Re: Information on the Chama Coal Tower

Craig,

Are you scratch-building this or bashing a kit? I scratch-built the tower in O scale around 3 years and that is how I come to know Mike Trent (on this board) as he was building the Durango tower in O scale as well. We had many emails and discussions about the similarities and differences between the two towers.

I believe the ‘Friends’ document does indicate it was originally painted and this can be seen in the early b/w pictures. As for the color, it was the same red that many of the early structures were painted. I do believe the entire structure was painted the same color.

Dorman’s ‘Chama/Cumbres with a Little Chili’ book has some nice shots of the tower. Page 6 has a nice photo dated 1938. Two things to note in this photo: 1) there is no overhang/canopy above the chute operating mechanism that you see in later photos and 2) the sandhouse bin is staked with large square timbers and not the round poles you see from the later photos. On page 21 there is a Bob Richardson photo from 1951 with the tower in the background and it doesn’t look like it has the canopy either.

Additional sources of information would be the plans from Maxwell along with the set from Blazek (www.blazeksplan.com), but be prepared for some head scratching when you compare the two sets of plans. From what I understand, the Maxwell plans were drawn up in Denver before any of the towers were built. I guess something along the lines of design plans, but as we all know there are significant differences between the three towers. Blazek’s plans are essentially as built, or more specifically as it was in the later years when he made the plans (80’s?).

Don’t hesitate to ask for more info, I’ll be happy to share what I know about the tower along with detail photos.

Dennis