Thursday, July 14, 2022
This facility was originally constructed as the Denver & Rio Grande Locomotive Repair Shop whose construction commenced in late 1923 and was completed on February 8, 1924 in Salida, Colorado. At that time, Salida was the largest locomotive yard between Denver and Salt Lake City in part due to the fact that Salida was a "dual-gauge" yard; they had not one but two roundhouse and turntables because they served both narrow gauge as well as standard gauge. The roundhouse was just outside of this building and the rail lines still run through the building today.
Sometime in the mid-1950's the locomotive repair shop was sold and became the Wm. L. Poller Company. Calco Inc. then came into the picture and operated this plant in Salida Colorado from the mid/late 70's to the mid 90s. They processed on average 200 tons of quicklime and crushed limestone daily which was hauled from the nearby Monarch Quarry. By the early 1990's they had numerous MSHA citations wherein their weak financial situation was acknowledged as reason for their rather small fines (~$50 per citation). It's not clear when they shut down but it appears to have been sometime in the mid 1990's based on paperwork onsite and research conducted.
Click here for the video.
Begin Historic Photos (Courtesy Salida Regional Library Museum)
End Historic Photos
Disclaimer: I had the opportunity to visit this site recently so I didn't pass it up despite the fact that I recently broke my collarbone and was only about a week and a half post-surgery with my right arm in a sling and completely useless. So this is the best I could do as a one-armed crippled idiot.
1 Comment:
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December 30, 2023 at 10:40 PM
Just visited this location today! It was very cool! Found some unique specimens on the rail line, and I'm going to take them to a geologist.
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