There are some really geeky history buffs around here. I'm one of them, Chris Brown at Brown Cycles is another, and the third Histrioteer (think: “Three Musketeers”) is local author, Debbie Brockett. We get into these big historical whirling dervishes and fantasize about underground tunnels, unidentified buildings and in general…what Grand Junction looked like 100, 50, or even 20 years ago.

So when FCI Constructors started tearing into the intersection of Fourth and Main street as part of the “Uplift Project,” I got all a-twitter when some fellow came into the Grand Junction Free Press and wanted to see the “local historian.” I quickly donned that misaligned and misassigned hat and went out to see what he was talking about. Yes, it was exciting and well worth the attention he was drawing to the project as the big backhoes unearthed the 100-year-old concrete, brick, railway ties and rail.

I immediately contacted Mr. Brown, who immediately contacted Ms. Brockett and we all got a bit feverish. Chris and I went down and managed to salvage some steel rail, bricks and spikes. Our flower gardens will benefit from this rusty stuff for sure.

I went home and dug out a book called “The Fruit Belt Route” published in 1981 by William L. McGuire and Charles Teed. This local tome is a great resource of information about “The Railways of Grand Junction, Colorado 1890-1935” and was published by the local chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. I will credit this publication as my source. It can be found at many libraries across the Western Slope.

Grand Junction's first mass transit system came in the form of two quaint street cars pulled by a sturdy white horse name Charlie and his stable mates, a chestnut sorrel named Chester and an anonymous black horse. The Grand Junction Street Railway had a good run from 1890 til 1903. It ran along a rail up and down Main Street, from the Little Book Cliff Station up to Seventh Street and down Fifth Street to the car barn and stables at Fifth and Colorado, to the train depot at the end of Second Street and eventually to the Grand Hotel (former St. Regis and present Naggy McGee's). Always anxious to improve its image, our little city felt it needed a more sophisticated method of transportation.

The rails were dug up and sent to the mines in Palisade, Chester was put out to pasture and the cars sold. Six long years passed before investors were able realize their dream of a new electric railway. Once the Fruit Belt and Power and Irrigation Company was formed, it produced ample power for pumping irrigation water, lighting homes and farms in the 30-mile Grand Valley radius and as newspaper editor I.N. Bunting said: “A still greater possibility is presented in the construction of this plant-it is the opening gun for an electric railroad in this valley.”

Orson Adams, former mayor of Grand Junction, was the president of the Grand Junction Electric, Gas and Manufacturing Company and oversaw the investors and ordered the big Crocker & Wheeler, 150 watt generator. The contractor was hired and the rails and poles to hold the overhead electric wire were ordered. It took 26 days and six hours to build the four miles of the city's new Electric Railway line. On Saturday, May 22, 1909, two red white and blue bunting-clad cars, filled with special guests and the Grand Junction Band, rolled out of the barn and made free trips all day long and into the night.

The Grand Junction & Grand River Valley Railway Company trolleys rolled along their route for 18 years but the company's dream of connecting Palisade and Fruita did not come to fruition. The Interurban as it was called did expand to Fruita, was extremely successful, and helped that end of the valley prosper.

But on Oct. 31, 1928, the final run was made. Cars and buses replaced the trolley cars and the rails were covered with asphalt. What we are seeing when FCI Constructors, the Uplift Project contractors dig up the old rail is the rail itself, the ties that were placed in the ground to hold them and the brick that was laid between the tracks and the concrete that was poured in 1910.

So there you have it, a bygone era that was once buried under is now being dug up. Most of the remnants will be taken to the landfill. It is said that during Operation Foresight, the streets weren't excavated that deep so the rails remained. If you want to see a small preserved section, check out the corner of South Fourth and South Avenue. Things change but seem to stay the same. Ironically, the Grand Valley Transit Station is located near the site of the old trolley barn. The Grand Valley has Mass Transportation again and there seems to one or two “Fords in every garage.” But we can't afford to drive them. Too bad we can't have the old trolley back.

Watch for more rail to be dug up as the project moves east. I'll be one of the three geeks hanging over the fence watching.

Reach Priscilla at 243-2200, ext. 18101, or e-mail her at pmangnall@gjfreepress.com.