Boreas Pass RR Day 2022!

 So wish I could be there!

Curious depot news: Bailey Depot Feed

While looking for some info on the long-gone South Park Line Bailey depot, I stumbled upon a business named "Bailey Depot Feed."  Curious, I perused the site and found that it indeed has a connection with the old C&S station.  

The site states, "Bailey Depot Feed first opened its doors 35 years ago.  Originally located at the bottom of Crow Hill near the original site of the Bailey Depot train station, we have since moved to our current home in Delwood Square, right off of U.S. Highway 285 and Park County Road 43. 

Bailey Depot Feed today

Bailey Depot Feed remains an integral part of the community. In fact, residents located directly east or west  in the Burland, Friendship Ranch, Mill-Iron D, Deer Creek Valley Ranchos, KZ Ranch, Elk Creek Highland/ Meadows and Harris Park subdivisions can visit us without the need to enter a busy and/ or ice-packed highway 285! 

As of October, 2021 Bailey Depot Feed is now an authorized Neighborhood U-haul dealer. We have a nearly new Chevrolet Silverado pickup and an open trailer with ramps assigned to us permanently and available for local rentals. We also regularly receive moving vans and trailers available for nationwide one-way rentals."

The site also has a photo of the original Bailey depot.  The station is in bad shape.  The windows have been broken, likely by vandalism.  The front door is gone and only partially boarded up.  Part of the roof is also missing.  Most of the roof overhang on one side seems to have been cut off.   My guess is that this is the late 1930's, possibly 1938, since the rails are still in place.

The October 1975 Rocky Mountain Rail Report stated, "The old Denver, South Park & Pacific depot at Bailey is no more. Around the first of June, the building was burned and bulldozed into dust. Attempt was made by several groups to save the building even though it was badly deteriorated, but the local fire department had other ideas." 

So...the connection to the old narrow gauge is slight, but it's fun that the memory of the railroad that was torn out all the way back in 1938 continues to have an impact in the present. 

C&S Combine No. 20 debuts on TV

As I have been combing through the Rocky Mountain Rail Report I found a curious episode in the July 1974 edition that I had never heard about: C&S combine No. 20, on display in Central City, Colorado since 1941, and not used for service on the 1968-1981 tourist operation there, was able to stretch its legs in one of only two times in a 1974 TV special starring the band Chicago (The other was a Mini-Wheats commercial which I haven't found quite yet!).  

You can see the full TV special here.  I put the video below together to give a little background and to isolate the parts of the show that included No. 20 and ex-West Side Lumber Shay No. 14.  The vignette was filmed on a rebuilt portion of the old C&S right-of-way in Central City.

Thank you to those who found the TV special on Youtube!

1975 C&S News (2) - Alpine Tunnel water tank collapse, Bailey depot destroyed, GL turntable bridge complete

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some more miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1975 editions.  

1975 

Part 2

July 

(First Bridge Complete on Georgetown Loop)

THE FIRST ANNUM, RAILFAN WEEKEND AT THE GEORGETOWN LOOP took place on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22. Engine No. 44 operated with a five car freight and the diesel ran with two passenger cars throughout both days to offer a ride that has not been possible for many years. The track is completed down to the first crossing of the creek and preparations are well under way to lay rails across the second bridge. The depot at Silver Plume is on its foundation and SeeBees are working on the platforms. To hear the barking exhaust of the engine working up the grade and the steam whistle echoing through the valley was enough to even give camera lenses the goose bumps. Needless to say, the operation provided a very pleasant way to spend the weekend. 

August 

(Working Towards the Turntable Bridge on Georgetown Loop)

turntable bridge (2009) after being replaced

WORK IS CONTINUING ON THE GEORGETOWN LOOP PROJECT - Track is being layed in and cut between the two upper bridges and it is planned to have the turntable bridge approaches completed and track across it by the end of August. The railroad is offering limited service on the weekends for the present. The Silver Plume depot platform was also recently completed. 

September 

(Work at the Climax Molybdenum Mine)

A MAJOR STEP in the completion of the Henderson Project by Climax Molybdenum Co. took place on July 15, with the holing through of the 9.6 mile long Henderson Railroad Tunnel under the Continental Divide west of Berthoud Pass. The tunnel is said to be the third longest railroad tunnel in the world and will be used to transport molybdenum from a mine below Jones Pass to an ore processing mill in the Williams Fork Valley south of Parshall, Colorado.  Total length of the double track, computer controlled, narrow gauge electric railroad is about 15 miles long. The tunnel begins at the mine which itself is located over 2,000 feet below the surface just west of the foot of Berthoud Pass. From there, the 30 car ore trains, each pulled by four 50-ton electric locomotives, will haul 42,000 tons of material to the mill each day. Molybdenum is used as a strengthening agent in the production of steel and makes possible the manufacturing of stainless steel. 

(Ed. This is the mine that kept the final leg of the South Park narrow gauge running until August of 1943.  The line was then standard gauged and the C&S was still operating this isolated branch between Climax and Leadville at the time of this newsletter)

October

Photo source

(Bailey Depot is Destroyed)

The old Denver, South Park & Pacific depot at Bailey is no more. Around the first of June, the building was burned and bulldozed into dust. Attempt was made by several groups to save the building even though it was badly deteriorated, but the local fire department had other ideas. 

(Alpine Tunnel Enginehouse Water Tank Collapses)

watertank remains (right) 2003

SLOWLY DISAPPEARING - The old water tank located in the corner of the engine house at the Alpine Tunnel collapsed into a pile of rubble last winter. The walls are still there, but the tank underframe is gone. 

(Turntable Bridge Tested on Georgetown Loop)

IT'S GETTING THERE - The Georgetown Loop Historic Site is being prepared for the winter hibernation period. Most track work for this season is finished. Rails are now spiked down over the second (turntable) bridge. The bridge was "tested" by putting a locomotive on it, the diesel of course.