C&S 1006 Timeline, part 4: 1960s-1970s, Stop-Gap Measures

Stop-Gap Measures

1960s-early 1970s

The Denver O Scale club does some restoration work.  Chris Lane stated "I can say for certain that the late 1960s-early 70s work was done" by this group "using paint donated by the 'Q'" (CB&Q) They had very limited materials and budget, (they patched a few holes in the roof with flattened beer cans), but the repairs and paint lasted long enough to get 1006 to the much more thorough restoration in the 1980s. by Tom Young of the Charing Cross Bookstore."

I was curious if this group was the responsible for adding the track to which Chris responded, "I can state with certainty that the Denver O Scale Club did not do any track work. They simply didn't have those sorts of resources. The work they did could best be characterized as 'Stop-gap emergency preservation, on a zero budget.'"

C&S 1006 Timeline, part 3: 1960s, Touch-Up and Track

Touch-Up and Track

1960s

An Otto Petty photo in the Denver Public Library collection shows some obvious restoration work including refitted steps, a paint job, and somehow or other she got a little track!  The photo's date is labeled as 1960s.

It is inaccurate that C&S initials were painted above number 1006.

C&S 1006 Timeline, part 2: 1950s, Sinking in the Gravel

Sinking in the Gravel

1950s

The book Georgetown and the Loop goes on to say that
"over the ten year period [since being put on display in 1941] the wheels just sank into the gravel.

"A view from the caboose roof showing its tilted but still intact stack.  The old Buckley warehouse is in the background.

"The Colorado and Southern four-wheeled caboose rests near Silver Plume depot in a very sad condition about ten years after the railroad was removed. 

A curiosity to note: where did the four crossties go?

Another curiosity: why is the emblem on the left side so large?  The C&S herald was not this size.  Earlier photos of 1006 show it regular sized.  And why is this herald blank?  Also, during this paint job it appears that the "1006" numbers were painted over.

Does this imply that there were some renovation attempts which made these changes?  To lend credence to the idea of some renovation, note how the caboose has been righted from it's pitched-forward state of the 1940s photo (if that photo is dated correctly).  In addition, the steps have been reattached.

The above page is from Georgetown and the Loop

The above photo is from Clear Creek Memories and Then Some by Tom and Denise Klinger.  The color of the caboose in these black and white photos appears very light compared to earlier and later photos of 1006.  However, the color seems very similar to another C&S caboose (1003 I think) in the photo below from the same book:

My hunch is that the display color was a darker red.  Later, someone repainted it to the correct, operation-era color (and possibly created the abnormally sized herald), and then it was repainted again sometime to the 'caboose red' color that we see from the 1960s onward.

Harry Brunk's Up Clear Creek on the Narrow Gauge comments on page 142,
"Just what was the dark color that the C&S painted its cabooses?  It was Boxcar Red.  Thanks to some well-meaning volunteers we were all led down the 'Caboose Red path' in the mid-to-late 1950's.  'We all' included even the knowledgeable Colorado Railroad Museum, so none of us need to hide our faces in shame.  The Caboose Red paint on #1009 at the museum and on #1006 at Silver Plume is not correct for these cabooses while they were on active duty on the C&S. Sometime in the 1950's, a crew, probably under the auspices of the Burlington, (the parent company of the C&S) went through Colorado re-painting all of the worn paint jobs on the C&S equipment on display.  Using the then current paint and lettering standards of the Burlington and C&S, this crew gave new and inaccurate paint schemes to [all the display pieces including] caboose #1006.  Both of these cars were lettered accurately but the Caboose Red was standard on the C&S only after the narrow gauge stopped running."

C&S 1006 Timeline, part 1: 1940s, A Poor Display

Since this post, there have been some insights that I think are more accurate than the information below.  See this post.

The arrival of the display trains in Idaho Springs and Central City have been fairly well-documented with photos and documents.  Caboose 1006 in Silver Plume, however, has a good amount of mystery involved.  The following and subsequent posts are my attempts at piecing together 1006's post-abandonment history based on quotes from books, observations from photos, and quotes from sources that either worked on the caboose or knew of those who did.  I'll end the series with a timeline of the most recent work, beginning in 2014, by the C&S Railway Society, to whom we owe a great deal of gratitude.

