Carson & Colorado chose to bring their railroad into the Owens valley from the northeast, through very high, rocky and desolate country. Under good conditions it looked easy.
Doubleheading up Montgomery Pass
(The Western Railroader)
But in reality it wasn't easy,
Snowbound in Montgomery Pass
(Eastern California Museum)
it wasn't cheap...and it wasn't safe.
Engines Nos. 5 and 8 forelornly await help in 1923
(Southern Pacific collection)
Laws page 4