Como Turntable Progress

Dearest Reader,

Last week I met with the former owner of the Como Roundhouse, Mr. Bill Kazel, and we discussed the reconstruction of the turntable. While he has sold the roundhouse and adjoining property to its current owner he is still heavily involved with the restoration. He gave me a number of wonderful drawings that he and a few others had done over the years.

The turntable presents many interesting challenges considering it is probably from the 1880's. The table that is currently there is believed to be the table that was removed in 1910 when the pit was lined with concrete. The sides of the turntable bridge were separated at some point and the bridge side frames were used as a structural component in a building in downtown Denver for some time. During the reconstruction of the Georgetown Loop RR the building was torn down and somebody recognized it as a turntable. Initially it was thought to be the Georgetown turntable. However upon further investigation it was discovered to be the Como Turntable, being of a different style than the Georgetown one. In the middle of that the turntable side frames were rejoined by the Sea Bee's rebuilding the railroad. However when they did that they made it about a foot wider than it had originally been, luckily it will still fit in the pit comfortably.

The biggest challenge in the reconstruction of the turntable is the mounting of the bridge to the pivot. The pivot that is being used is of a different style than used originally and  there are few signs of how the pivot mounted in the table are left in the bridge. So a new design will need to be made. Also to be considered is the material and construction of the bridge. The bridge is most likely iron or very poor grade steel. Being constructed in the late 19th century in the West it is very likely that it is iron, and therefore cannot be reliably welded. The original side frames are riveted together with the cross members from the 1970's reassembly bolted in place. In thinking about this the mounting plate connection for the pivot will be bolted in place. It would appear to the that the original mounting bracket was riveted into the side frame at a joint judging by the existing torched material. At this time we will probably torch out some of the rivets at the connection point then bolt the pivot mounting bracket in there. If necessary for historical accuracy the exposed heads of the bolts may be riveted over

As well Bill and I discussed some of the parameters for turntable construction and improvements. To keep with the historic nature of the site and keep modern safety considerations in mind, reconstruciton is done to an aesthetically pleasing but functionally safe standard. For example the new locking mechanism to lock the turntable to the tracks will be moved outside the rails to eliminate the need for someone to be in the gauge to lock the turntable. As well the new turntable arms will be made of steel and made to look like wood in all likelihood. Wooden arms are nice but they can break and require more maintenance.