Before the railroad arrived in Delta in late 1882, the town of Delta had already been platted and laid out, and since nobody knew exactly where the D&RG Company would locate the train depot, they platted the town straight with the compass on a piece of flat land handy to the drinking water, which then came from the Gunnison River. When the railroad came to Delta, it was placed with the lay of the land, positioning the depot without regard to compass or existing streets, so Eaton Avenuewas slashed through on a diagonal to connect the station with the business district.
While Eaton Avenue today is curved in front of the First Assembly of God Church, it was originally a straight street ending at the train depot.
When the railroad arrived, the original 1882 depot consisted of a former Pullman troop sleeper rail-car, and it served as a ticket office, telegraph office, waiting room, and freight depot, all housed in the long, narrow shell of the narrow gauge car after the sleeping berths had been removed. This “depot” served Delta’s needs for a number of years until a frame, gabled building was eventually built in its place, though still a small building. Finally, in 1917, this depot was moved several hundred feet away and served as the freight depot, and a new, brick passenger depot was built in its place which lasted through several decades until passenger trains ceased to run in the 1950s.
MUSEUM DIRECTOR / CURATOR:
Jim Wetzel, Museum Director/Curator
MUSEUM: (970) 874-8721
Linda
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http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