Pulling Track

1939

1006 was used on the dismantling train when scrapping the Silver Plume to Idaho Springs line.  It is shown on March 18th near Devil's Gate Viaduct on page 207 of The Pictorial Supplement of the DSP&P as well as several photos of the scrap train on pages 185-186 in C&S Clear Creek District Memories and Then Some.

A Poor Display

1941 

This photo by Otto Perry found in the Denver Public Library collection is dated September 14, 1941.

The above photo from the same collection is labeled as "sometime between 1930 and 1940."  My assumption is that it is a little later than the 1941 photo as some of the boards seem to have settled.

Notice how different this display piece is compared to the pristine condition of the locomotives and cars in Idaho Springs and Central City when they were put in place that same year.  There are no tracks, the steps are missing, and the paint is already deteriorated.

This unimpressive presentation surely is what has motivated some to think the bobber was simply left behind after abandonment.

However, the Colorado & Southern Railway Society, who are presently at work restoring caboose 1006, stated the following in correspondence with me:

"We've done a lot of research on this very question [of how 1006 came to Silver Plume]. Initially we assumed that the Caboose was left in Silver Plume when the tracks were pulled up.

"It turns out; we have found photos of the Scrap train, and 1006 was the caboose used to dismantle the clear creek branch."

From what I can tell from photos in C&S Clear Creek District Memories and Then Some it seems that 1006 was used on the 1939 scrap train between Silver Plume and Idaho Springs, while caboose 1003 was used for the 1941 Idaho Springs to Golden scrap train.  

The C&S Railway Society continued, "When the Narrow gauge was abandoned the C&S management actively chose a number of locomotives and cars specifically for preservation.

"While 1008, and 1009 were retained for use on the Leadville branch till it was upgraded to standard gauge in 1946, 1006 was deliberately chosen for preservation and trucked to Silver Plume."

Engine 71 with a gondola and combine and engine 60 with a coach were taken to the towns that had accepted the offer of some narrow gauge equipment to display.  These were put in place in 1941.  C&S 71 and it's train had to be trucked to Central City since the line to that point had been abandoned in 1931.  No. 60 and her coach were simply hauled dead to Idaho Springs as the tracks were still in place at this point.

It is my assumption that Silver Plume requested a caboose and were given 1006.  Since the tracks to Silver Plume were pulled up in 1939, I assumed she must have been trucked from the end-of-track in Idaho Springs in 1941, presumably around the time that engine 60 and coach 70 arrived there.  The caboose was not in the train with No. 60 and the coach as photos show so it must have been taken on a different move.

However 1006 arrived, it was placed a short distance from the former Silver Plume depot.

According to the book Georgetown and the Loop,
"When the four-wheeled Colorado and Southern caboose was left at Silver Plume, there were no rails under its wheels.

1945

In the iconic 1949 book Denver, South Park & Pacific, author M.C. Poor comments on page 327,
"At the time of abandonment of the Clear Creek line, one of these little crummies, number 1006, was set up as a permanent exhibit at Silver Plume.  While passing through Silver Plume on a trip up Clear Creek in search of data in 1945, Ed Haley pointed out number 1006 to the author.  There it sits on four crossties, forlorn and neglected, as if waiting for the inevitable end, which somehow seems close at hand."

The book Colorado & Southern Railway: Clear Creek Narrow Gauge from the Images of Rail series includes a photo on page 118 of the caboose, labeling it as "around the time the C&S was abandoned."  This cannot be too close to 1941 considering the progress of deterioration evidenced in the photo.  1006 is near a Coca-Cola sign, pitched forward, and windows missing.  The rear, left steps are missing (though possibly on the ground), while the rear, right steps are crooked and half detached.  The front right steps appear to be on ground.  Curiously, the photo above, which was most certainly earlier than this photo, shows no steps whatsoever.

A visit to C&S 1006 in the 1990s

I unearthed some photos of one of my teen-year visits (yep, that's me with cargo pants, high tops, and my matching C&S T-shirt and hat!) to C&S caboose 1006 in Silver Plume.  This is either 1991 or 1992.

