Original subtitles

*

Narrator: A destroyed village pockmarked

And scarred that Remembers its dead.

Meigs: you see a war zone kind Of frozen in amber.

*

Narrator: A ghostly fleet of ships

Lost in the wilderness Heading towards destruction.

Bell: there's something really Quite spooky about it.

Narrator: And a bridge to nowhere

Hidden in the forest That met a grizzly end.

Hidden in the forest That met a grizzly end.

Agrawal: It has this otherworldly Quality to it

And it doesn't really feel Like it should be in our world.

*

Narrator: once, they were some Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge of design And construction.

Today, they stand abandoned, Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly, But who built them

And how, And why were they abandoned?

And how, And why were they abandoned?

*

*

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Among the arid plains Of northern spain,

165 miles from its capital, Madrid, lies a ghost town.

165 miles from its capital, Madrid, lies a ghost town.

*

The town has a strange, Savage beauty.

Everywhere are the ruins Of hollowed-out buildings

With rubble piled up In the empty streets.

The story goes that if You listen hard enough

You can hear voices From the past.

You see the ruins of a City that clearly suffered

You see the ruins of a City that clearly suffered

Some kind of a disaster, Was it an earthquake?

You know what it some Kind of rushed evacuation?

What knocked down These buildings

And why were they never rebuilt?

Its name is belchite.

What's even stranger is That there's another town

With the same name Right next to it.

Why are these two Towns side by side?

And what has happened To cause such

Devastation to one of them?

Devastation to one of them?

Meigs: and then you look closer And you see something odd

About some of these ruins -- They're not just eroded

By weather and gravity, They're chipped away.

Look closer and you Can see bullet holes,

Damage from mortar fire.

This is a unique form Of erosion.

This is the erosion of war.

Narrator: Which army was responsible

For pulverizing this town And why was it never rebuilt?

*

*

[ mortar blasts ]

The answer lies In a bloody civil war

That ripped spain apart In the last century.

In 1936, spain was A deeply divided country

That was politically torn Between extreme right and left,

The fascists and anti-fascists.

Meigs: the spanish civil war Started as a conflict

Within spain itself, you had A very left-wing government

Within spain itself, you had A very left-wing government

And then right-wing forces In the military basically

Staged a coup against their Own elected government.

Bell: by the following year, These right-wing nationalist

Forces under general franco were

Controlling a large Part of spain.

Narrator: In an attempt to slow down Their advance

Anti-fascists forces decided To attack zaragoza

In august, 1937.

The city was the Regional capital

The city was the Regional capital

And communication center For the aragon front.

Zaragoza itself isn't so Strategically important,

But it was an Important enough city

That it would have been a real Blow to nationalist morale.

Narrator: on the way to Zaragoza was belchite.

The original plan was To bypass the village,

But that wasn't what happened.

Instead, the anti-fascist Forces attacked.

Instead, the anti-fascist Forces attacked.

Corum: so here you have belchite With a few thousand

Not elite spanish Nationalist troops

But they're supplied well Enough, armed well enough

That they turn the town Into a small fortress.

Instead of going Straight for zaragoza,

Which they could have Taken, they get bogged down

In this village of 3800 people.

Narrator: who were the men who Fought to take belchite?

Narrator: who were the men who Fought to take belchite?

And what was their connection to

A fighting unit From the united states?

When the world learned That franco and his fascist

Compatriots were trying to Overthrow the elected government

Of spain, there was Really a lot of outrage,

And a lot people wanted to come

And help this beleaguered Government.

And so a lot Of people from the west came

To volunteer and assist.

Narrator: around 3000 Of those anti-fascist volunteers

Narrator: around 3000 Of those anti-fascist volunteers

Were from the u.S.

They formed the Abraham lincoln brigade

And made their way to belchite.

Corum: by belchite, the abraham Lincoln battalion

Has been through a couple Of major campaigns.

They are really veterans.

They're first rate Troops at this time.

They weren't when they started,

But at this point they Have learned on the job,

And they're pretty Effective soldiers.

And they're pretty Effective soldiers.

