(rshsdepot) Craig, CO

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

Story and video from KCNC-TV:
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
To see photos and video visit:
_http://cbs4denver.com/local/craig.railroad.depot.2.668296.html_ 
(http://cbs4denver.com/local/craig.railroad.depot.2.668296.html) 
 
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Craig Depot On List Of Most Endangered Places
 
Molly Hughes reporting.
 
CRAIG, Colo. (CBS4) ― Colorado  Preservation placed the Craig Railroad Depot 
on its list of the state's most  endangered places this year. The depot was 
built in 1917 and was shut down in  1985 with a computer taking over its 
functions. 

In 2001 the current  owners of the depot, the Union Pacific Corporation, 
delayed demolition of the  building and agreed to donate it to the town of Craig, 
but changed its mind in  2004. Since then the building has deteriorated. 

"It's pathetic, it's  terrible," said resident Bob Deakins. "I look in that 
door and see nothing like  it used to be." Deakins' father worked at the depot 
and one point he was the  station master. 

The railroad itself was the Denver and Salt Lake  Railroad. It was the 
brainchild of rail baron David Moffat. 

"His idea  was to start in Denver and come through the Moffat Tunnel and go 
all the way to  Salt Lake," said resident Pete Pleasant. "He ran out of money 
in Craig,  Colorado, and that's just the end of it right here." 

But for ranchers in  the area, the dead-end rail line was a godsend. "Craig 
used to be the largest  wool shipping center in the world," said resident Jim 
Simos. "You came in and  saw the station master and he would tell you he would 
have x-amount of cars at a  certain date." 

The depot was also a meeting place for the town. "The  building itself was 
kind of a symbol that I can remember as a child ... my dad  bringing cream cans 
down here and shipping them to Denver," Jim Meineke said.  

Eventually Craig's economy became more dependent on gas and oil drilling  
rather than agricultural resources and that presented new risks for the vacant  
depot. 

"The tracks became more in use, they had an abandoned track, they  tore it 
out and put a new one in, " said Pamela Foster with the Community  Foundation of 
Northwest Colorado. 

That reactivated track is on the  backside of the state between two active 
tracks. Union Pacific cited liability  concerns about the tracks when it 
retracted its offer to donate the building.  

That retraction left a bad taste with town officials. 

"I  understand where the big corporation is coming from," said Craig mayor, 
Don  Jones. "You've got to listen to all your people and we're asking for help. 
Not a  whole lot of help, just some cooperation." 

"The railroad does what the  railroad does," said Al White, Craig's state 
representative, "though if we bring  enough public pressure to bear on them 
hopefully they will recognize the good  that they can accomplish here." 

The community promises not to give up  its efforts to renovate the Craig 
Depot. 

"It takes a lot of tenacity,"  said Foster. "We've been working on this 
project for over 18 years." 



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