Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot is a historic railroad station located in Calhan, Colorado. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad provided transportation between Colorado Springs and Kansas until it went into bankruptcy in the early 1970s.
The depot, built in 1906, still stands on its original
site.[nb 1] The rails were
removed and sold for scrap by 1994.[1]
Depot
station
The one story depot was built according to a common Rock Island
depot plan at the time. It had a waiting room, ticket office,
freight storage area and a pot belly coal stove. The building,
about 24 by 64 feet (7.3 m × 19.5 m), had wood
clapboard siding, and windows facing the train tracks in the
passenger waiting area. Station personnel were able to view trains
as they entered and left the station from a bay window. Later the
wood siding was covered by asbestos siding and there was likely a
change in window and door placement from the original design.
Notes
-
↑ There is a discrepancy between the History
Colorado information and the National Register of Historic Places
nomination form as to whether the Calhan depot is one, or one of
three, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific depots in Colorado that
remain on their original site. History Colorado says that the depot
is one of three still standing on its original site. The NRHP form,
on page 6, delineates the status of the remaining intact depots as
follows: It is thought that there were at least nine Colorado Rock
Island stations between Colorado Springs and the state border with
Kansas. The Calhan depot remains intact and at its original
location. Four others are known to have been moved and altered: the
Bethune station has been moved to Burlington, where it is preserved
largely intact as part of a museum; the Peyton depot, moved to
Calhan, where it was incorporated into the Methodist church; the
depot from Seibert, moved to a location near Interstate 70 and
converted to a gas station; and the Simla depot, moved to Strasburg
and converted to a brick-clad private home. The NRHP document then
summarizes: "The Calhan Depot is one of only two Rock Island depots
in Colorado that are intact and it is the only such depot in its
original location..."
References