Narrator: but if they were such Effective soldiers,

Why is there so little Left of the town?

Juan simon, a tour guide In the old town,

Explains how the american And other anti-fascist troops

Attacked the town.

[ mortars blast ]

The civilians who Were unable to escape

Hid in the cellars As the battle raged above them.

The town was Essentially under siege.

They were cut off From the outside, food, water,

It was really quite a Brutal way to take a city

Without much concern For the lives

Or the welfare of the civilians Who were trapped inside.

Or the welfare of the civilians Who were trapped inside.

Narrator: but the fascist forces Had a strategic advantage.

From the top of this tower, Now battered by shellfire,

They had a clear line of fire

On to the anti-fascist Troops below.

Once the anti-fascist Troops had taken

Out the machine gun, The abraham lincoln

Battalion was able To force its way

In through the church Of st. Augustine.

*

The anti-fascist forces may have Entered belchite,

But would they succeed In taking over the town?

*

*

Narrator: In 1937, during the spanish Civil war,

Anti-fascist forces have broken Through into belchite.

These are really the Worst kinds of battles.

It's up close and it's personal.

The noise, the explosions, You're going building

To building, and that means Throwing hand grenades,

That means demolishing things,

That means setting Fire to buildings,

To actually, Literally burn your enemy out.

To actually, Literally burn your enemy out.

It's a high-casualty Form of warfare.

*

Narrator: After two weeks of intense

And bloody conflict, The american

And other anti-fascist forces Took control of the town.

Meigs: it was very bloody, Very devastating

To the local population.

When ernest hemingway, Who was covering

When ernest hemingway, Who was covering

The spanish civil war For american newspapers,

When he arrived In belchite, he said

The city was less a town Than a bad smell.

Narrator: bodies from both sides Piled up in the streets

And decayed in the Blistering summer sun.

In total, 3,000 people died, But was it worth the bloodshed?

Corum: abraham lincoln Battalion talked of this

As one of their toughest fights In the war,

As one of their toughest fights In the war,

And they aren't sure Why their elite brigade

Was diverted to A house to house battle.

But somehow it happened.

It was really one of the Big screw ups of the war,

Is the offensive, they Gained a little territory

And literally accomplished No strategic effect at all.

Narrator: six months later, The tables were turned

When the fascist forces Took back belchite.

When the fascist forces Took back belchite.

But why was it never rebuilt?

Meigs: franco didn't want Belchite to be restored

Because he knew it Had propaganda value.

This was of the great battles That the nationalists lost.

You would think That you would want

To celebrate your victories, But no.

If you're a dictator, And you can point

To a horrific disaster where Many civilians lost their lives,

Then you can stand up and stay,

If it weren't for me, This would keep happening.

If it weren't for me, This would keep happening.

*

Franco wouldn't let the local Population rebuild the city,

But eventually they Decided that they

Just needed to build A new town next door.

*

Narrator: today, the town stands As a memorial

To the thousands who lost Their lives here,

And a stark reminder Of the particular brutality

Of civil war.

Of civil war.

*

When you see belchite today, You see a war zone,

Kind of frozen in amber.

You see the effects, You see the bullet holes,

You see where The mortar shells fell,

And you see the tragedy Of war, and how so often,

Wars aren't just fought Between armies,

They're often fought Between armies

With civilians Caught in the middle,

And that's what happened here.

That's what makes It so heartbreaking.

That's what makes It so heartbreaking.

*

Narrator: On the western coast of canada,

In powell river, a small Town a 105 miles from vancouver

Is an astonishing site.

*

Ships that stretch across The water, one connected

To the other, listing gently Towards the shore.

*

Bell: it looks like a Decaying ghost fleet

Bell: it looks like a Decaying ghost fleet

With their crews Mysteriously missing.

There's something really Quite spooky about it.

Selwood: They're covered in barnacles, And moss, and seaweed,

It almost as if nature is Claiming them back again.

Narrator: heavy rusted chains Extend across their decks,

Their crews long since vanished, But still they hint

At secrets yet to be revealed.

At secrets yet to be revealed.

