I couldn't get anywhere near the front of the Roundhouse, so the only pictures I got are telephoto pictures of the back and the sides.

But here's a very old song about a Roundhouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrXbL7s9Ci4

The Labor Day holiday will soon be here, and if it's anything like last year, I will feel like I'm the only person left in Denver. If I were a bank robber, this would be my favorite time of the year. Everyone is so anxious to leave town this weekend that I don't even think they would take the time to lock the bank doors, so I could just walk in and help myself.

Of course, there would be no place to spend that money because Walmart would also be deserted of employees. It would be nice to park next to the front door at Walmart instead of way out near the highway where I and all the other RVs usually park. But since no one will be there, I can park wherever I want.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't need that money I just took from the bank since Walmart's deserted, I could grab whatever I wanted. And even if they caught me, it would be called a "crime of need," and I would be turned loose because I "needed" some swim fins and a dozen pool noodles.

But the chances of me getting caught taking anything from Walmart would be remote since the cops are all at the local State Park having a Labor Day picnic. It appears they get tired of risking their lives to arrest criminals just to watch them turned loose the next day by district attorneys who feel that criminals have "suffered enough." Of course, the hard-working tax-paying citizens never seem to have "suffered enough."

The one day that we call Labor Day has but one purpose: to celebrate the hard-working citizen's contribution to this society that we all enjoy, and without whom, there would be no America. And yet Some members of our society get months to celebrate their existence.

But that's what happens when the country goes from a Melting Pot where everybody works together for the same goal. To Diversity where different groups work towards whatever is best for that particular group.

I'm getting too old to understand the nuances of that way of thinking. But one of the good things about growing old is you've lived long enough to see things that work and things that don't, which makes me wonder... Why do people keep voting for politicians that promise they will do things that have never worked?

Theboondork

I guess the train club that is doing all this refurbishing buys up narrow gauge rolling stock wherever they can find it, and keeps it sitting around until they have the money and the volunteers to restore it.

this old and obviously unrestored building must have had something to do with the trains since it's only about 100 feet away from the Roundhouse, and made out of the same stone.

Narrow gauge railroad cars are scattered around hither and thither. these are the ones stored at hither, the cars stored over at thither are harder to find.

 

the rather large building on the far end is the old and historic Como Hotel and Eating House. and yes that's what it was named.

It's privately owned and was in the process of being restored to some semblance of its previous glory, which, due to its size, was obviously a very expensive undertaking.

Rumor has it that the husband and wife owners that were doing the restoration had a few minor disagreements as to the direction the work was taking, with one wanting to spare no expense in the restoration process,  and the other wanting to throw their spouse out the top floor window.

it seems to me they could have compromised by cutting back on expenses, and throwing someone out the first floor window, but they chose a divorce instead  which leaves the project in limbo....And limbo is a long way from Como.

I took this picture of the back of the Roundhouse while hanging over the fence. On the left is the very substantial water tower they're building.  I was hoping to get a better picture of the back of the Roundhouse but It's largely covered by trees.

As you can see, the roundhouse and other train stuff is all locked up. I could easily have jumped the fence, there was certainly no one here to stop me from doing so. But I believe in following the rules especially in little mountain towns where everyone is armed to the teeth.

I'm back at my daughter's house now; I got back just before lunch.

I had a great time, as I always do when I'm in the mountains. There's always so much to do and see; in every direction I look, there's a potential picture. And the best thing this time of year is the high temperatures in the high country are in the 70s and 80s, not in the 90s like Denver. And believe me, the high temperatures in the 70s and 80s in the mountains are only between two and three O'clock. The rest of the time, it's in the 50s and 60s,

A fair amount of traffic was heading for the mountains as I returned to Denver this morning. I'm assuming it was folks getting an early start for the holidays. And speaking of an early start, my daughter and her family will leave here early Friday afternoon when the kids get out of school, for a couple of nights of camping at Sand Dunes National Park. It's about a 200-mile drive, and even though It's not exactly a beach, there's a 100-foot wide, 2-inch deep shallow Creek through the sand that you can wade in. So it's not exactly a beach, but you can still get plenty of sand between your toes.

Finding out that there was nowhere to camp or boondock near Como, I had to drive to the national forest near the old mining town of Fairplay and boondock in the national forest.

