The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad founded South Arkansas, which was shortly thereafter named Salida. The first railroad shop and roundhouse facilities in Salida were for narrow gauge locomotives and equipment. Standard gauge track and equipment was introduced starting in the 1890s, and a new standard gauge roundhouse was built just downstream of the narrow gauge roundhouse (pictured above). For years, Salida was a dual-gauge yard.
In between the two roundhouses, the D&RG located a large backshop, which was used to repair locomotives and other equipment. The building was first erected in Pueblo and then must have been surplused, because workers disassembled it, hauled it to the Salida yard and bolted it back together again on-site. The source for this is Trails Among the Columbine: A High Country Anthology: Salida, Colorado 1991/1992.
Today the backshop is the only structure left in the old Salida rail yard, along with a few metal sheds and some lineside signals. The Union Pacific Railroad purchased the line from the Southern Pacific Railroad (successor to the D&RG) and discontinued operations more than a decade ago.
The old backshop is today being used as part of a sand and gravel operation leased by Calco Limestone Products. – By Earle Kittleman.
