Re: Marshall Pass turntable history

A bit of an update based on some documents John Tudek has discovered at the CRRM (and which prove that fact is indeed stranger than fiction):

1890: 50' Keystone table installed.
1903: 60' table installed.
1911: 62' table from Tennessee Pass installed.
1923: 62' second-hand table installed.
1926: 67' second-hand table installed.

Who would have guessed Marshall Pass had 5 different tables over the years!

AFE 1186 describes the 1923/24 rebuilding after the fire (when the 62' table was swapped for a different 62' table). It contains hand-written notes listing the materials for the sheds which include 2 50' plate girders and 2 62' plate girders from retired turntables.

While it does not indicate the source of the 50' plate girders (so we don't definitively know they were the earlier Marshall Pass table), it seems unlikely that the 50' table ended up in the San Juans. (The 60', however, is unaccounted for.)

AFE 1146 describes the addition of a pneumatic traction motor to the turntable in November 1923.

I believe the drawing Bob referred to is from the 1939 rebuild (when the sheds were clad with sheetmetal). It indicates 50' and 62' turntable bridge girders in the roof (but doesn't give counts). I suspect at this point there were actually 4 62' girders in the roof (given the support pole layout).

(FWIW, shed 241a had been retired in 1930 and replaced with 400 linear feet of snow fence.)

Many, many, many thanks to John!

Cheers,
Jeff.