It looks like any gnarled cottonwood tree, but this one has watched important goings-on. Where is this old tree and why is it so special? Send an e-mail with the answers to ColoradoSunday @denverpost.com. Please include a digital photo of yourself and your full address in the message. Our favorite correct answer wins a $50 gas card.
How’d you know?
Last week: Midland Tunnels near Buena Vista
Colorado Sunday was inundated with e-mails (and phone calls) about the tunnels. While many guessed incorrectly, most recognized the photo.
WINNERS: Marylin and Joel Sheesley, Buena Vista.
These are the “four-mile” railroad tunnels northeast of Buena Vista next to the Arkansas River. In 1962 I was parked outside the first tunnel with my fiancé when a train passing by blew his whistle at us. We were convinced we were being run over by a ghost train coming through the tunnels! Our heart rates eventually returned to normal, and we’ve been married now for 44 years.
GHOST STORY: Shannon Wilson, Buena Vista.
The Find The Place picture is of the Midland Railroad tunnels located in Buena Vista. They are the remains of the first standard-gauge railroad built by the Colorado Midland Railroad in 1887. The trains would follow the Arkansas River, and it was said to be the only place that a train could be in four tunnels at once. Growing up in Buena Vista I have had my share of fun with the superstition of the “Midland Ghost.” The superstition is that if you drive through the tunnels, honking the horn the entire time, turn around at Elephant Rock, then park in the third tunnel shutting off the car and lights, the car would move (many people believe that this is the ghost pushing you).
RAIL INTERESTING: Al Archuleta, Buena Vista
These tunnels were made during the late 1890s for the Colorado Midland Railroad. They had to blast through the rocks as there was already another railroad that ran just below the tunnels next to the Arkansas River. The Colorado Midland Railroad ceased operation in 1918 and later became a road.
MEMORY LANE: Paul Swedhin, Denver
My grandfather, Gus Swedhin, helped build the Colorado Midland Railroad near Buena Vista. The area where he worked is just south of these tunnels, on what is called Midland Hill. The Colorado Midland … did have a location in BV where you could buy your ticket … . Unfortunately the ticket office in BV is no longer there but there still is the original sign advertising the Colorado Midland.