Dennston: People think there's still Treasure somewhere deep inside

And if they can just get in There and see what's there,

Maybe they'll find something Really interesting.

Narrator: It's hard to tell how old These ships are

Or where they're from,

But there's one thing They all have in common.

Selwood: the really unusual Thing about these boats

Is that unlike most They're not made of steel.

These ones are made of concrete.

These ones are made of concrete.

Dennston: They've definitely inspired a Sense of mystery growing up.

You start to wonder, Like, what are these things?

Where did they come from?

What is their story?

Narrator: And how are they connected

To one of the Deadliest weapons ever?

*

The answer lies in The desperate days

Towards the end of The first world war.

The u.S. Navy urgently Needed to expand its fleet

The u.S. Navy urgently Needed to expand its fleet

But was running out Of raw materials

And had to find Another solution.

They come up with the idea, Let's try concrete.

Well the problem with most Concretes is they're too heavy.

Now, they had to develop, And they succeeded

In developing a new Type of concrete

That was light but still very, Very strong.

That was light but still very, Very strong.

Selwood: during world war I, They were a go-to option

Because they didn't take up The important raw materials

Like steel that were Needed for the war effort

And they could be made cheaply

And much more functionally Out of concrete,

And concrete, of course, Does float.

*

These ships so impressed The u.S. Government

That they ordered 24 of them.

*

Corum: and they're completed Just as the war ends.

Corum: and they're completed Just as the war ends.

But they're put into service and

They actually Worked pretty well.

Once you've made A concrete ship,

It is actually quite A long-lasting thing.

Concrete, unlike steel, Doesn't get metal fatigue,

Doesn't wear out, It doesn't rust.

So, potentially, you have a very Easy-to-maintain kind of ship.

*

*

Narrator: in fact, these ships Were so effective

That when there was a shortage Of steel during

The second world war, Naval architects,

Once again, turned to concrete.

All of them had a very similar Purpose which was mainly

To access freight ships And for storage

Because they're very good At holding large amounts

Of material and keeping it dry.

*

Narrator: But what are 10 cargo ships

From two world wars doing Here in british columbia?

From two world wars doing Here in british columbia?

This ghostly fleet that The local's call the hulks.

Around the beginning of the Last century, paper mills sprung

Up all along the coast, Including here at powell river.

Bell: the logs used to make the Paper were transported

To the mill by water and then Unloaded into a log pond.

It had to be big enough To store the logs

It had to be big enough To store the logs

And be protected From the elements

To keep it safe for the workers.

The only problem Here is it's exposed

To severe winds from both The north and the south

And they needed to find a way To shelter the log pond.

Narrator: So the mill owners decided

To build a breakwater, A barrier built into the sea

To protect the log pond From the force of the waves,

As mechanical engineer, Matthew denniston, explains.

As mechanical engineer, Matthew denniston, explains.

Dennston: So typically a breakwater Structure would be made

Of large rocks Dumped in big piles,

And they would build Up from the sea floor

To make that protection, Where in our case,

It's far too deep to make This type of breakwater.

So I think the light Bulb just came on,

Hey, why not Use ships instead?

Steel being in saltwater In the ocean

Deteriorates very quickly If it's not protected

And we found that, we would Have a steel ship that would

Come in and it would Maybe last 20 years before

Come in and it would Maybe last 20 years before

It had to be decommissioned, Where these concrete ships

Were already 40 years old Coming in to replace them

And have still lasted Another 50-plus years.

*

Narrator: in 1948, the first Concrete ships arrived

In powell river.

But how effective would they be

At protecting from the elements?

Bell: the ships were anchored Down and chained together

To form a sort Of artificial reef.

To form a sort Of artificial reef.

To help them withstand the Elements, they were weighed down

With gravel, And they list to one side

So their decks are angled Towards the shore.

Selwood: they're actually much Heavier than ordinary ships.

They're much more Effective in keeping

The water and the weather At bay.

*

Narrator: But if the concrete ships

Make such an Effective breakwater,

Why are there now plans To get rid of them?

Why are there now plans To get rid of them?

