W8USR - Special Events
125th Year of Snake Alley – W0FUN Special Activation
About the Special Event
On July 27, 2019, station W8USR tracked and logged a unique piece of American folklore and civil engineering heritage by contacting special event station W0FUN. Organized and hosted by the Iowa Radiosport Society, this activation celebrated the 125th anniversary of Snake Alley, the iconic landmark located in Burlington, Iowa, and famously recognized as "Ripley's Believe It or Not Crookedest Street in the World." Over the weekend, the radio team operated from Denmark, Iowa, broadcasting across multiple bands to promote local history and distribute a commemorative QSL card celebrating this unique regional milestone.
Field Operations & Radio Layouts
The W0FUN team maintained an active multi-mode footprint across the High Frequency (HF) bands to maximize domestic and international reach:
- Single Sideband Voice (SSB): Running high-power phone stations targeting regional and long-distance channels at 14.240 MHz (20 meters) and 7.220 MHz (40 meters).
- Continuous Wave (CW): Maintaining crisp Morse code operations across the bands, specifically targeting 14.059 MHz and 7.059 MHz.
- Data Source Note: Because limited official logs exist online, the core operational parameters are anchored by a single-line paper log entry. Additional engineering and architectural context was meticulously reconstructed via web research.
The History and Architecture of Snake Alley
Snake Alley was constructed starting in 1894 and completed in 1898 to overcome a daunting problem. It was an experimental design to bypass the incredibly steep 21% grade of Heritage Hill, allowing a safe connection between the high-end residential neighborhood bluff and Burlington's bustling downtown commercial district. Three German immigrants — architect Charles Starker, city engineer William Steyh, and paving contractor George Kriechbaum — designed the 275-foot winding roadway. The resulting path drops 58 feet through five distinct half-curves and two quarter-curves, modeling its serpentine layout after terraced vineyard paths in France and Germany.
The zig-zag design was paved using limestone and locally fired blue clay bricks. The bricks were uniquely laid at an upward angle to provide draft horses with better hoof traction on the descent. However, going up the steep hill proved nearly impossible, frequently causing carriage teams to lose control. This mechanical failure led city officials to make it a strict one-way path going down. This traffic rule persists even today, keeping the historical street a dedicated one-way downhill route.
In the 1940s, Robert L. Ripley of Ripley's Believe It or Not! visited the site in person and featured it in his famous nationally syndicated column. He mathematically demonstrated that while San Francisco's Lombard Street is much more famous, Snake Alley is technically twistier, boasting 1,100 degrees of total turning radius compared to Lombard's 1,000 degrees. Ripley's famously designated the landmark as the "Crookedest Street in the World." The iconic odd spot received renewed national recognition in 2017 when it was officially named the #1 "Odd Spot in America" by the Ripley organization, cementing its place in midwestern travel lore.
Station Log: Contact History
| Special Event Call | Station Logged | Date Logged | Time Logged | Frequency | Frequency Band | Operation Mode | Signal Report | On-Board Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W0FUN | W8USR | July 27, 2019 | 22:05 UTC | 7.220 MHz | 40 Meters | SSB Phone | 59 | IRS Operator |