Beaver Brook: The Devil is in the Details.

[Chris Walker]

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/72020/rv/singleitem/rec/11

In all the photos taken of this neat place, one detail was visible only in a very few images and only then masked by the other "details", this view which I haven't seen before is one that drew my eye to it immediately.  What an oddity!!  Never seen that before either, anywhere.  
There is another detail that may, may date this picture to the time of C&S ownership.


ps  When multiple photos are posted in the large format on here it pays to click the photo and use the L/R Arrow keys to see the extremities, without having to scroll to the end of the Post to reach the scrollbar.

[Bill Uffelman]

Rotary switchstand, train order board, rail braces and ?????

Great photo!

Bill Uffelman 

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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From:"Chris Walker [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum]" <[hidden email]>
Date:Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 6:04 PM
Subject:Beaver Brook: The Devil is in the Details.

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/72020/rv/singleitem/rec/11

In all the photos taken of this neat place, one detail was visible only in a very few images and only then masked by the other "details", this view which I haven't seen before is one that drew my eye to it immediately.  What an oddity!!  Never seen that before either, anywhere.  
There is another detail may that may date this picture to the C&S ownership.


ps  When photos are posted in the large format on here it pays to click the photo and use the L/R Arrow keys to see the extremities, without having to scroll to the end of the Post to reach the scrollbar.

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NAML

[Robert McFarland]

Thanks for giving me the answer to the "Rack yer Brains" thread on NGDF.The detail you're referring to here is the train order board mounted on the water tank.

[Todd Hackett]

Chris Walker wrote

...There is another detail that may, may date this picture to the time of C&S ownership...

What detail is that?
My copy of this photo is a cabinet card from W. H. Walker in Idaho Springs. The "Biography of Western Photographers" lists him as having a studio in Denver from 1887 to 1897, but only in Idaho Springs in 1891. I don't know how late the structures were there, but it wasn't probably very late. All of the photos of that spot seem to be fairly early. I have several photos that show that part of the tank without obstructions, but this is the only one that shows the order board.

here's a close-up:

[Chris Walker]

Todd,

the "other Detail" is the Rotary SwStand of the Elliot F&S Co. which seems to show up in photo's after the arrival of the "Colorado Road" C&S lettering.  
Digerness on pg354 in MinBelt3 has a C.C.R.R marked photo but with a footbridge across the Creek upstream from the Switch,  almost the same as the Track crew shot and is dated 1884 in the caption.  The Sw-Stand appears to be somewhat similar in target to the Rotary type, however the Harp had the D&RG style target to begin with then later has the double diamond shape, it is rather hard to tell.  
Pg125 of Colorado Central Railroad has the Harp and TOboard like this next shot (but no train) at Beaver Brook.  It also shows the Footbridge upstream.  I can only find three pictures with the TOboard, all showing the Depot in a dark colour scheme.  Another observation is the Station signboard moved from the Tank to the Depot in the TOboard views.


http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/4894/rv/singleitem/rec/16

I haven't yet set out deliberately to see if I can find those Elliot SwStands with UPD&G marked cars.  UP of the s.g. lines prefered the Star brand in what I've seen.   Like I said the "Devil is in the Details".  So far the thread Title picture is the only view I've yet found with the newer stand included, most seemed to pick a spot that omits the SwStand.

[Chris Walker]

So far on review of the Elliot F&S Co Stand, they were present in Como before the Hotel burned down, DL&G ownership could have seen these implemented.

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll21/id/3682/rv/singleitem/rec/12

[Robert McFarland]

The photo showing the front of the Pacific shows them and that photo dates around 1885-87.

[Rick Steele]

Chris,

Your supposition about the rotary versus harp stands may be true,  as they are definitely there during the UP ownership era. The rotary stands gave a bit more leverage, which was usually needed to throw heavier rail. We know that Platte Canyon wasn't relaid with heavier rail until the Trumbull Presidency on the C&S. Then it was relay rail from the old "Country Line" south of Falcon and some Main Line replacement on the Northern Division. So the heavier rail theory is out.

I just wonder if the damnable cold that occurred in Como was the reason for the harp stand replacement. They were cast iron and probably became brittle and broke during the winter, although the little used stands at Alpine Tunnel would seem to refute this. But the stands at the Tunnel were not used much and would have lasted longer at the tunnel as there was just a passing siding, engine house, and no yard to speak of.

Having used the Elliot stands on the Great Western Railway in Colorado, they were made mainly of forged and rolled steel. The throw handles were much more substantial than the Harp's Throw Rods, and they employed the notched table and center bar assembly like the modern Star switchstands. The difference with the Eliot is that they were attached to a single tie rather than to a pair of them. The construction of the Elliot stands was substantial with the weak points being the rivets that held the table to the legs and the long rivet (usually replaced by a bolt) that allowed the handle to pivot. I have seen some with a broken handle, but darned few of them.

Perhaps it was a difference in material that was the key and that the stands were a heavier duty replacement for the harps when the harps broke. There is still a harp switch stand on display in Rawlins, Wyoming next to their 2-8-0 on display there, so we know that this was not some wholesale replacement program on the part of UP.

Rick