27th September looking North

Jar on the Bar

Roofing finished

This shows the back, we had a perfect day yesterday for the finale. Apparently there is no golden spike used to nail down the last piece. If you look very closely there is a bit of flashing to be done around the chimneys by the mason.

The front, completed

Roof front

More progress on the Roof

Como Depot Grant Application 2011– Letters of Support

In 2008 with the help of volunteers the building was stabilized allowing us time to apply for grants from the State Historical Fund. We have now nearly completed the second of the two grants we have received. The photo above shows the chimneys reinstated, the structural repairs completed. Work has started on re roofing with wood shingles, and with a break in the weather will be finished by the end of March.

The Future

The two grants have required a 25% cash match so we have only been able to proceed as fund raising allows. Last year we were awarded a grant from Colorado Dept of Transportation. This gives us a one off opportunity to use this to match State Historical Funds and finish the repairs to the building. The final phase will be fitting it out as a museum/visitor center.

Assuming we are successful in obtaining funding, this would allow us to finish the building inside and out, rebuild the switchmen’s hut on the south end and reinstall the platform.

The next round of applications for State Historical Funding is April 1 2011. We would be very grateful for a letter of support for our application.

Format

The letters need to be addressed to State Historical Fund, Civic Center Plaza, 1560 Broadway, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80202. They need to be passed to us so we copy them and include them in our application.

Some guidance from the SHF:

Letters that indicate a clear understanding and support of the project are best. Letters that are general or based on a template do not evoke positive responses from reviewers.

The weather has not been cooperative, but here we are in January making progress.

My contribution was digging out the driveway, the snow had got so deep and frozen that a truck plow could not do it, so a combination of the old fashioned shovel and more modern snow blower did it, eventually.

Roof work starts

Como weather has not been that co-operative, but today we have progress.

North Chimney

Just for the sake of completeness.

Extension Chimney

This one looks more like a chimney. It was not very well constructed originally but they did see the need for a bigger flue. Both this one and the south one were full of debris, the middle one was clear, perhaps the middle one was used after the railroad era?

Flashing will cover much of the base when the shingle roof is installed.

Chimney complete, nearly

The chimney on the south end. When the flashing is completed it will partly hide the pedestal that comes out of the roof.

It has been a long time since the chimney profile was so complete. Even a 100 years ago this top course or two were missing.

The bricks will be cleaned up.

South Chimney

Men at work on the South Tower. Starting to look more like a Depot than a Barn. Not that many barns have 3 chimneys.

Roof detail

The original trim has been removed and a wood fillet put in. This will allow the roofer a straight edge to work from. The original roof was nailed initially into the trim. Not such a good idea and not something sold enough after 130 years to be done again.

I chose this photograph because of the bird.

Another view of our dry stack.

A bit more definition but you can see how it steps out and comes back in.

North Extension Chimney

Keen eyes will see the roughness of the finish. Less apparent until you get up there and see is that the chimney is nearly square. Perhaps they were asked to build a chimney with a bigger flue? This was built one or two winters after the previous chimneys.

New Chimney

Bob, for scale purposes, next to our dry stack of the Addition Chimney. This was nearly square as opposed to the other two which are more rectangular. The base came above the ridge line, then returned to 2x2.5, then flared out for 3 rows with 2 rows on top.

The actual build will be slightly higher due to mortar joints. We will put a removable cap on painted black to keep the water out.

Freight Room Chimney

This is the only one that can be seen clearly.

If you look at the bottom right and left where the brick rests on the shelf you can see the original white of the mortar where the top layer has broken away.

Brick sample

One of the requirements for the mason is to build a sample wall with the mortar mix and finish.

This looks very white, but it is the original colour, grime of ages has changed the top layer, as will it change this.

Unsurprisingly the chimney in the extension was built to the same standards as the extension, not very good. So the finish on the joints here will be a little rougher.

Chimneys

We are now into the Chimney rebuilding phase, here is one of the beeter photographs that we can clearly dates of what they looked like at in 1896. The ruins in th foreground are the Pacific Hotel.