And...more info on C&S 1006

Chris from the DSP&P forum sent me links to two photos that shed some interesting light on the post abandonment life of C&S caboose 1006.

The first photo is dated as 1930s or 1940s.

The track from Silver Plume to Georgetown was torn up in March of 1939, if I recall correctly.  The offer to Clear Creek towns by the C&S to donate equipment for display did not occur until 1940 or 1941.  Therefore, if this caboose was 'dumped' it was not done as a donation as far as I can tell as it had to have occurred when tracks were still in place.  

The C&S Railway Society, says that they have seen photos of the dismantling train using 1006 to scrap the Clear Creek line.  I haven't looked at those photos yet, but it seems that they are right and therefore the 'dumped' idea can't be reality.  

If the caboose was donated in the 1940s, however, it needed to be trucked from the end of track in Idaho Springs to Silver Plume.  That is certainly believable as C&S 71 and train had to be trucked to Central City as well.

It seems so odd that the caboose, illustrated above, was set on blocks of wood in what appears to be a dilapidated state.  In addition to the wood blocks, notice that the steps from the ends are missing, and the paint is sorely weathered.  

Compare this to the spot-clean appearance of C&S 60 and her passenger car (as in the photo at right on her was to Idaho Springs for display in 1941) and C&S 71 and gondola and combine.  They were painted in a pristine manner and remained so on their own for a number of years at least until the elements required others to revitalize them.

To add to the mystery, look at the next photo taken by Otto Perry.  It is listed as being taken in "196-"

Roughly 20 years after the first photo, the caboose is now on a short stretch of track, the steps have been restored, and the paint appears touched up.  

This may have been the work of the Denver O Scale club.  Chris Lane stated "I can say for certain that the late 1960s-early 70s work was done" by this group "using paint donated by the 'Q'" (CB&Q).  Clearly paint work has been done by the time of this photo, but did they also lay the track?  Did they also fix the steps?  

More info on 1006

In probing the history of how C&S caboose 1006 came to Silver Plume I've found a few more interesting details.  First, is this comment from Chris Lane on my previous post:

"While the CB&Q may have sent crews out in the 1950s to spruce up equipment, I can say for certain that the late 1960s-early 70s work was done by volunteers from the Denver O Scale Club using paint donated by the "Q". They had very limited materials and budget, (they patched a few holes in the roof with flattened beer cans), but the repairs and paint lasted long enough to get 1006 to the much more thorough restoration in the 1980s. by Tom Young of the Charing Cross Bookstore."

I also remembered why I had it in my mind that 1006 seemed "dumped."  It was from a page in the book Georgetown and the Loop (1988) by P.R. "Bob" Griswold, Richard H. Kindig, and Cynthia Trombly.  The page where this seemed implied is here:

Here are the captions:
"When the four-wheeled Colorado and Southern caboose was left at Silver Plume, there were no rails under its wheels, and over the ten year period the wheels just sank into the gravel.

"A view from the caboose roof showing its tilted but still intact stack.  The old Buckley warehouse is in the background.

"The Colorado and Southern four-wheeled caboose rests near Silver Plume depot in a very sad condition about ten years after the railroad was removed.  -- William B. Otto Photos."

It seems awfully strange that if the C&S donated the caboose to Silver Plume, as the C&S Railway Society stated, why would they have left it on the ground without a display track?  Both of the trains at Idaho Springs and Central City were very nicely displayed.

Also, it appears as though the caboose is not red in the above 1950s photos, but to be some other lighter color.

The previous page in the book showed 1006 in the 1980s.  Notice how small the C&S emblem appears compared to an oddly large circle in the above 1950s photo.  Also, the publisher appears to have switched the photo captions by accident.

Here is the text:
"Thanks to the efforts of Tom Young, the Colorado and Southern four-wheeled caboose at Silver Plume has been undergoing restoration from its deplorable condition of the 1950s.  The north side of the little crummy has taken on the aspects of near-mint condition; work on the south side is progressing nicely. -- P.R. Griswold Photo."

It is worth noting that both this caption and the blog comment by Chris Lane agree that Tom Young was the force behind the 1980s restoration work.