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Colorado & Southern engine No. 30. Leonard Perschbacher Collection.
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All 27 roundhouse tracks and nearly half of the Salida roundhouse itself, are visible in this photograph, taken sometime between 1890 and 1892. Nearly half of the stalls carry four rails to handle both gauges. The 62-foot turntable was used until 1909, when it was replaced with an 80-foot model. Moving counter-clockwise from the roundhouse lead nearest the photographer, the following locomotives are visible: • narrow-gauge Engine 62, a Baldwin...
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Shortly after the disastrous 1892 fire, locomotive servicing and repairs had to be done out in the open, in front of the roundhouse ruins. From this angle, the machine shop was at the left, and the charred boiler-house roof was visible beside the stack. Prior to the fire, the arch in the roundhouse doors had been bricked up. The 62-foot turntable was still in use. A standard-gauge switch engine, an 1890 Class 113 (C-28) Baldwin 2-8-0 in the 600-series,...
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The Denver & Rio Grand Railroad Hospital and Annex. Alice Chinn Collection.
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Denver & Rio Grande Scenic Line Band members march in curb-hugging lines as they bring up the rear of one of Salida’s many parades. Horse-drawn floats and fire equipment obviously preceded the band. The parade route is eastbound on First Street, almost at its intersection with F Street. To the right of the Union Hotel is an assayer and chemist; Henry’s Place, a saloon, is in the frame building and the sign on the wall advertises Dr. Kilmer’s...
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Denver & Rio Grande locomotive No. 83 was in use here as a switch engine, and was posed on the mainline, with the rebuilt machine shop behind. Notice the front and rear arc headlamps in use on this Baldwin engine, the last Class 56 narrow-gauge 2-8-0 to be built, having entered service in 1881. The engine’s pilot truck had been removed, which converted No. 83 into an 0-8-0. Alice Chinn Collection.
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Denver & Rio Grande locomotive #1063. Image taken by John Kratky. Josephine Soukup Collection.
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West of St. Elmo, 12,154 foot Tincup Pass provided one of the early access routes to Western Slope mining areas. Burro trains such as this one loading in front of the St. Elmo Hardware provided quick, inexpensive and relatively sure transportation for most general supplies. After arrival of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad, the town became a major shipping point for heavy freight as well and there were a dozen or more companies that were...
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The rear of the Hotel Monte Christo is seen in this rare view, recorded on a glass negative before 1889, during the period before the standard-gauge reached Salida. Tents were put up for additional staff on either side of the bunkhouse. The D&RG pumphouse is to the right of the hotel. Beyond the pumphouse coal shed, the cabooses are visible. A protective rock wall was built to prevent erosion of the property by high water from the Arkansas River....
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The Hotel Monte Christo was decorated with American flags and bunting in commemoration of the Fourth of July. The lunchroom occupied this wing of the hotel, and the main entrance was to the left, where some gentlemen were relaxed under the canopy. By 1890, standard-gauge rail had reached Salida, and dual-gauge track was clearly visible here. Steve Frazee Collection.
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This remarkable document is the subscription list dated 1892 that Mayor Wright put together to reorganize the Salida Fire Department and keep it from disbanding. It is a veritable who's who of Salida's notables. Among the signatures are Territorial Governor of Colorado A.C. Hunt, who was instrumental in bringing the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad here and platted the town of Salida. R.M. Ridgway, railroad superintendent of the Denver & Rio Grande and...
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A major fire occurred in Salida's Denver & Rio Grande Railroad facilities in December 1892, destroying fourteen stalls in the roundhouse, seventeen locomotives, and the machine shops. Railroad employees and citizens managed to save twenty locomotives, but damages were estimated at $400,000. In 1900, nearly $350,000 in improvements were completed, including work on the roundhouse and other facilities of the D & R G and construction of a new D & R...
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Denver & Rio Grande No. 168, photo taken between 1900 – 1902. Henry Harvard Haley is on the right. Haley-Bratton Collection.
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As many as 100 trains a day passed through Salida – and sometimes there were 15 or more passenger trains. That was apparently the case on this day in 1884. The coaches on the far track are awaiting wash jobs before returning to service. Tenderfoot Mountain is visible in the distance. Ernest Brownson Collection.
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The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad stone depot was built in 1880. Although preparations began a year earlier, the third rail was laid through Salida during 1890. Addition of the outside rail allowed standard gauge as well as narrow gauge trains to operate over the entire Rio Grande system. Switches, frogs and rerailers – especially in the crowded Salida yards – were an engineering marvel. As late as 1890, the tender of this switcher is fitted with...
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Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in the Royal Gorge, ca. 1920. Leonard Perschbacher Collection.
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Trees on Tenderfoot Mountain are alive and well when this photograph was taken March 20, 1895. They began dying shortly after the smelter opened – upwind – in 1902, and by 1917 there were almost none left. Two foot paths up the mountain were used by hundreds of visitors who wanted to get a view of the city while they waited to change trains. The mountain was a favorite picnic spot for locals as well. The Denver & Rio Grande Depot, F Street...
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Photo of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Depot and the Monte Cristo Hotel, taken by John Kratky, who lived in Salida between 1912-1920. Josephine Soukup Collection.
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Image of railroad locomotive engine no. 1440. Taken by John Kratky, who lived in Salida between 1912-1920. Josephine Soukup Collection.
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The 20-stall standard-gauge roundhouse was constructed in 1900, east of the narrow-gauge roundhouse. By the date of this photograph, August 28, 1923, a new eight-stall roundhouse addition was being constructed as a separate building; however it shared the 100-foot turntable with the original standard-gauge roundhouse. The 100-foot turntable replaced the original 80-foot turntable in 1917. Forms were set up to pour concrete for locomotive service pits,...