Turning Back the Pages

30 years ago – October 17, 1986

To the consternation of many locals, the Central City Opera House Association has sold the old train that has been in town since 1941 or 1942. Apparently no one in town knew of the sale until Tuesday. The train was to be moved to the Georgetown-Silver Plume area yesterday or today. During the week, the city fathers were busily trying to figure out a way to keep the historic train, which has been on display near the old depot in the city. At press time, it seemed their efforts had been fruitless. The train was the property of the opera association and last week the Colorado Historical Society purchased it for a reported $25,000 cash. The old engine, No. 71, was brought to Central City in the early 1940s. It was a gift to the opera association from the Colorado & Southern Railroad. In those days, the railroads were giving away the obsolete gauge trains, according to Bill Gossard, chairman of the opera association. He said Wednesday that the state historical society has wanted the train for a long time. “No one seems to be terribly interested” in it in Central City, Gossard claimed, and there appears to be only a few tourists who look at it in the summer. Only vandals have paid much attention to it. The train, which consists of an engine, a coal car, a passenger car, and a freight car, is in bad repair. The opera association “can’t afford to maintain it,” Gossard said. In fact it is all the association can do to maintain all of its houses in town, he said. The opera people decided they would be delighted to have the historical society take the train and rehabilitate it, and it will be “a great joy” for railroad buffs, Gossard said. The state historical society is taking the train to a railroad park at the Georgetown Loop. The society has only a few cars there now, Gossard said; the rest belong to Lindsey Ashby, the franchise who runs the loop railroad. The historical society has wanted “historic rolling stock” it can restore. “We’re very happy that we found a good home for it where it will be cared for,” Gossard said. But, it still leaves Central City without a train and locals are wondering why the historical society did not purchase it and leave it in the city.

In regards to the Opera House ceiling, Gossard said the opera association is planning to do the work on the ceiling next spring. The plaster ceiling was torn down last spring due to a perceived hazard. Last month Charles Edward Stanton who “has a soft spot in his heart” gave the association $60,000, Gossard said. That will cover the cost of the restoration project. “We all rejoiced” at Stanton’s gift, Gossard said.