*

*

Narrator: Off the coast of british Columbia is a fleet

Of 10 concrete ships, chained Together to form a breakwater.

One of the ships is the quartz And it has a hidden past.

Dennston: So one of the most unique Things about this ship is that

It was actually a part of some Of the first nuclear testing

That the u.S. Military did On bikini atoll, and this

That the u.S. Military did On bikini atoll, and this

Ship specifically was part Of the nuclear test, baker.

[ bomb explodes ]

Narrator: The bomb propelled a dome

Of water about a mile Wide into the sky.

It created a wall of radioactive Mist that contaminated many

Of the surrounding ships, Including the quartz.

Corum: they were simply there To see the effect

Of the nuclear blast on ships.

So, you know they had ships Of every type and description

So, you know they had ships Of every type and description

At bikini atoll and they wanted

To get radioactivity readings,

They also wanted to see the Blast effect that different

Nuclear weapons would Have at different ranges.

*

Narrator: 10 years later and Radiation-free, she arrived

At powell river to join The other concrete ships.

Dennston: the service life was Supposed to be only 15 years

Dennston: the service life was Supposed to be only 15 years

When in reality here We are 75 years later

And they're still Holding strong.

*

Narrator: so why are there Now plans to sink some of them?

*

Today the paper mill no longer Needs such a large log pond.

Selwood: The plans now are to sink Some or most of the ships

And allow them to become A natural reef, bringing

To life again the underwater Maritime colony and community.

To life again the underwater Maritime colony and community.

The ships are an extraordinary Story of creation

And technology.

They were borne out Of desperation,

Out of a need to find a way to Build ships with new materials,

And yet when that need was gone, They found another use here

Acting as a breakwater, and when Even that role is completed,

They're now gonna Find another one

Down on the sea bed as reefs.

They really are a testimony To the creativity and creation

They really are a testimony To the creativity and creation

Of what could be done With new materials.

*

Narrator: Hidden deep within woodland

In southeast germany, 376 Miles from its capital, berlin,

Is a strange and Unexpected site...

*

A cold and bleak landscape Disfigured by charred rock.

A cold and bleak landscape Disfigured by charred rock.

Bell: there's a real Air of foreboding.

You can tell that Something bad happened.

Narrator: It looks entirely natural

Until you see metal spikes Puncturing the stone.

Agrawal: you're walking along,

And suddenly the floor turns To concrete

And then you see An embedded footprint there

And you keep walking, And then further along

There's another footprint.

There's another footprint.

And immediately you think, Just what went on here?

Who made these footprints?

And what happened to them?

*

Narrator: the mystery deepens The further you go.

Rusted, corroded steel and Badly weathered concrete

Twisted violently out of Any recognizable shape.

*

Bell: whatever happened here Would take one heck

Of a force to cause This much damage.

Of a force to cause This much damage.

Narrator: and there's more.

Concealed beneath the forest Floor is a mysterious tunnel.

Nearby are strange depressions

Just visible through the trees.

But what's most sinister is An arch, a bridge to nowhere.

How is it all connected?

*

Nusbacher: you've got what looks Like a giant rib of some

Nusbacher: you've got what looks Like a giant rib of some

Massive dinosaur sticking Out of the earth.

Agrawal: There really is something Fantastical about it.

It has this otherworldly Quality to it

And it doesn't really feel Like it should be in our world.

Narrator: who built this arch?

Why did its builders Die in their thousands?

And what cataclysmic event Caused its destruction?

*

*

*

The answer lies in the final Years of the second world war

When the allied bombing campaign Against germany

Reached its peak.

Corum: The germans have lost control, Not only the airspace

Over france and the allied Landing areas, but they've

Lost control of the airspace Over their own country.

Narrator: allied bombs are Decimating german factories

Narrator: allied bombs are Decimating german factories

And severely disrupting Their ability to fight.

Corum: so the germans have To find some way

To defend themselves against The allied onslaught.

[ bombs explode ]

Narrator: how would the germans

Combat this threat From the skies?

And how was it connected To this sinister site?

*

Narrator: in the final years Of the second world war,

The allies were bombing Germany's factories to oblivion.

