Then and Again Photography-The Telluride Railroad Depot
The Telluride Railroad Depot-
The Telluride Railroad Depot Now.
Rio Grande Southern Railway Depot
This area was a bustling, noisy, and exciting part of town after the railroad reached Telluride in 1891. The depot was surrounded by boardinghouses and warehouses, some of which are still standing on San Juan Avenue. Telluride sported one of the largest Depots on the RGS and it still stands today. It had the classic architecture with wooden siding and shingles. This building was restored by locals in 1991 and has been a several types of restaurant in the recent past and is now the home to the Ah Ha School, an Artsie Fartsie kids Summer camp and classes.
The Telluride Railroad Depot looking East, Then!
The Telluride Railroad Depot,Again. I would call this the back of the Depot, but in the day that it was the Depot, this was the front, the side the train pulled up to.
The Then and Again shots of the Telluride Railroad Depot
This was a tough one to find the spot of photo (SOP) as there are major trees and other landscape and architecture in the way but a nice contrast! I am glad to see that the Telluride Railroad Depot has been so well preserved!
This is cool, a map of the R.R Yard of the D&RGS Railroad in Telluride, note how the Y was laid out, interesting! Keep in mind <East<<<
Took me awhile to wrap my head around this!
I had to find another map and flip it to try to figure this out but apparently the Y went up the Alley behind the Smugglers Brew Pub which is a refurbished old Warehouse and then behind the Library, which for Telluride is a rather level area. So I finally see what the heck has my head spinning, on this map, the River they have drawn in is on the wrong side of the Telluride Rail Road Depot, ignore that and this all makes sense.
Nice post.
When the Rio Grande railroads were standardized in the late 1880′s, they were left with a tremendous surplus of narrow gauge equipment. The RGS purchased a large number of locomotives and some 900 cars. Some of this equipment had seen its better days and did not operate long, if at all, on the RGS. Instead it became various forms of discarded, but not forgotten, parts and bodies that found itself rusting away at many locations along the line.
The Rio Grande Southern Railroad reached Telluride in 1891. Running along the grade of Otto Mears toll road, the Telluride branch left the mainline at Vance Junction, turned 180 degrees at the Ilium Loop and made the long climb up Keystone Hill before it broke out onto the floor of San Miguel Park. Although called the Telluride branch, the railroad continued to Pandora where a wye was located at the site of the large mills. The RGS served these mills and their successors until the end of operations in 1952. Railroad facilities at Telluride included a two stall engine house, a water tank, water column, section house and bunkhouse, a number of sidings and a handsome depot. The depot was restored a number of years ago and is now a micro brewery.
If you have time, take the Alaska Railroad to Seward………..the depot in Anchorage is very much a step back in time. We found the workers there very friendly and professional. I highly recommend the trip to Seward on the Goldstar (use buy one get one free coupon in the Toursaver Coupon Book). We had comfortable seats and views from the upper domed car were wonderful and then the open air platform allowed for magnificent photos. This trip takes the stress out of the trip, as driving doesn’t allow the driver to see much, and you don’t get into the heart of the mountains where you can see the glaciers, animals, etc. The closest hotel to the Anchorage Depot is the Comfort Inn and Suites where it is an easy walk even with luggage. The restrooms on the train were very spacious and clean. Once you get to Seward, it is an inexpensive cab ride ($5) to downtown. If you are short on time, you might consider taking the Bus back to Anchorage, as the train schedule gets you into Anchorage at 10:30PM – which is too late to drive to next location.