Re: Coke WESTbound to Farmington . . .

Shavano479 Wrote:
--------------------------------------------------
> . . .  Prior to the 1924 Salida barrel transfer, narrow-
> to-standard gauge coal transshipment would have
> been shoveled by manual laborers.  Bound for Salt
> Lake, it seems more efficient to perform the shovel-
> ing of westbound CB anthracite at Montrose rather
> than Salida.  Pulling westbound coal eastbound up
> 4% Marshall Pass does not make sense to me, par-
> ticularly as a way to stage the load for a run up the
> steep side of Tennessee Pass.
>
> . . .  In any case, I think it remains generally plaus-
> ible for Salt Lake City-bound coal to transship at
> Montrose rather than Salida pre-1924.


But . . .  But . . .   Shavano -

The mailgram JBWX posted and Graham re-posted above is dated January 26, 1962 — long after the flimsy line from Gunnison over Cerro Summit to Montrose had been torn up, and several years after Marshall Pass had suffered a similar fate.  We're not looking at a major operation to supply the Pacific Fleet here, but just two carloads of coke – inherently much cleaner than coal – that was probably used in just one specialized process at a refinery in Farmington that routinely received other materials via the D&RGW.

- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2023 03:42PM by Russo Loco.