So the nazi war Machine decided to move

Production of some armaments To caves.

The problem the germans Have is that it's really,

Really hard to Make caves in rock.

Their clever solution is They're gonna make giant,

Their clever solution is They're gonna make giant,

Artificial caverns where There was no cave before.

Narrator: And this is the result.

Weingut eins, a vast concrete Structure that the germans

Hoped would allow them to Keep the war machine running.

But what were they Going to build here?

And why was its Construction hidden deep

Within a forest In southeast germany?

*

*

Local historian, dr. Erhard Bosch, explains that the site

Had to match a very specific Set of requirements.

*

Bosch: [ speaking german ]

Translator: In order to be able to be able To build concrete buildings,

You need gravel, water, cement, And steel.

All that was here.

Narrator: It needed so many resources Because of its vast size.

Narrator: It needed so many resources Because of its vast size.

*

Bell: This bunker presented all sorts Of engineering challenges.

It would consist Of 12 separate arches

That'd be a quarter Of a mile long.

Each arch would be over A hundred feet wide.

It's a major Construction project.

Narrator: a workforce of over 10,000 was allocated,

And construction began in July, 1944 on the first arch.

And construction began in July, 1944 on the first arch.

Agrawal: Building arches is a challenge.

They're very strong shapes When they're actually finished

But while you're constructing Them, you have to keep

Them supported in order To keep it stable.

Narrator: usually you'd use A timber or steel frame

But the lack of Resources meant that

The builders had to Find another solution.

*

Nusbacher: you need as much Gravel as possible

Because the construction Method you're gonna use

Because the construction Method you're gonna use

Requires mountains of gravel.

Agrawal: they could pile up this Gravel into an immense shape,

This arch shape, and then create

Their concrete arch On top of that.

Narrator: but how would they Move those vast mounds

Of gravel from one Arch to another?

A few hundred feet away, There's a clue.

Bell: this was an underground Tunnel with mine carts

On a rail track.

On a rail track.

Once each arch was completed,

The gravel that was Beneath it was dumped

Down through hatches Into these waiting carts

Which would then Take the gravel along

To the next construction site.

Narrator: the pressure was on To finish the bunker

And start production of a plane

They hoped would change The course of the war,

The world's first operational, Jet-powered fighter aircraft,

The m.E. 262, beneath a roof That was virtually bomb-proof.

The m.E. 262, beneath a roof That was virtually bomb-proof.

Bosch: [ speaking german ]

Translator: we are here Underneath the 7th archway.

The foundations to the left And right go 17 meters deep

And the lean concrete Layer above us,

It has broken away In some places.

The first reinforcing Rods can be seen.

They reinforce 5 meters Of concrete.

*

Narrator: When complete, the factory

Would have been A production line

Would have been A production line

On a massive scale.

Bosch: [ speaking german ]

Translator: they wanted to dig Further down from here

And they would've had Eight factory floors.

When you consider the overall Area they would've had,

It would've amounted To a 114,000 square meters

Of manufacturing area.

That's approximately 14 football pitches.

Narrator: Who built these enormous arches?

And what was their connection To these deep caverns?

And what was their connection To these deep caverns?

Hollowed out of the ground,

Just over One and a half miles away.

Bell: these craters are all Over this particular area.

And it's hard to tell Exactly what happened here

To create these holes Just by looking at them.

But their size and Their depth are ominous.

*

Narrator: What were these craters?

And how are they linked To thousands of deaths

Deep in the german woodland?

Deep in the german woodland?

*

Narrator: in southeast germany, A huge concrete bunker,

Called weingut eins, had Become a critical part

Of the war effort.

And slave laborers From the death camps

Were forced to build it.

These holes were Where their huts were.

Nusbacher: they had no heat.

They had no toilet facilities,

They had no washing facilities.

They didn't even Have fresh water.

They didn't even Have fresh water.

Bosch: [ speaking german ]

Translator: They didn't have enough to eat.

So you can imagine they Became emaciated very quickly.

If they did try to escape and Were caught, they were shot.

