or so made no sense to me as the roof was hundreds of feet long... we were getting ready to leave when I noticed the elevator maintenance equipment room, which was about 75 feet across... unfortunately the door to get into this room was locked and after calling the building locksmith and watching him fail to gain entry we were getting ready to depart... I made one pass around the room on the outside and noted a ladder attached to one wall... unfortunately it was 35 feet high, and some of the bolts that attached it to the top of the building were no longer there... I hate heights, but I sucked it up and made my assault... once on top of the building there was a 2nd smaller ladder going up yet another level not seen from the ground... I went up that ladder (also unstable sadly..) and immediately saw the reference marks in the corners... while the description says you could not access the mark, that was no longer true as they must have filled in the top part of the roof with a ceiling at some point... on the other end of the benchmark there was indeed a 40 foot hole with quite a drop to the ground... but you could walk up to the mark now easily... the Nail with the cross etched in it was also there... I have posted some pictures on the Benchmark page (GR1948)... I'm a little sad now... my "white whale" has been conquered... time to begin scouring the database for another difficult one... Greg Quote Link to comment
+greg1701 Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 Also, I can't find the "browse" button on the posting page to insert photos.. all I can see is an "Image" button which asks for a URL... can anyone help me out there?? I'd like to add some pics to this post.. thanks.. Greg Quote Link to comment
+Holtie22 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 (edited) Wow Greg, great find! Your perseverance definitely paid off! To post a photo, it has to already exist online somewhere with a URL. So to post one of yours, I simply copy the URL from the photo page, then paste it into the prompt box that you get when you click on the tree icon in the post page. Did you get a shot of the nail? When the description says that the station can not be occupied, that's not the same as saying that it is inaccessible. It just means that you can't set up a tripod over the station marker itself, which is why they used the eccentric station, marked by the nail with a cross. The parapet offered a better site for a permanent marker location, but with limited access to survey instruments. So, post some more photos if you have them! Edited July 26, 2008 by Holtie22 Quote Link to comment
+greg1701 Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 I did take a shot of the nail, albiet pretty blurry. Okay, I'll post my pics to snapfish, then put them here.. Yeah, that was clearly the best Benchmark find I'll ever locate I think... incredibly satisfying getting up on that roof and looking around Vegas from up there... Greg Wow Greg, great find! Your perseverance definitely paid off! To post a photo, it has to already exist online somewhere with a URL. So to post one of yours, I simply copy the URL from the photo page, then paste it into the prompt box that you get when you click on the tree icon in the post page. Did you get a shot of the nail? When the description says that the station can not be occupied, that's not the same as saying that it is inaccessible. It just means that you can't set up a tripod over the station marker itself, which is why they used the eccentric station, marked by the nail with a cross. The parapet offered a better site for a permanent marker location, but with limited access to survey instruments. So, post some more photos if you have them! Quote Link to comment
+Klemmer Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Oh, put the pics on your log. More is better! No need to use snapfish for those. Quote Link to comment
+greg1701 Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 Okay, let's see if this works... Me in front of the Elevator Maintenance Building on top of the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Vegas...[/img] Reference Mark Number Two with Circus Circus in the background... Reference Mark Number One... and our Benchmark... best Benchmarking experience I've ever had.. what's next?? Is this the best I'll ever do?? Sigh.. I guess we'll find out... time to hit the database... Greg Quote Link to comment
+Black Dog Trackers Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 greg1701 - Well, looking in Nevada - how about Pah Rah, a real 1878 mark? It looks like only a mile from the end of Rodero Road. Pioche Peak Monument (1881) might be an interesting find. I don't understand what boundary it is. Diamond Peak looks pretty remote but remains a nice 1881 find. Quote Link to comment
+greg1701 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Share Posted August 2, 2008 greg1701 - Well, looking in Nevada - how about Pah Rah, a real 1878 mark? It looks like only a mile from the end of Rodero Road. Pioche Peak Monument (1881) might be an interesting find. I don't understand what boundary it is. Diamond Peak looks pretty remote but remains a nice 1881 find. well great, but i'm in colorado now!!! those are good ones though... Quote Link to comment
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