The 1880 Jefferson depot keeps reinventing itself since its days as a South Park Line depot ended in 1937. I found two great current videos of the depot recently. Below the videos is a telling of meeting the current owner last fall (2022) and their plans for the depot and adjacent caboose.
The depot is now available as an Airbnb rental.
The first video was put out by the Denver South Park & Pacific Historical Society showing the interior of the depot from their recent convention.
This second video is a news spot on the business now running both the restaurant and the Airbnb in the depot.
Excerpt from this post detailing a trip to the South Park with my daughter in fall 2022.
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!
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