Re: Como, CO - April 2006

The turntable bridge at Como changed in appearnce in the early 1900's. The width of the center plate on each side changed - this probably means the bridge was replaced. This may have been when the pit was lined with concrete in 1910.
When the Georgetown Loop was being re-built in the early 1970's, a local railfan (I think it was Ed Gerlits) noticed that four steel trusses in a City & County of Denver building were really turntable bridges (two girders from each side of two turntables - one pair with rounded bottoms, the other pointed). This building was soon torn down, and he arranged for the turntables to be donated to the CHS for the Loop. Early plans for the loop involved a turntable at each end, but there was no good location. They were brought to Silver Plume, where the sides were connected together, and they sat in the yard until the space was needed for the new enginehouse. CHS contracted with a local contractor (Jerry Buckley) to haul away some of the debris from the yard, including these turntables.
Jerry Buckley brought them to a site below the dam at Georgetown, next to where he later built a small hydro-electric power plant (I don't know if it ever oeprated). Bill Kazel (then owner of the Como Roundhouse) contacted him about buying the rounded-bottom turntable, which looked like the original turntable bridge at Como. Mr. Buckley initially declined because he though they might come in handy (Bill offered to trade for bar joists of similar span and capacity, but still no interest). Eventually, Buckley needed money, and contacted Bill to see if he was still interested. They agreed on terms, which included having Buckley delilver the bridge to Como. More time passed, and the bridge stayed in Georgetown, where it was being burried by dirt excavated for the powerplant. Bill finally gave up, and had an opportunity to pick the turntable up himself, and eventually got it to Como.
Bottom line - It looks like the original turntable bridge, and the construction date of the City & County building it was found in was consistent with when the original turntable bridge was been removed from Como, so it could be the original turntable bridge.