Narrator: Out of 10,000 laborers, A total of 4,000 died.

*

By the end of april 1945, Only seven arches

By the end of april 1945, Only seven arches

Had been completed.

But the allies were already Sweeping through germany

And the entire site was Placed under u.S. Military rule.

So why is there now only One arch left standing?

The twisted steel And concrete is a clue.

*

Bell: If there were another world war,

The americans thought they Might adopt a bunker like this

For their own military Installations back in the u.S.

But first, they wanted to See just how strong it was.

But first, they wanted to See just how strong it was.

So, they decided to blow it up.

Narrator: the u.S. Blew the Arches up, one by one,

Until they found out How much explosive power

Each structure could withstand.

Nusbacher: So all of the cold-war era Nuclear bunkers

Are based, in their structure, On tests that were done

In 1947 here at weingut eins.

In 1947 here at weingut eins.

Narrator: After it was destroyed, Weingut eins was abandoned.

*

Nusbacher: when I look at the Ruins of weingut eins,

That terrible Slave labor project

That was designed to keep The nazi war machine going,

And I look at its failure, And I know that when power

Is untrammeled by justice, It can only go so far

Is untrammeled by justice, It can only go so far

Before it destroys itself.

*

Narrator: In a remote forest in maine,

At the northeastern tip Of the united states,

Is something you don't Expect to stumble across.

*

Meigs: You're in this part of maine That is overgrown with --

Meigs: You're in this part of maine That is overgrown with --

With trees and low forest And it's very scenic.

And then in the middle of it, You can see the remnants

Of old cables and machinery.

*

Gough: there are two identical Structures made of metal,

Completely rusted out, with What appears to be a pipe

Coming out of the back of it.

*

Meigs: You can see a large, old engine.

Clearly something Technical and industrial

Used to dominate this space.

Used to dominate this space.

*

Bell: it looks like some mad Experiment gone wrong.

An eccentric scientist who Decided to create something

Fantastical in the Middle of nowhere.

Narrator: but what is it?

And how is it related to these Two dilapidated locomotives?

Bell: you come across what Looks like a pulley system

And these rusted and corroded Pieces of metal which

And these rusted and corroded Pieces of metal which

Looks like broken Pieces of track.

*

Narrator: the entire woodland Is full of mystery.

Normally, tracks Connect something.

But these just end abruptly.

Are these structures connected?

And if so, how?

And then you have the fact That it's so remote.

It's deep In the maine wilderness,

Far from anything, So the question is,

Far from anything, So the question is,

What is it, and what Is it doing here?

*

Narrator: The answer lies in an industry

That helped to define maine And make america great

In the 19th and Early 20th centuries.

The logging industry.

*

Gough: northern maine has 18 Million acres of forest land.

Gough: northern maine has 18 Million acres of forest land.

And at the turn of The last century,

It was the hub of The logging industry.

At the time When timber was king.

*

Narrator: The country was growing And it needed more wood.

And the forests Were being cut down

In industrial quantities By lumber barons

Who sought to profit from This insatiable demand.

*

Matthew laroche, Superintendent of the

Matthew laroche, Superintendent of the

Allagash wilderness waterway, Explains how it worked.

The loggers would come up the River systems cutting pine

And as the pine got depleted, They would just keep moving

Up the rivers.

*

Meigs: you know, cutting down The tree is the easy part.

The hard part is Getting that giant log

Out of wherever it fell and Into some kind of transportation

System that can get it to the Sawmill or the paper mill.

System that can get it to the Sawmill or the paper mill.

Bell: the nearest sawmill was In bangor, 145 miles away.

The only problem was, They needed to find a way

To transport all these logs Between one lake and another,

Across a really Narrow strip of land.

Narrator: This isolated stretch of land

Lay between eagle and Chamberlain lakes.

*

And it was only About 3,000 feet,

Just a little more Than half a mile,

But if you were gonna drag All those logs by oxen,

But if you were gonna drag All those logs by oxen,

It might as well Have been 50 miles.

*

Narrator: how would they haul Thousands of logs

Across this narrow Strip of land?

And would it work?

