Galatea, Colorado
Galatea
was a Railroad town established by the Missouri Pacific railroad as it built
west. As the railroad moved across
southern Colorado, they began naming their stops in alphabetical order. And the G stop was named Galatea.
Like
many of the RR stops, Galatea faded into memory. A few building still stand on the former town
site, along with some trees. Out along the tracks are a few pieces of concrete
where the depot, etc had been.
Couple
miles NE is the town cemetery and there are a few headstones among the
overgrown weeds.
Galatea
is located in a dry harsh area and is not easy to eke out a living. There are still a few souls that live in the
area scratching a living from the dirt. Yet
the dirt blows real easy here and in spots are the drifts of blow dirt. The rails had been silent for years, with a
new owner, the iron wheels clatter over the rails again.
The
Missouri Pacific was not the first RR to go through the area. In the 1870’s, the Kansas Pacific built a
branch line through here on their way to Ft Lyon and the Pacific Ocean.
The
Arkansas Valley Railroad was short lived.
About ten years later the rails were pulled when the KP went into
receivership. During that time, freight
traffic from the Santa Fe Trail was being loaded on the AV RR and going
East. Besides freight trains, there was
the daily passenger train, it was a busy RR.
Today
there is no indication that another railroad had been the area. The old right of way has been plowed up for
farming. Further north, towards Kit
Carson, portions of the grade can still be seen in the pastures.
Today
the silence of Galatea is ruffled by the breezes that flow over the land. The greeting committee is either the owl or
the buzzard.
