First, I do not know if the freight building was painted. In the few photos of it I'd actually considered it to be unpainted.
Second, on the spur lengths given in Poor. I believe he was running with the 1889 ETT in the end sheets of his book, which indicate 2652'. However, the 1884 ETT shows 1539'. The 1884 Colorado RR Commission shows 1540'. An 1893 Inventory shows 2817'. The 1918 ICC map gives around 2400', counting both the freight siding/spur by the station and the Aspen mill spur east of these.
I believe the 1300-1400' of the spurs/siding by the station for the freight house and large materials platform and teams load/unload was likely fixed for much of the railroad's time from the very start. There was no passing siding on the main that I've ever located; if anyone knows definitively of one, let me know! No picture around the depot indicates one was there. This is interesting because trains did meet here at times in the history of the DSP&P, and the situation means one pulled into the freight spur to wait for the other to pass. So this extra length in later reports seems to be something else and there are two candidates: the turntable track and the spur down to the Pawnee mill.
The turntable track was put in in mid-1885 and pulled sometime in the 1890s, the exact date unknown until we find solid evidence of when the turntable was moved up to the tunnel sheds (heavily discussed elsewhere on this forum but never conclusively established with primary evidence).
The Aspen mill spur shown on the 1918 map was, I believe, the remnant of the spur built to the Pawnee mill, built sometime after 1892 when that mill was built. The mill was wildly successful (it paid back the owner's $10,000 construction costs in the first month of operation) and I have some fuzzy hints ore from the Lady Murphy was shipped the 1.5 mile to the mill by rail. From photos and the HABS maps (in particular the 1915 map) my theory is that the spur ran down from where the 1918 map shows the mainline connection to follow along Poplar Street into town, passing in front of, and just beyond the Pawnee to Main Street, then switchbacking back up the slope to the ore unloading bins on the backside of the Pawnee. The photo on the History Colorado Online site showing the Pawnee taken from just east of, and showing, the turntable and in this photo we see the elevated unloading doors when they were still for teams--no track at the bins, but upon close examination you can see a track on the right side running from the right edge and in front of the mill. The original configuration? An original spur into town before the Pawnee was built? A later photo in Klinger's Gunnison book shows a UPD&G coal car at the ore doors, it's been switchbacked up to the backside of the mill now. The latest Bogies and the Loop have a Dr Scott photo that illustrates the track coming in on Poplar street and in front of the mill, then switchbacking to climb to the ore unloading doors, confirming what I've long theorized.
So the question...was there a spur into St Elmo connecting to Poplar street before the Pawnee was built? It is compelling to think a track built to Main Street level would solve the steep teaming problem from the freight house. That jump from 1500' of track length in1884 to 2600' in 1889 leaves me thinking it is possible. The 1893 jump to 2800' could be the switchback up to the Pawnee's unloading dock? Nothing solid that I've yet seen to confirm these thoughts.
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2022 12:02PM by degg13.
