The W Road was closed due to a rock slide last month. I believe it has since been re-opened.

Another fine Shorpy picture of something related to my current home of Chattanooga. Walden's Ridge, also known as Signal Mountain, forms the western edge of the city, just north of the more famous Lookout Mountain. The W Road, if I'm not mistaken, was in its first iteration the only route that Union supply trains could bring in needed goods while the Federals were under siege from the Confederate army in late 1863. It was part of a circuitous route from Stevenson, Alabama through the Sequatchie Valley.

The W is still there today, paved of course, but otherwise very much unchanged. It can be a tricky drive if you happen to meet another car!

What is the photographer taking a picture of: it looks like a wooden wall in front of an excavation with a sluice box nearby.

My impression was that the folks were walking to "spare the horses" on the steep hill.

That road, heading uphill, would be perfect for a hill climb type event. Can you imagine a V12 Ferrari echoing through that valley.

Having owned an antique store I'm familiar with ladies shoes of the time. They all had heels, no such thing as flats, and to walk up this hill, in heels would have been excruciating. When I was about 22 and in good shape I made the mistake of wearing heels on a trip to San Francisco. After two hours of walking up hills, my shoes were ruined and my legs/feet not far behind. Of course the woman hogging the road in front of the buggy is going to get trampled so her misery will end soon.

The "W" still lives!

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The three ex-passengers now huffing up hill in front of that wagon most likely were asked by the driver to take a hike to the top. Say, this reminds me of Mulholland Drive except for a few minor details.

Here's a page about it with a video of driving the "W." Not a muddy shoe in sight.

I had not heard of Walden's Ridge before. As I looked at the plate, I wondered what was going on: the number of telegraph lines alone impressed me. It has quite a history, and I found this postcard lacking all the "high-tech" stuff: