This view shows the top of the east end of the Donner Peak snow gallery. The outer wall and joists are in place, and workers are preparing to frame the sloping roof. The carpenters in this image provide a scale which conveys the magnitude of these structures. Most of the railroad across the crest was enclosed under roof during the summer of 1868. Snow covers with roofs extending all the way to the face of the adjacent bluff were called “galleries.” They were designed to carry avalanches harmlessly across the track. By the end of 1869, 65 million board-feet of lumber had gone into the sheds and galleries.
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