Re: Here is location of 1st Como Depot

Posted by Dave Eggleston on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Here-is-location-of-1st-Como-Depot-tp18859p18864.html

So you don't have the source for that map.

There were several articles on Lechner's (aka Lechner's coal bank) in the Fairplay Flume and Rocky Mountain News from May-June 1879 as the line approached the location of the future Como. These can be found online on the Colorado Historic Newspaper site using its search engine.

As far as I can tell, Como at the start was about 75 tents, a few frame structures and at least three teaming companies with large warehouses. What the original depot was isn't reported but there was something being used as a depot, mentioned in passing in the 7/17/1879 Fairplay Flume article on Como. It might've been a tent, a boxcar, a frame structure or someone's bedroom but the report doesn't tell us. All we know is there was an agent named McGill and he often was found in the office across from the depot, whatever that means. Before the railroad the location was empty; people weren't sure if Como would return to that once the track moved west. But it did prove an excellent starting location for the teams heading over Mosquito Pass to Leadville and so Como got a bit more dug in. The what and where of the original yards is a mystery but were geared to unloading 20+ cars a day into wagons and warehouses and dealing with the many many passengers going in and out. The tracks very likely changed dramatically when the roundhouse was built two years later and Como changed focus.

Como is not the only place where the listed distance to Denver changes as the years pass. A review of Employee timetables, the B&B books and other documents reveal changes and even handwritten corrections to distances on some documents.

An ask: It would be really helpful, as an aid to others who might be interested in looking into your comments, and out of respect for the archive, website or collection holding the image you are using, to cite images and documents you post. This is an important aspect in sharing and growing knowledge--it benefits you.