A First Visit to Platte Canon, part 2

This is part 2 of my recent October 2022 visit to a portion of the abandoned Platte Canon route of the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge.  Part 1 can be found here. 

 Webster

The remains of the Webster water tank

Our next stop was the site of Webster, a place where C&S trains, both east and westbound, would stop for water.  We parked in a rutted road on the right which led to a very old cemetery on the hillside.  In the distance, on the left side of 285 are the remains of the Webster water tank.  Only the base is present and a field is in the place where the mainline and the siding large enough for 43 cars once were.  Unfortunately, the supports seem to be on a gated property so we could only snap shots from afar.  I would have loved to get up close to it!  Someone later commented on a forum that he had found the owner friendly to visitors, but we didn't know it at the time.  The beams look quite sturdy for a structure that hasn’t seen a train for over eighty years.  

The westbound tracks used to curve to the right shortly after the water tank.  The railroad then crossed 285 from left to right here.  On the right, the roadbed is now Colorado 60 for part of the way until the railroad made a horseshoe curve back to the highway and began its climb towards Kenosha Pass.  We took a short jaunt up this gravel road for a few minutes and turned back around, surrounded by vibrant aspen leaves.  

Colorado 60, the old C&S grade

Back on 285 the railroad was on the right, higher up on the hillside.  Along this stretch there are some palisade rock walls supporting the grade, but unfortunately, as the driver, I couldn’t see them.  The right-of-way crossed to the left at another spot, near railroad milepost 73, which we could not identify in passing.  

Hoosier

Colorado 58, the old C&S grade

Our next point of interest was where the route crossed 285 from left to right near a siding for nine cars known as Hoosier.  To the right, then, Colorado 58 comes off of 285 and is on the roadbed (though it parallels the road to the right slightly at some point) up Hall Valley until it curves off left at the Dake townsite (where large charcoal kilns once stood to the right of the roadbed) into a balloon loop, crossing the North Fork of the South Platte River, and then travels through a cut and returns parallel but higher again than 285.  

ROW curves left up ahead. Cut is barely visible at left

We drove onto the dirt C 58 road, noticing a moose mud hole on our left that Tom Klinger told us to watch for.  He said you can sometimes see moose there, but it was vacant at our visit.  We kept looking for the turnoff of the roadbed to the left, and I thought I found it.  I precariously took my rental car on a bumpy one-lane dirt track for a little bit.  From my Google Earth maps, I knew the railroad line would keep turning left, which our road did for a little while, but when the road started curving sharply right, I had the inkling we were not on the roadbed.  Later map research revealed that I had missed the ROW and instead was driving on C 811.  Needless to say, we turned around and headed back to 285 to continue the climb up Kenosha Pass. 

Kenosha Pass

Rebuilt main line, curving into stub end of wye to the left. Long ties at right would have been mainline

Finally, we reached the top of Kenosha Pass which was littered on left and right with a multitude of cars.  Visitors flooded the area to take in the fall mountain beauty.  We pulled off to the left and drove between parallel fences to another parking spot at the hiking trailheads.  From there we backtracked on foot to the partially rebuilt Kenosha wye where helper engines once turned after assisting trains up grade.  We started walking on the tracks from what was the stub end of the wye.  The right hand side, eastbound from our walking direction, of the narrow gauge wye is completely rebuilt.  A switch leading west leads to a short several feet of track.  The switch at this point is a stub switch and I got a chance to explain to my daughter how it worked since you can actually turn the switch stand.  Unfortunately, there is no connection to the rail.  

Stub end of wye out of sight to right

Following the longer rebuilt portion to the right (east) there are some longer ties that make it appear that there were (are?) plans for a switch to build more track that would potentially connect both ends of the wye, but the ties remain rail-less for now.  The wye would need to cross the road to the trailheads too, which seems unlikely.  

    A good deal of coal dust trails the tracks.  At several spots there are good historical signs detailing the railroad and the wye.  One sign also pointed out the still-present wetland to the east that shows up in photos from the railroad era.  

The South Park

The great South Park

We hopped back into our Nissan and crested the vista where the South Park explodes into your senses as this sweeping flatland extends gloriously into the distance surrounded by stalwart mountain peaks.  This view makes it very clear why the railroad enshrined the name “South Park” in both its name and advertising.  What a sight!

The grade coming down the pass. Cut in distance

The C&S right-of-way is down below the highway on the mountainside at left.  Tom Klinger told me to look for a right hand pull off for viewing it farther down the mountainside.  I tried the first one, ran across 285, but couldn’t see anything.  We drove down to the next one, about half way down the mountain.  Then my daughter and I rushed across to the left and, sure enough, one could see, looking upgrade and left, the roadbed snaking its way down from the pass.  A cut, while distant, is easily visible upgrade to the left.  As the grade passed in front of us and down the slope to the floor of the South Park, one can make it out, though it is quite faint.  

