Ralph, please don't tap me to find a magic key for you--I simply said I hope to get into the various archives in the future. I will be following Rick's footsteps by doing this. Rick is a fantastic researcher with deep understanding of the South Park and Colorado Central lines, as well as his physical experience working in the industry. He's done the hard work. He openly shares his findings and answers questions. He's been at this for decades and has pushed all of our understanding way beyond what was known in 1949 when Poor published his book. Rick is lightyears ahead of me in understanding the South Park. You keep going to Poor, which is fine, but there is a lot of information that has come since that has pushed our knowledge forward. I learned early, if you're looking for a magic key, others can help but you need to dive in and participate in the research. I sense you wish to prove it didn't exist. Get the books, look at the photos, read the forums, go to the archives and make your case.
I agree fully with Rick--the pit is convincing evidence of existence. The 1893 inventory is convincing. The 1897 lawsuit notes are convincing. The 1898 inventory showing a turntable is convincing. And one thing I know about the UP, it moved property around a lot: cars, buildings, track. And it's not inconceivable an obsoleted 1870s turntable was moved to St Elmo.
The 1886 inventory is not without flaws and can vary from other sources out there. And while it doesn't list the turntable at the tunnel and I find that interesting for that specific timeframe but perhaps not conclusive, which Rick has argued well above. Timetables have meaning to the professionals that we may not understand, remember. Omission does not necessarily mean non-existance.
St Elmo got a turntable in July 1885 if we can believe the various newspaper accounts. The 1886 B&B book supports that it is there. One person out there insists its listed in an 1883 timetable. I have seen a late DL&G/very early C&S photo where the turntable track is taken up. Was there a turntable at St Elmo and Alpine Tunnel in 1894--could be.
Newspapers state that the UP would move the St Elmo turntable to Alpine Tunnel in 1889 and 1890. This doesn't mean it happened. It doesn't mean it didn't. Unlike other items moved to the tunnel in 1890, a turntable isn't mentioned. What intrigues me is that the UP was definitely upgrading the facilities in 1890 so why not the turntable? Was the B&B book erroneously not updated? And they closed things down from 1891 to 1895 but they were up there keeping it alive. And we have a listed turntable in 1893 in the midst of that timeframe. Its a weird timeline overall but it doesn't mean the 1893 inventory is wrong. The UP did a lot of interesting things to chase business.
