Driving Boreas Pass route

[Kurt Maechner]

We’re making plans to visit Colorado in July for the first time a quite a few years and I’d really like to drive the Boreas Pass route.  Does anyone know how long it takes to drive from Como to Breckenridge?  Also, I’d like to see the short stretch of track at Rocky/Windy? Point.  Is that easy to find?  Are there signs or is it visible from the road?  

Would anyone suggest any other points of interest besides Snow Plow park, Baker Tank and the section house area?

Thanks for any info and ideas!
Kurt

[Jeff Young]

It takes slightly longer than going through Fairplay and Alma.  Around 25 min if memory serves.

Windy Point is not terribly well-marked, but it is visible.  Just remember that it’s where the road leaves the railroad grade (ie: it’s the only part of the road with 7% grades instead of 4%).

If you’ve got time to kill you could pop down to Garos to see the general store, or up to Alma Junction to see what’s left of the depot.

Cheers,

Jeff.

On 10 Feb 2018, at 20:12, kmaechner [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

We’re making plans to visit Colorado in July for the first time a quite a few years and I’d really like to drive the Boreas Pass route.  Does anyone know how long it takes to drive from Como to Breckenridge?  Also, I’d like to see the short stretch of track at Rocky/Windy? Point.  Is that easy to find?  Are there signs or is it visible from the road?  

Would anyone suggest any other points of interest besides Snow Plow park, Baker Tank and the section house area?

Thanks for any info and ideas!
Kurt

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[Kurt Maechner]

Is the Alma Junction depot easy to find?  Also, I've heard the Fairplay depot is still in existence.  Is that correct?  I remember driving through the town in the early 2000s and noticing a bank whose building was depot-shaped.  

[Jeff Young]

Alma Junction depot:

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Alma,+CO,+USA/@39.2699748,-106.052629,173m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x876aec1e25491eb1:0x70597e890bc4090!8m2!3d39.2838783!4d-106.0627967?hl=en

(Last building to the right below the Mosquito Pass road.)

I don’t think the Fairplay depot is still around.  (There’s a depot at the South Park City Museum, but that’s the former Buffalo Springs schoolhouse.)

Cheers,

Jeff.

On 10 Feb 2018, at 20:43, kmaechner [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Is the Alma Junction depot easy to find?  Also, I've heard the Fairplay depot is still in existence.  Is that correct?  I remember driving through the town in the early 2000s and noticing a bank whose building was depot-shaped.  

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[Kurt Maechner]

Wow.  The Alma Junction depot looks pretty shady!  Very cool, though!  Thanks for the tip.

[Kurt Maechner]

I was just looking at a photo of the Alma depot in 1937 and it looks so much bigger than the building on Google.  Is this only a portion of the building remaining?

[Jeff Young]

Yes, it's just the western half.

Here are a couple of pics from last summer from the railroad grade side (opposite the road):

[Jeff Young]

And one of the door hinge:

[Kurt Maechner]

Great photos!  
In looking at Google maps, I must be missing it somehow.  There's a row of houses on the bottom of Mosquito Pass road in the link you sent.  The last one on the right appears to have a pipe extension on the chimney, but the one in your photo doesn't have that.  Am I looking at the wrong building?  When I go to street view it has a little overhang over the front door.  Is that it?  It looks much smaller than the one in your photo.

[Jeff Young]

That's the one.  Here's a picture from the road side (I think it's something about the fake dormers that make it look smaller than from the other side):

[Jeff Young]

Sorry, it’s the last one on the left when looking at a map view; the last one on the right when standing in the road.

On 10 Feb 2018, at 23:40, Jeff Young [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

That's the one.  Here's a picture from the road side (I think it's something about the fake dormers that make it look smaller than from the other side):

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[Chris Walker]

Windy Point.....

39°21'35.2"N 105°56'06.5"W

[Kurt Maechner]

Ah!  Thanks, Jeff.  I see it now.

[Robert McFarland]

The Fairplay Depot is still there.Using Google Maps its just off of Castello Av in between 9th st. and 285.Its been built on to but you can rccognise it.Look for the green roofed carport.

[SteveG]

I'd put that at closer to an hour, based on driving it a year + ago. It's only 20.8 miles, but it's not a road you'd want to drive a lot faster than 20 mph. I'm guessing it gets graded once or twice a year, like dirt roads I used to live on in the Hudson Valley, but in between, the potholes get...interesting.

Steve Guty

[ComoDepot]

If you drive straight through it is a little bit quicker going over Boreas than via Fairplay, maybe 5 minutes, I allow 40 minutes normally, Como side is usually OK busier on the Breck side.

Pretty difficult to miss anything, I assume you will want to stop and look and take a couple of hours doing so.

If you have time in Como, pm me and see if we can agree a time to show you around.

There will be work days and operating days, in July operating will be 1st and maybe the last weekend, also Burro Days in Fairplay.

[Kurt Maechner]

I will most definitely PM you then.  I was bummed to find out that our travel dates don’t correspond to any of the Klondike Kate operating days, but if my family and I could get a look inside of some things like the depot (and maybe the roundhouse??) it would be honestly amazing!  The last time my wife and I were in Como, the eating house was closed and the depot was a lump of withering wood.  I cannot wait to see in person how much has changed.  Thank you so much for the kind offer!

[ComoDepot]

You can also get me through the Hotel or Depot Facebook page, remind me when you do, my memory is not what it should be.

I am usually around but not always, very rare I can not agree a mutually convenient time. We can also go to the Roundhouse.

I have recently posted the activities for this year, well there may be a couple more, but I prefer to focus on what is as certain as we can be.

[Kurt Maechner]

Hi ComoDepot, are you the one that also rents out rooms in the Como eating house?
Kurt

[ComoDepot]

I have the Hotel and Depot and responded to your other message.