I slept peacefully last night, and it was chilly enough to use a blanket. I didn't see anyone else boondocking in the area I was at, even though there were plenty of signs folks had boondocked there in the past, like a fire ring and leftover wood piled next to it. Folks who like to build campfires often leave their extra firewood for the next person....I'm not a campfire person myself so I also left the firewood for the next boondocker

On the way back to Denver, I took pictures of the old buildings in Fairplay and even the hills and valleys near my property. It was a great trip, but it was all to brief due to the approaching holiday and my desire to get off the road before I get in anyone's way.

Theboondork

This is the second person I met in Como, the first being the Postmistress. As I was standing in the middle of a dirt road taking a picture of a building, this guy came walking down the road pushing a wheelbarrow, and by the fact that he was wearing pajama bottoms rolled up to the knee, and no shoes or socks with all of this broken glass, and rusty nails, laying around from all these old buildings, I fully expected to be involved in a really strange conversation....But, I was wrong.

one of the doors had fallen off the building and being fairly heavy I helped him carry the door around to the back and put it on a pile of other wood that once belonged on the building.

After which we had a perfectly intelligent and interesting 15 minute conversation about some of these old buildings of which he had great knowledge. And if it weren't for the pajama bottoms and the bare feet, he seemed at least as sane or even more so than me.

Barefoot explained to me that at one time this was the Diamond Saloon, and if you look just above the door you can see a small diamond shaped frame that used to be the sign for the Diamond Saloon, and it was the hottest joint in town. And even during prohibition you could get a drink at the Diamond Saloon.

Mostly because the sheriff and his deputies did not want to mess with the hard-rock miners, the coal miners, and the Railroad workers that spent their off-hours drinking at the  Diamond  Saloon, and who can blame them? Little mountain towns are famous for ignoring laws made by stupid Politicians.

But due to circumstances beyond anyone's control the Diamond Saloon is gone now, and will forever be. there's no returning to your heyday when you look like this. The gold and silver has played out so there's no need for hard rock miners anymore. The trains no longer run on coal, so the coal miners have moved on. And there's no need for the Railroad workers to be around, since Como's one little train doesn't go anywhere except in the memories of the old timers.

But on payday night, a long, long time ago, the  miners and the railroad workers would belly up to the bar and drink a toast to the unending success of the railroad on which their very lives depended... And then after a few fistfights they would help each other stagger home to their angry wives not realizing that everything in their world was changing for the worse. As the gold and silver was playing out in the mountains, mass layoffs were on the way, and on that very night the Diamond Saloon closed its doors forever.

the old boondork parked in front of the only open store/post office In Como.

I drove to Como this morning... "The ghost town with a little life left in it." I went to the only store in town, which combines a tiny gift shop and post office. After explaining how I'm a longtime Colorado resident, I asked the postmistress a few questions about where can I park, because I've never been to Como before and I've seen some no parking signs already. She told me I could leave my truck in front of the post office if I wouldn't be there to long. Not defining what long was, but she knew I was taking pictures of the town, so that's where the camper stayed during my visit to Como.

I asked her if there was any place I could boondock in town overnight, and she said no. The closest place to camp was Fairplay, about 10 miles away, and every place in Como was private property.

So that messed up my plans of getting Como sunrise and sunset pictures. So, after taking a few snapshots, I drove to the Fairplay area and boondocked in the national forest.

I was hoping to camp somewhere in Como to get pictures when the light was better. But, I was stuck taking pictures of Como about lunchtime when the lighting is at its worst.

but I can understand that they are protective of their little town and don't want bums hanging around, and I reckon I do fit the profile of a bum... but at least I'm not a homeless bum.

The Como train station. It's been refurbished, and now looks like it did when the trains were running.

This looks like at one time it used to be a grocery store, but there's no need for one now, the town's only got about a dozen permanent residence. Most of the refurbished houses are only used by the summer residence,  and if you've seen the winters around here you would know why. it's about 9500 feet here, and even though it was a bright sunny day I was still wearing a long sleeved shirt around lunchtime.

The Internet here in the national forest is pretty darn slow and it took me a while to put the pictures up....There will be more pics tomorrow.