Como, Colo., and Lake Como, Italy, have little in common except for one fact: The Italian railroad workers who lived in the tent settlement at the foot of Boreas Pass in the late 1800s became homesick for their native country. They asked to name the town Como, and the name stuck.
More than 1,000 people eked out a living here, eventually seeing 26 trains a day coming and going at the roundhouse used by the Denver South Park & Pacific Railway. Mining supplies were brought in from the Front Range; ore from the mines around Breckenridge was shipped out.
It took more than a decade for all this to transpire. Narrow-gauge track had to be laid from Denver, over Kenosha Pass and, tougher yet, over the twists and turns of Boreas Pass. The lure of riches from the silver lodes kept entrepreneurs and adventurers motivated.
Meanwhile, the town of Como, a little more than a stone’s throw from U.S. 285 and about a dozen miles east of Fairplay, became a booming railroad junction. A stone and wood roundhouse dominated the area. Although the wooden section of the roundhouse was destroyed in a 1935 fire, the stone portion remains, and its restoration is a project of the Colorado Historical Society.
The population of Como, today, has dwindled to a hearty handful. However, the town’s post office rents 360 boxes to residents in the greater Como area. When they come to fetch their mail, they shop at the Como Market for sustenance, and at the other end of the building, Como Mercantile, for sundries or souvenirs.
Besides the market, the town’s only other going concern is the Depot Restaurant (and B&B). Built in 1897 to replace the Pacific Hotel, which was consumed by fire the previous year, the quaint Depot with its bustling eatery and spare, but neat upstairs lodging, is a throwback to simpler times. The Depot is open only six months of the year, May through October. But according to owners Keith and Jo Hodges, 20,000 people enter their doors during that period to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner, daily except Tuesday and Wednesday.
The menu isn’t fancy; but the good, wholesome fare goes with the territory. Brats and sauerkraut, burgers and Mexican plates were the lunch offerings recently. Smokers are seated in the larger dining room, dominated by a huge central fireplace with a bright blue hood. The hood had its beginnings in the Como Roundhouse. Non-smokers enjoy meals in a separate dining room.
Today, Como’s claim to fame is its Fourth of July distinction; it is the only location in all of Park County allowed to stage a fireworks display. And, not just a few pyrotechnics.
Although suburban resort development has found its way to nearby Fairplay, Como remains untouched by the real estate boom. Houses here have late-1800s written all over them, clearly the west, as it was.
This time of year, the trip from Como to Breckenridge over Boreas Pass is a spectacular journey through a golden forest of aspen trees. The 21-mile route along the railroad bed easily can be negotiated in a two-wheel-drive family sedan; however, the Como (Park County) side has seen more recent road restoration than the Breckenridge (Summit County) side.
If you’re a history buff, and before you start up the pass, pick up the brochure, “Boreas Pass; Iron Rails: From Bust to Rust.” You’ll find free copies in Como Mercantile or the Depot Restaurant. The brochure outlines historical references at each significant geographic landmark.
As you approach the 11,481-foot, wind-swept summit of Boreas Pass, you’ll see where there was quite a fervor of activity in 1886. Here was a two-room telegraph office, a two-story section house and storehouse, all built from logs cut at the pass. (The stumps are still visible.) There was a stone engine house with a turntable, coal bin and water tank inside. Now, only the quarried stones remain after a fire claimed the building in 1909. Boreas Station even had a post office from 1896 to 1906, which was reported to be the highest in the country.
With its high, above-timberline location, snows came early and stayed late. During November 1898, the train tracks already were covered with 10 feet of snow. Clearing the tracks was impossible; no trains ran until late April 1899.
With the help of the Colorado Historical Society and the U.S. Forest Service, the summit section house has been restored, refurbished and is a tribute to its glory days. In summer, historic programs are presented on the main floor. There’s even a book store where you can purchase everything you wanted to know about Boreas Pass. The dorm rooms on the second story of the section house are available in winter to cross-country skiers.
As you descend into Breckenridge, you’ll pass Baker Tank, which held an impressive 9,305 gallons of water, providing “fuel” for the steam-powered locomotives. Tanks were placed below natural streams and fed by gravity. Filling a train’s tender took only a few minutes.
Lillian Ross is a freelance writer who lives in Howard.
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If you go
Como is 88 miles west of Denver via U.S. 285 over Kenosha Pass to County Road 33, then north on County Road 33 less than a mile into Como.
For more information on the Como Depot Restaurant, call 719-836-2594.
To reach the Como Market/Mercantile/U.S. Post Office, call 719-836-3662.
For additional information about Boreas Pass, contact the U.S. Forest Service in Fairplay at 719-836-2031.