Jefferson

Jefferson depot, soon to be an Airbnb

We scurried back to our car, drove downgrade, passing where the roadbed crosses to the right of 285, and entered into that great expanse, finally reaching the old, but still living town of Jefferson where the 1880 DSP&P depot still stands right off the highway.  The adjacent Hungry Moose Caboose restaurant, reopened for the first time in three years and under new ownership, was our place to stop for lunch.  The restaurant sits right on top of what would have been the west leg of the Jefferson wye.  

While we weren’t adventurous enough to order “The Trainwreck” sandwich which we were told by the owner was “huge” (In fact, you can buy a T-shirt that says “I survived the Trainwreck”), we indulged on a truly delectable bacon cheeseburger made from beef from a ranch just five miles away.  

BN caboose in primer west of Jefferson depot

While eating, we got to chat with the owner.  He and his wife own both the restaurant and also the depot.  They live in the former depot presently and are in the process of converting it to be an Airbnb rental.  They hope to have it available next spring 2023.  Recently, the couple replaced all the original station windows to make it better insulated.  The old windows are sitting in the yard.  He explained that all the exterior and interior walls are original and the ticket window still exists as well.  As if this hard work wasn’t enough, he acquired a standard gauge Burlington Northern caboose and put it on a short stretch of track on the old roadbed just west of the station and plans to convert it to a two-person Airbnb rental too.  

We asked him what it’s like to live in such a small town.  He remarked that he loved it, loved the quiet, and loved the closeness to nature.  There are 15 residents in Jefferson right now and the Community Center, across the highway next to the historic Jefferson school building with its old-time bell tower, offers a way to connect with neighbors.  Winters, he remarked, are challenging as it is very cold and very windy.  This reminded me of photos and stories I’ve seen of South Park cars being blown off tracks in the area.  It also explained the reason for those odd, wooden vestibules built outside the doors of the Como depot.  The South Park gets serious wind!

Como

Line to Denver at left.  Eating House, depot, & roundhouse in distance

    After our delicious lunch my daughter and I got back on 285 to head west toward Como.  The roadbed is on the right, but it was hard for me to identify it at times, at least while driving.  It looked as if the power line poles that parallel the highway beginning shortly west of Jefferson might be on the ROW.  At one location I caught sight of what once must have been a short trestle over a gully where the bridge posts still stick up from the ground. 

Repainted C&S 8311, formerly on display at Boreas Pass

    Our official last railroad-related stop was Como.  I was last there in 2018 and while it is dramatically changed since that time and I would have loved to explore more of the railroad developments, we just didn’t have much more leeway in time so it had to be a quick visit.  On this Friday, October late morning no one was around, but we got to see the rolling stock outside the roundhouse and depot including C&S boxcars 8311 and 8323, DSP&P boxcar 608, and various other non-C&S equipment.  Mia and I took a walk down the mainline to the end of the right hand line to Denver and then walked to the end of the line to Boreas Pass.  It was fun to note the coal dust resting in the grass in large piles.  

Standing on the mainline to Boreas Pass (which is behind me)

With our last stop behind us, we jumped back in for the remaining trip.  I had hoped to stop at the crossing of the Gunnison main from the right of 285 to the left just a little west of Como.  This left hand ROW is now route 7 that comes off of the highway, but sadly I didn’t have time to photograph it.  One can see the roadbed glide off and away to the left.  

End of the Line

The rebuilt scale house and Boreas Pass in the distance

One more stop I had originally planned was the crossing of the right-of-way at Garos where a wye was located, but I assumed I would see a sign for Garos.  Needless to say, no sign greeted me and I assume the townsite is long gone.

    After a glorious morning of ghost-train chasing, we made the stunning drive down to Canon City, experiencing more fog as we got close.  There we had a great weekend exploring Worldview at the Abbey for the Preview Weekend and opened our hands, in a sense, to ask Jesus to give us insight if this is good place for our daughter after she graduates this coming May.  Admittedly, I'd be happy for an excuse to visit Colorado (and more C&S sites) more often!

The Abbey in Canon City

One of my favorite parts of visiting the areas where the C&S ran is how alive it makes photographs and maps when one can visualize the spot today.  I am so happy, as I sit writing this on our airplane home, that just a few moments ago I did just that.  I opened up Tom and Denise Klinger’s Platte Canon Memories & Then Some and paged through the photos with that wonderful feeling that says, “I was there!”