Re: Como Roundhouse Addition

Posted by Jim Courtney on Aug 18, 2017; 10:45pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Como-Roundhouse-Addition-tp9120p9152.html

I threw in the long discussion of the stored Cooke 2-8-0's and their disposition, not as an interesting aside, but to make a point (most of the discussion was taken from the Colorado Rail Annual No. 12).

With the collapse of traffic by the end of 1910, the 13 wooden stalls of the Como roundhouse became redundant; they were no longer required to house, inspect and service operating locomotives.  Logically, the wooden stalls could have been removed in 1911 or 1912, as they no longer served any operating purpose.

But the C&S Mechanical Department re-purposed the wood roundhouse stalls: Long term covered storage of (at that time) surplus, light locomotives, hedging their bets that they might be needed again should business improve. But it never did. It is likely that the wood roundhouse additions survived another decade merely because they housed the majority of the surviving Cooke 2-8-0's, "stored in white lead".

By 1918-1921, it was obvious that the stored Cookes (and one Baldwin) would never be needed again. The C&S management decided to convert these static assets into cash by sale, trade or scrap. When the last two locomotives were removed from storage in the summer of 1921 and moved to Denver, the wood roundhouse extensions again served no purpose.

I'd suggest that the majority of the wooden stalls were likely removed in late 1921 or 1922, and the remaining "third addition" to the roundhouse was merely a remodeling of a few stalls, one to accommodate the rotary. But was there another reason?

The other thing that happened in 1921 was the arrival of the three big Brooke's engines from the DB&W.

Is it possible that the retention and remodeling of a few of the wooden stalls was to accommodate these big engines? Did door heights and widths need to be adjusted to provide increased clearances, so the big B 4-Fs could be run through the wood part of the roundhouse to access the turntable from the depot? And to allow a covered area to work on the locomotives, out of the wind and snow?

The B 4-Fs were primarily assigned to the west end and generally operated with engine crews that worked out of Como. We know that the 75 fit into one of the "new" wooden stalls, because it was trapped there in the 1935 fire.

Would any of the B 4-Fs actually fit in one of the five stalls in the stone part of the roundhouse?

BTW, what does the phrase "stored in white lead" mean?  Would OSHA approve?