Re: Colorado Trip

The Tacoma plant is still in operation for peak demand periods. During the drought in 2002 and 3, it was more profitable for the power company to sell the water rights and thus the plant was down for most of those 2 summers. There are 3 Pelton water wheels in the plant, the newest one bears a Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton builder's plate as by the end of World War II, the Pelton Water Wheel Co., originally of San Francisco, had been purchsed by Baldwin--thus a rail link.
The original 1906 transformers are still in the plant and are still in service, though I understand there are plans to modernize the plant and increase the output voltage. Duplicate transformers were in the Silverton substation--Tacoma was built to serve Silverton, not Durango (Durango had its own steam powered electric plant, still in place, though inactive, and the building is currently being reroofed), and the original power transmission line paralled the railroad up the canyon into Silverton. We are starting an effort to save one of these transformers, still bearing their Westinghouse brass builders plates with patent dates going as far back as 1886, for display purposes in Silverton. All this equipment came in by narrow gauge, and will have to come out the same way. It is a very clean and well run operation. I think we even have the blueprints for the building in our archives in Silverton.