Re: Como Roundhouse Addition

Posted by Mike Trent on Aug 21, 2017; 9:47am
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Como-Roundhouse-Addition-tp9120p9206.html

As for laying over in Como and in Leadville, the railroad offered those crews very little if anything at all, they were on their own and simply expected to show up the next morning ready to go.

Margaret Coel said that her Dad Sam Speas and others would usually bring a blanket and or bedding and camp out at the old tenement ruins or on the hill below them when laying over in Como. The guys would bunk together out of necessity and somehow either stayed with friends or maybe in an empty place during those cold winter nights. In Leadville, there was a bunk house of sorts the guys could use, but they too had to bring whatever bedding they needed. In Leadville they always got in earlier than when they returned home to Como because they never switched Westbound. So they had a longer layover and if anyone had a little money, they were in a bar somewhere. Doug never had any money, he had a wife and kids at home.

All this caused resentment and even hard feelings toward the Leadville based trainmen, and even towards the East End guys.The Denver based enginemen on the East End had a much easier time of it Eastbound, as once the train reached Kenosha, the helper crews cut off and they all had a leisurely downhill run back to Denver while the West End guys had to fight their way over two passes in each direction.

Also worth noting is that in Como, the train crews from both trains had to fend for themselves as well. The conductors had the caboose, and the brakemen probably bunked in them too.

All this was simply the way it had always been done, and none of the guys had any real knowledge of why, and none felt there was a thing that could be done to change any of it.

Hard way to make a living.