Re: First Train to Silverton

Credit where credit is due--Charley Bradshaw purchased the depot from the San Juan County Historical Society after leasing it for several years and he is the one who reopened it as a ticket office for the D&S, not the Harpers. His first station agent was Allen Nossaman, the former publisher of the Silverton Standard newspaper. Sundance Publications completely rewired the building about 1976 when Del McCoy leased the building for his printing and publishing business. Del contributed to the rebuilding of the baggage room that had been dynamited so that he got a concrete floor to support his equipment. The building has a heavy duty electrical service to it--3 phase, with enough power to heat the building and run Del's printing equipment. It never had plumbing before Sundance and Del added that as well. He converted the attic space to one large apartment with kitchen and bathroom, bedrooms, and a living room. After the D&S took it over, they let the second floor go without maintenance to the point it needs drywall and other work to make it liveable. The historical society holds a facade easement on the depot and that regulates what the D&S can do as far as altering the exterior of the building.