More about the not-so-mysterious disappearance of Rock Island

I've posted about Rock Island before, but I wanted to add some perspective. Above is a screen shot from the Republic serial "The Perils of Nyoka" (1942) that shows Rock Island in the background (near the top of the photo, just left of center), apparently filmed from somewhere near the top of Nyoka Cliff. The prominent rock figure near the center of the photo is Doglips. Not quite as easy to spot, toward the left side of the photo, is Lone Ranger Rock, at about the same height as Doglips. The top of Lone Ranger Rock is dark, and it has a round, lighter-colored rock that looks as if it's right on top of it but is actually an unrelated rock that was behind it. The juxtaposition of Doglips, Lone Ranger Rock and Rock Island gives some idea of where Rock Island should be.

This is what the area looks like today, not from the exact same spot as the "Perils of Nyoka" shot but as close as we could get. Click on the photo to see a larger version. Again Doglips and Lone Ranger Rock are the key markers, with both of them near the center of the photo. Today Redmesa Road runs through the area, providing access to a condominium community, the start of which can be seen in the top right corner. We've gone over the area many times trying to pinpoint Rock Island, and it's not as easy as it looks. I first suspected that some of the rock fragments on the west side of Redmesa, visible at the top of this photo, just right of center, were what's left of Rock Island. But a subsequent theory puts some of Rock Island in what is now the swimming pool area of the condos (not visible in this photo, but just beyond the top right corner). The 1952 aerial photo pretty much substantiates this theory.

This post provides a little better look at Rock Island.

Half-gone but not all-forgotten: The D-Train — an iconic rock from the movies that was "defaced" to build condos

"Perils of Nyoka" (Republic serial, 1942)

The D-Train became a fixation of mine during my first year of research into the Iverson Movie Ranch. I fell under its spell after spotting it in "Perils of Nyoka," filmed by the great Iverson cinematographer Reggie Lanning.

Redmesa Road: The "frontier" between movie rocks and condos

I searched for the D-Train for months, eventually determining — incorrectly, as it turned out — that it must have been destroyed to make way for the Cal West Townhomes off Redmesa Road, just north of Lone Ranger Rock. I later discovered that more of the D-Train had survived than I first thought.

The D-Train is the large, eel-like character that fills up much of the right half of the screen. The "cave entrance" attached to the left side of the D-Train, consisting mainly of three large boulders, is fake.

The boulders highlighted here are manmade movie props used to create the illusion of a cave entrance. However, the darker boulder above the D-Train is real, and is part of a formation known as Three Ages Rock because of a high-profile appearance in the silent movie "Three Ages," starring Buster Keaton.

I've referred in the past to the small rock on top of Three Ages Rock as the "Luggage Carrier," because its shape reminded me of one of those cargo haulers that sit on the roof of a car. While  the "Luggage Carrier" part of the rock formation remains intact today, the D-Train wasn't as fortunate — it took a hard hit when the condos went in. Essentially, it had its face blown off.

The name "Three Ages Rock" is generally applied to the overall rock formation, which includes not only the "Luggage Carrier," but also the "D-Train."

Three Ages Rock and the D-Train, in recent times

This is what's left of the D-Train — just enough of it remains that I was able to find it and make a positive ID. The film historian seen in this recent photo is leaning on the "Luggage Carrier" section of Three Ages Rock, with the surviving portion of the D-Train in the foreground.

The lighter-colored rock surface area toward the right shows where the rest of the rock was removed — either chipped away or blasted away. The original "face" of the D-Train seen in the "Perils" shot above — with its slanty eye and open mouth — is gone.