A Visit to and a Video of Ohio City

 The South Park Line crossed the continental divide on its way to Gunnison, piercing the range with the famed Alpine Tunnel. After it came down the mountainside, it passed through a number of towns including the ill-fated Woodstock, the small town of Quartz, and the relatively-sizeable Pitkin. Beyond Pitkin, the next town was Ohio City at 8563 feet above sea level. 

Here is a video I made of my family's recent visit to show the various railroad sites there.

While the town is nowhere near the size of Pitkin, it still has a number of residents. 

One of its remaining early structures is the city hall building which was originally a mercantile business.

Present-day Country Road 76 crosses through the center of town. The railroad parallels the road here, but about a block away. 

Walking down a dirt town road you can find where the railroad facilities once stood, though there is nothing besides map knowledge and the telephone poles which follow where the grade was to give it away.

In the photo below, the grade ran in a perpendicular line to the road along the gate at the end of the road. To the left would have been the water tank. To the right would have been the section house and a platform. Out of sight to the right was where the depot stood.

A photo looking west. The right-of-way follows the telephone lines. The section house and depot would have been to the right.

A photo looking east (toward Pitkin and Alpine Tunnel). The roadbed goes through the distant pickup truck. The water tower would have been on the left.

Here is the site (looking east) in railroad days.

My favorite experience of my family's visit to Ohio City was when my 12-year-old daughter and I climbed a hill to attempt to recreate an old hilltop photo of the town showing a mixed train with two engines just about to enter Ohio City. It was a huff and puff climb, but we did it and got a fairly close photo.

Photos:

The following from Tom and Denise Klinger's South Park's Gunnison Division Memories & Then Some:

Overhead photo of town and hilltop photo of town: Gunnison County Pioneer and Historical Society