7th Street Shops - (Revised Post 35 C) Romley, Colorado; The Bridge - Post 38

 

The last Tram House and ore bin - fall 1987 - Poole

Initially there was a single main line and one spur at Murphy (m.p. 155.6). By 1882 there were a couple of spurs and several mine related structures but there doesn't seem to have been a passing track. As the mining complex expanded the track changed according to the needs of the mining company. Some time in the 1890 - after the famous snow plow trial and reopening of the Alpine Tunnel - the first mill burned down and a second mill was built. Of course, the railroad adjusted the sidings and spurs accordingly. 

There certainly was a trestle along the side of the Pratt truss at the crossing of  Pomeroy Gulch. The purpose of the trestle was probably to facilitate the extension of a siding track. The actual deck of the truss was not quite wide enough for two tracks. Studies of  the 1880s D.S.P. & P.  West Denver yards (Larimer and 5th Street), the 7th Street / Rice Yards after 1901 (where 6 Flags

Two ore chutes visible above the bridge, 1950s(?) -Poole col. 

Elitche Gardens stands today) and the Como yards on the great Bayou Salado - South Park - confirms that track center to center was always about 13'. The Pratt bridge was 20' wide overall but the deck was more narrow than that. To place a second track would require widening the bridge - thus the trestle. But what would compel the need for the siding to be extended down grade below the gulch?

The grade at Romley was 4%. Open top cars were spotted on the siding under a wooden loading chutes and each car was loaded by letting it ease past the chute- controlled by its 

As a Hwy bridge there is barley room for cars to pass, 1985 -Poole

brakes. Fully loaded from the ore bins above, each car was then spotted on the siding for pick up below the gulch.  The length of the siding above the chutes determined how many cars could be loaded. All of this could happen without railroad employees or the aid of a locomotive. Gravity!

After the second mill burned down in 1908 the chute next to the gulch was abandoned in favor of a new chute further up the station.  The switch for the siding was moved to just above the bridges and actually became a part of the passing track. Then the trestle was also abandoned.

The Alpine Tunnel closed again in the fall of 1910 and several weeks earlier the line through Trout Creek Canyon had washed out once again. This cut  Buena Vista and Chalk Creek off from the east  (see Post35). Thus, Chalk Creek became an isolated portion of the line along with the entirety of the Gunnison District. The only connection to the rest of the Colorado & Southern by transfer of traffic was over the Denver & Rio Grande's three rail line up the Arkansas River to Leadville. (There is never any indication loads were transferred to standard gauge cars at Buena Vista or Nathrop - though it is certainly possible that could have happened.). 

A rare angle on the bridge from west above of the gulch, 2006 - Poole

In 1915 the line above Romley was abandoned. Between 1910 and 1915 trains serviced the area three times a week during the summer and everyday during the winter - ain attempt to keep the line open in spite of the snow. The trains were numbers 94 (westbound) and 93 (eastbound). Train 94 left Buena Vista with Combine 23 and what ever freight car was destined for the few patrons up the creek. At Romley the single locomotive (and flanger 016 in the winter - see Post 7) would cut loose and run light to the wye at Hancock for turning. Running the small narrow gauge engine backward all the way to Buena Vista was not prudent; especially in the winter months. Therefore, when the wye was abandoned the railroad brought the turntable from Gunnison over Marshall Pass (Denver & Rio Grande R.R.) and installed it at the edge of the grade just above the Romley depot. That's a story for another time.

View across Pomeroy where 1178 1/2 once stood, 2006 - Poole 

In the Rocky Mountain Region (NMRA); Sunrise Division Division newsletter, "The Call Board" (1989),  Tom Fitzgerald published a set of plans of the Pratt truss bridge he developed from the field notes he and Fred Bruchmann had gather one late summer day in the 1980s.. I still have the drawings he was kind enough to share with me. They found that the floor (cross) beams under the deck were 13'-6" long.

Bridge 1178 1/2 (the trestle) decade away over the years. Exactly when its reminisce was removed is unknown; it was still there in the 1950s and probably '60s but by the early '70s it appears that it was completely gone. Bridge 1178 became a state highway bridge after the railroad was scrapped in 1926. It was inspected and certified by State Highway engineers several times over the years. However, the last time I drove through Romley in 2006, it was gated off to vehicle traffic and a bypass below the bridge was cut to allowed traffic to continue on to Hancock. This bypass road also wiped out any remains of the mill setting ponds. 

 Buildings of Romley, CO.. Original ink and water color by George R. Douthit, 1956 - Poole col.

Modern aerial maps suggest the bridge is still in place. It is a valuable artifact of the little railroad that Did! I hope it is preserved. The aerial maps also suggest that development in the Chalk Creek Valley would probably break my heart; I have no real desire to go there again. 

It has been nearly 20 years since my last visit to Romley;I can't say what is actually still there today. Even before my first visit in 1983 there was nothing left of Romley but several piles of splintered lumber. In 2006 the last tram house still stood. 

In the morning light, the last sentinel over the townsite of  Romley turns out to be the Tram House on the hill above the railroad grade now a Colorado State highway, 1983 - Poole.