A town on flatcars
1878
Alamosa arrived by train. In the summer of 1878 the Denver & Rio Grande pushed its rails from Garland City, its construction camp at the end of the track, to a new stop on the Rio Grande. Nearly 100 buildings, houses, stores and churches among them, were loaded onto flatcars and hauled about 30 miles into the valley. Guests at Joe Perry's hotel ate breakfast in Garland City and dinner in Alamosa, in the same building. Garland City was soon gone, and Alamosa became the valley's rail hub. This engine, D&RG No. 167, was photographed there in 1883.
Photo: Unknown photographer, D&RG No. 167 at Alamosa, 1883 (Colorado Railroad Museum collection), Public domain, source
