Re: Alpine & Boreas Passes - Stone Engine House Question

The SLIM GAUGE NEWS Volume Four Number Two featured an article "Alpine Enginehouse" by Elwood Bell. Two things in the article are noteworthy. First a note by Francis B Trudgeon on the back of a photo in the article stated "Art Pearson , long-time Pitkin resident, told me (F.B.T)there was a turntable in the enginehouse and he had helped turn the engines on various times". Author Bell speculated that the turntable salvaged because of the probability of abandonment around the 1887 to 1895 closure of the tunnel. Author Bell stated "Mr. Pershbacher recalls installing a new outside turntable in 1906 soon after the disastrous fire." Oscar Pershbacher was a carpenter assigned to Alpine Tunnel early in his career with the C&S.
The second noteworthy thing was the partial excavation of the turntable pit by the SLIM GAUGE NEWS crew in 1973. The pit is about 30 inches deep. A six inch piece (spacer) of rail was found attached to the pit ties. No other rail or structure was found in the pit. Author Bell's conclusion was the turntable was salvaged before the fire which caved in the south wall.