(rshsdepot) Ridgway, CO

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From the Ridgway Sun.
 
Original article at:
_http://www.ouraynews.com/Articles-i-2009-03-11-192358.112113_Ridgway_depot_re
mains_familiar_link_to_history.html_ 
(http://www.ouraynews.com/Articles-i-2009-03-11-192358.112113_Ridgway_depot_remains_familiar_link_to_history.html) 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Ridgway depot remains familiar link to history
 
March 11, 2009
 
Some of the most familiar relics of the former railroad lines that  
crisscrossed the San Juan Mountains are its remaining depots.
 
The Rio Grande Southern (RGS) depot in Ridgway is one of four remaining  
depots that served the RGS. 
 
The others are located in Placerville, Telluride and Durango. The Galloping  
Goose Historical Society built an exact reproduction of the RGS Dolores Depot 
in  1991. The Ridgway and Durango Depots also served the Denver & Rio Grande  
Railroad (D&RG).
 
The D&RG Ouray branch from Montrose to Ouray was completed in December,  
1887, but Ridgway was not formed until 1891. The town of Ridgway was created by  
Otto Mears as the interchange point of the RGS with the D&RG.
 
It was located about 2.5 miles south of the existing town of Dallas, a  small 
community that had a population of about 500 in 1890. The town was founded  
in 1880 as a stagecoach stop on the toll road that linked Montrose with Ouray,  
and was named for George M. Dallas, who served as the U.S. vice-president 
from  1845-49.
 
Charles Gibbs, Mears’ chief engineer, wanted to make Dallas the interchange  
point for the two railroads and this was indicated in the RGS incorporation  
papers, but Mears eventually settled on the current site of Ridgway. This was 
an  excellent decision as Mears profited greatly from the sale of lots at $300 
to  $500 each in the new town. Dallas quickly declined after the opening of 
the RGS,  and there is no trace left today to indicate where Dallas was located.
 
The D&RG right of way in the Ridgway area generally followed the  present 
route of Highway 550. Railroad Officials had to relocate the right of  way and 
cross the Uncompahgre River to join the RGS at the new town of Ridgway.  The 
D&RG crossed the river on a wooden Howe Truss bridge (it was later  replaced by a 
steel tressle bridge which still stands on the bike path just  north of town) 
and came down the current Railroad Avenue into Ridgway.
 
In the spring of 1890, a temporary depot was quickly built where the  D&RG 
and RGS joined just south of the D&RG bridge over the Uncompahgre  River. 
Construction of a new depot, originally located where the tennis courts  are today, 
was begun in October, 1890. It was built as a joint project between  the RGS 
and D&RG. It cost approximately $5,000, which was a princely sum in  1890.
 
On Jan. 7, 1891, the Ridgway Herald announced the depot’s completion, which  
was celebrated with a ball where “the youth and beauty of the booming burg  
mingled with the hayseeds and cedar post pirates, and joy was spread all over  
the precinct.”
 
The new depot was built in the graceful Victorian “Queen Anne” style. It  
had a large freight section, office, passenger waiting room, and an apartment  
upstairs to house the station agent and his family.
 
The depot also had a large tower built over the telegraph operator’s bay  
window. The exterior of the building had three feet of vertical wainscoting with  
clapboard siding above up to the roofline and wooden shingles above that. The 
 roof also had wooden shingles. South of the depot, there was a large  
outhouse/coal shed that the Ridgway Railroad Museum has moved back to Ridgway  and 
restored.
 
In 1948, the Ridgway Depot narrowly escaped destruction when a power line  
fell on the D&RGW telegraph line, causing an 11,000-volt short circuit that  
started fires in the Ridgway Depot, the Ouray Depot and the Ridgway Roundhouse.  
The fires in Ridgway were quickly extinguished with only minor damage, but the 
 Ouray Depot burned to the ground.
 
The Ridgway Depot served the RGS and D&RG(W) together for more than 60  years 
until the RGS was abandoned in 1952.
 
In 1953, the Ridgway-to-Ouray tracks were removed, and the  
Montrose-to-Ridgway tracks were standard gauged. The depot continued to serve  the D&RGW until 
1965, when the railroad sold the depot to Lester Lowery for  $7,929, who then 
sold the structure to Milton Mitchell, who appreciated the  historical value 
of the depot and was concerned about its preservation.
 
Mitchell removed about two thirds of the freight area, moved the remaining  
portion of the depot about 100 yards to the east, and turned it 90 degrees. At  
some point, the Mitchells replaced the lower wainscoting with layers of  
bricks.
 
The Mitchell family deserves recognition for preserving the depot so that  
today it looks much as it did when they obtained it in 1965. 
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy 
steps! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219671244x1201345076/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID
%3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

------------------------------