*

Narrator: In northern maine, a narrow Strip of land was preventing

Lumber barons from transporting Their logs to market.

So they had to find a Way of bridging the gap.

And this is what They came up with.

An ingenious system of rails, Cable, and iron,

Powered by the Technology of the day.

It was called Eagle lake tramway.

It was called Eagle lake tramway.

*

Gough: essentially, the tramway Was a small railway

That was pulled by a cable Loop and powered by steam.

*

Narrator: But this narrow neck of land

Was in the middle of nowhere.

How would they be able To transport the parts?

Laroche: So all the material came By rail to greenville.

Up moosehead lake With steamboats.

Up moosehead lake With steamboats.

And then landed at Northeast carry,

And from there it was brought In with horses on sleds,

In the middle of the wintertime.

We're talking about A 35 mile trip

With sleds and horses to Get this material in here.

*

Narrator: It took 12 arduous months To assemble the tramway.

But would it actually work?

*

Meigs: when they originally Put this together,

They had to bolt all of These dollies to the cable,

They had to bolt all of These dollies to the cable,

And it turned out that, They tightened the bolts down

All the way, but it wasn't Quite tight enough,

So everything slipped And nothing worked.

And they then had to take Thousands of bolts back out

And it turned out The threads didn't go

Far enough down the Bolt so they had to

Get out a filing system And extend the threads

A little bit, one at a time.

And then put it All back together.

[ birds chirping ]

Gough: once it was finished, The workers watched nervously

As the trucks crawled Along and they noticed

As the trucks crawled Along and they noticed

It wasn't going as fact As they had expected.

That was because There was a bump

Along the path, and once The logs got over the bump,

The weight of the logs Helped it pick up steam

The rest of the way.

*

Narrator: But how effective would it be

At moving thousands Of logs over land,

Onto mills in bangor and beyond?

Laroche: the tramway ran on These rails right here.

Laroche: the tramway ran on These rails right here.

There was a top layer And a bottom layer.

And these trucks, and There's one right there,

The logs went onto those Little pointed things.

The logs would be pulled On on the eagle lake end

And they would travel This top layer of rails

All the way to chamberlain Lake and then roll off

The end of the tramway and Dump into chamberlain lake

And from there it was Log drive down to bangor.

*

Narrator: the logs moved at 3 miles per hour,

Powered entirely by steam.

Powered entirely by steam.

*

Laroche: these are the boilers Which created steam.

Ran through these pipes up here, Over to this engine,

That would drive this belt.

And the belt drove the Machinery over here

And these reduction gears And the big final drive

Over there with the U-shaped cutouts in it

Was where the Trucks fit into the,

The cable fit right Into there and it

Would drove the, drove The logs over there

And drop them right into Chamberlain lake over there.

And drop them right into Chamberlain lake over there.

It was quite an engineering Marvel for the time.

*

Narrator: the tramway operated From 1903 to 1909,

Carrying in total 100 Million board feet of timber.

But if it was so effective, Why did the lumber barons

Abandon it after only six years?

*

Meigs: eventually a small Railroad was built

That was able to move the logs

In an even more Convenient fashion.

In an even more Convenient fashion.

And in fact this was the way That logging was being done

Across new england at that time.

There were dozens of small Little rail lines being built

Into all kinds of Wilderness areas,

For the sole purpose Of extracting the timber.

Laroche: they did not remove the Tramway from this location

When they stopped using it.

Primarily because it Was such a remote area

That they couldn't Really take it out.

I suppose they didn't Really know if they

Would use it again, But they never did.

Once they shut it down, It never got used again.

Once they shut it down, It never got used again.

*

Narrator: now, the tramway Is rusting away.

And gradually being Reclaimed by nature.

When I come here and I See people looking at them

And they asking a Bunch of questions,

How'd they get it here, What did it do,

When did it work, How much did it move?

That kinda renews your Enthusiasm for the site.

Meigs: When I see this kind of thing,

Meigs: When I see this kind of thing,

It just makes me think About the enormous effort,

The sweat, the ingenuity That went into

These kinds of projects and Into building the united states.

*